Lucia Peters

_Dangerous Games to Play in the Dark_ is a compilation of various rituals, recipes, and guides to making contact with or inviting the supernatural into one's home, with some formulae allegedly allowing humans to visit these dark realms. All of these methods involve some level of risk to the invoker, which, along with particular warnings about more peripheral dangers (such as having one's home burn to the ground, or causing a serious septic infection), are carefully noted in an introduction to each "game". Some of the games even include possible benefits beyond mere survival, mostly in the form of gaining answers to questions posed by the invokers, although the truth or falsehood of those answers is not assured, nor the ease of interpreting the "answers".

From the perspective of "Satanic Panickers", _Dangerous Games_ should seem like a set of perfect examples of the dangerous world of supernatural—and evil—influences spreading throughout America. In their time, many of the "games" were passed along from person to person, generation to generation, spreading both between friends and new acquaintances met in public schools, summer camps, ritual abuse sessions, and, no doubt, port–Sunday School socialization between children.

Nowadays, of course, in addition to the traditional person-to-person transmission methods, the internet and social media provide an even more powerful way for "games" to spread—not just inside a particular geographic locality, but across national and cultural boundaries as well. Many of the "dangerous games" have come from Asian countries (especially Korea and Japan), with some of those being based on long-held traditions specific to those cultures. Even worse, there are _new_ games, with new dangers being spread worldwide every day. (Unsurprisingly to those in the know, Reddit is the transmission channel for many of these new games and variants, taking over from forums such as 4chan, whose interests have shifted in a different direction.)

To a skeptic, of course, these "games" are obviously forms of social binding and self-confidence exercises. Whether you face off alone against an angry, bloody-faced, ghost late at night in your parents' house or explore the darkness with a group of your peers, you are testing yourselves against the dangers of a mysterious world, with its own incompletely known and understood rules, which is, after all, not all that different from the incompletely known and understood worlds of teenage and adult society. After all, if you can rely on your friends—and they on you—in a confrontation with supernatural horrors, maybe you also rely on each other as you grow older and have to engage with the (arguably much more dangerous) wider world you'll have to live in.

_Dangerous Games_ is a compilation of games Lucia Peters explored on her blog, theghostinmymachine.com, organized and reformatted into an ideal gift book, with a spooky design and eerie artwork. There is, in fact, some scholarly analysis of the folkloric traditions behind these games, along with careful citations of the original versions of the more recent games, as well as other studies of the older forms. Its writing is very much a fence-balancing act that both presents the games and their dangers as straight-faced, step-by-step instructions, complete with lists of items you will need to enact a ritual and warnings about things that might go wrong, and, sometimes, things you can do in those circumstances that might (might) save you from harm; and as amusingly sincere descriptions of scary-sounding rituals the reader can smile at, perhaps thinking of their own childhood explorations, including those that were just a bit further than they were willing to go.

I came across Peters's site via a reference in a YouTube video posted by reignbot, which mentioned The Elevator Game and pointed to an article on theghostinmymachine.com blog. (I was only familiar with The Elevator Game from its appearance on the streaming show _Evil_, a show I'd strongly recommend to anyone who might enjoy this book.) Besides the games collected in the book, Peters continues to collect new games and variants, as well as explore various other "mysterious" topics and events. While I'm a hardcore skeptic, and have been for many years, in my teenage years I was desperate to believe in something bigger and stranger than the material world that we live in; one that would provide explanations for the questions that formed the churning angst of my daily life, especially late at night, with a full moon shining through the windows. With _Dangerous Games_ (and her blog), Peters provides a nice way of reliving some of that childhood awe and terror from the comfort of a safer, more settled, and rational perspective.

[Note that if you have grandchildren, nieces and nephews, or young cousins being raised by overly literal religious believers, and you're the sort of person who like to stir up trouble, _Dangerous Games_ might make a great gift to help the kids see that there's a wider world out there, both through the implied dangers of the games and by allowing them to see how their parents' religion can be so easily questioned and threatened. You'd be a terrible person to do that, of course, but I'm not going to tell you what to do with your life.]… (altro)

This book is interesting, somewhat informative but still vague on the positive or negative outcome/consequences of completing/not completing any of the "summoning rituals" (which is necromancy) and the long term effect of it.
I hate the fact that these rituals are popular due to Youtubers, they aren't a game, they are potentially dangerous summoning rituals.
(it's interesting, but there should be a age restriction for some things they are potentially spiritually dangerous such as summoning rituals, that involves summoning a spirit/entity.
I think it encourage children to do the rituals, which is stupid and dangerous.
I would have appreciated the rules for each ritual to be written in a bullet pointed list, to make it easy to read & understand and clearly learn the rules of each summoning ritual.
I think it is dangerous to call these summoning rituals that involves summoning a spirit/entity or multiple spirits a "game" because that implies that children can do these summoning rituals and not understand the consequences of doing them, since the consequences of doing the summoning rituals is not mentioned at all, nor is the purpose of spiritual protection mentioned more than once, I would recommend using Dragon's blood or other protective herbs as part of a (spiritual cleansing ritual) to be done before/after any or all of the summoning rituals, even the
low-medium risks ones, but especially the high risk rituals!
You should take any form of communication which the dead, spirits or entities seriously, always treat it with respect, don't provoke the dead or anything that your are summoning, because there WILL BE consequences otherwise. Don't summon something you don't know how to banish.
I am saying this for your own protection, even if you don't believe in spirits, entities these rituals are dangerous and can be spiritually harmful to you if you are not careful!
I would have found it helpful, if the author included, eye witness testimonies of people that have