Hi all! today I’m going to share instructions to a weird folk game that kids in my town have played for generations. Some call it witch hunt, others call it witch hide and seek, or find the witch, the game has a bunch of similar names. A brief synopsis of the gameplay: children make an effigy and hunt for it / get hunted by it afterwards. I’ll go into specifics afterwards but first heres a brief history of the game/ what its all about:
The game has been around since before our town was formed. Local lore would have you believe that our pines are magic/blessed/cursed in some way. Our town has a rich and unique history of colonial witchcraft blended with native traditions. Essentially the idea of the game is that a special object is made and it summons one of the witches to play a game with the players. the reward is widely debated ( wishes, magic powers, bragging rights, gold, etc ) But the consequence has always been that the witch would kidnap the kids. Now since this game was popularize and saw its shift from weird ritual into children’s game the story has been since all the witches are long dead they can’t actually take you BUT you also cant really get a reward. Even though the consequences of the game aren’t functional anymore the magic of the gameplay apparently still is.
Here is the process of the game : Step 1 : gather a team
usually 4-5 people but sometimes big games of ten+ happen and those are extremely fun and can take months.
also make sure theres a girl in the group this will be important for later.
Step 2: Gather materials
A wooden box or book in a central location (typically a school classroom or a park) A pine needle for every player A piece of pine resin A large bowl Cedar water Salt A hair from a player ( Alternatively the hair can be replaced with a string or twine if the players blood is dripped onto it, however I have never witnessed anyone do this )
Step 3: notes and preparation and acquisitions
The wooden box or book should contain the pine resin. If a book is used make sure the resin is hard so the pages dont get stuck and ruined. Pine sap can be found anywhere from a tree, particularly one that’s naturally damaged. Alternatively you can damage the tree yourself and return in a few days to collect the sap but this is rarely necessary as a large quantity isn’t necessary.
Place the wooden box in an area all player can access on a daily basis.
A large bowl : mix in the cedar water and the salt. The bowl should be glass or ceramic or even small wooden barrels work. The vessel needs to be large enough for all players to wash their hands in it. Cedar water can be found in creeks in the area OR it runs in the taps of some of the really old farm houses. Salt is salt.
Pine needles and hair: each player should put their needle into a bundle and it is tied in the center with the hair. People have also used resin to stick the needles together, as long as the hair is included this seems fine. From here i will interchangeably refer to this object as the doll / effigy
Step 4: Game start
all players must simultaneously wash their hands in the cedar/salt water. Then they must all carry the effigy to the box. The girl/ hair donor must close the box as they are the dedicated first player.
Here is the last time the group will meet for gameplay the rest is solo players sharing their stories. ( it is at this point where some mischievous kids sneak into the box and take the doll to scare their friends, not dissimilar to the Ouija board )
Step 5: Core gameplay
The gameplay comes in 2 phases for every player the seeking and the hiding
The start player will find the doll someone in their home that night. It can be anywhere but its rarely hard to get to. Finding it begins phase 2 ( simple right? )
the seeking phase is the fun scary part.
over the next couple days ( 3 , 7 or 13 days) The player will be hunted. This can mean a whole litany of paranormal events: Appliances turning on Lights flickering Objects moving Scary sounds outside Footsteps inside your house Ominous knocking on doors Shadows in dark rooms
Or very little could happen. This was the case more often than not and the fun was just getting paranoid and scared over nothing. On the final day the player would find a sink or vessel in their home filled with cedar water and they would add salt and wash their hands. Then they would bring the effigy back to the box and it would randomly pass to another player. You never knew who would be haunted next.
It was a silly game that was often faked with players sneaking dolls into the home of another unassuming player just to scare them throughout the week with different spooky pranks.
Once the players all had a turn the game would automatically end, and the spell would stop working. This was really common here and I was surprised to find out it isn’t a known thing; I’d always assumed it was like bloody Mary where it travels and has its own variations. We played this game a lot as kids, and it’s still played today! as I write this, I have one of the effigies in front of me I kept all these years. I’ve got a few firsthand stories about this game if there’s interest.
Overall, the game is relatively harmless, but tons of people believe it’s real, or maybe they just say so to keep the legend alive. Our parents played it, their parents played it, their parents played it, and their parents probably made it. It’s been around since before the town.
Now onto my story:
My hunt was 3 days long. I’ll be skipping the early steps of the gameplay and cutting right into my experience. I was the second player. At school that day the girl who was first bragged heavily about how she wasn’t even scared. I was disappointed, it was my first time playing and I really wanted something cool to happen. My older brother played a few years ago and it was a fairly common rite of passage. I got home that afternoon and searched my house excitedly to no avail. Late in the evening I retired to my bed.
Climbing into bed I felt a crunch beneath my pillow. I was ecstatic to find the effigy. This didn’t last, As I drifted into sleep, I heard a sound outside beneath my window. A slow deliberate crunch came from the ground below. I shot awake in fear. This isn’t what I expected! I heard the other stories and thought it would be fun, but I was terrified! I pulled my blanket up as a shield in front of my face as the footsteps beneath my window came to a stop. I heard a scraping as the presence began clawing up my wall, slowly and deliberately. It felt like an eternity before they reached the threshold of my room. The room fell again into a deafening silence. I waited again in a sort of sick anticipation, heavy, heavy dread set in as nothing came. Suddenly there came a gentle tapping, shattering the silence and forcing me to retreat completely under the covers. The tapping progressed to a knock which progressed to the window frame shaking violently. The frame shook and shook, and I prayed for the glass pane to hold. As quickly as it came it was gone. My hopes began to rise again that it was over, but I was dead wrong. A distinctive click echoed through my cavernous room. The loud squeaking of my window being pried open filled me with the most intense fear I’ve felt to this day. It was a heavy cold fear like I was frozen in place. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. I laid in my bed terrified for hours until the sun came. I didn’t sleep a wink that night.
To my utter dismay the second day none of the other players believed what had happened. But that kind of comes with the territory, THEY hadn’t played yet. That night i didn’t know what to expect but i was already feeling anxious. Around midnight there came a knocking at my door. I did my usual routine of hiding under the covers. A second knocking sound started up on the wall. A third on the window. Before I knew it there was a cacophony of knocks on every surface in my room. Different pitch rhythm and force to make this droning sound. I covered my ears to try and escape from the horrible noise. For a moment I thought I had gone deaf, but realized the knocking had stopped. As my ears adjusted to the new silence I noticed how wrong I was. From the far corner of my room I heard a soft breathing. in the same second my blanket was torn from my hands and pulled into that corner. I Couldn’t stay any longer and ran to the bathroom to lock myself in. I slept tonight on the cold floor. As far as I remember that breathing didn’t stop. It kept pushing under the door loudly as if someone were laying facing the door. I fell asleep.
The third day was much of the same, but my sleep deprived appearance convinced some of my friends. This night I slept with the lights on, and the bathroom door open ready for my retreat. Just past midnight my doorknob jiggled and the old door slowly creaked open. I looked into the empty door frame waiting for something to happen. I noticed a dripping from the ceiling above and watched as a bare footprint appeared dripping dark water. Another footprint soon materialized before me, And another. Slowly creeping its way towards my bed. It stopped at the door of my bed, and I mentally prepared myself. The bulb of my lamp exploded.
I was gymnastic about my escape. I shot up like a bullet and dove into the bathroom, flinging the door shut behind me. As I caught my breath the lights burned out. I was ready. I lit the candle I had prepared earlier and huddled in the corner. Within a few minutes the breathing came again, heavier and raspier than the night before. Along with it came long black hair flowing under the door. Unfurling into matted damp tendrils. I desperately hugged my knees trying to keep my toes from being touched by the foul mane. I fell asleep in this position. Waking up before the dawn I felt a wetness, And then shame. But upon standing up I realized I hadn’t wet myself but rather the tub was overflowing with that dark brown water. I walked over to it and looked deep into the murky yet diminutive natatorium. I swear I saw a motionless figure beyond the waters surface. The bath was overflowing with that water and i was stalling out of fear. I closed my eyes and plunged my small hands into the frigid abyss of the water. It was over.
My friend’s eventually came to believe me after they all had their turns and we all made it out of the game safely. I have to say while it was terrifying it was kind of… exhilarating and maybe even fun. At the time I vowed to never play again, a vow I broke a few years later and I’ve played a few games through highschool. It’s been a long time since but i dont think i could handle it now.
Thats my story with the game. If you do try it please let me know how it works out for you. Id love to hear your experience. Im glad i can share this piece of local folklore with you all!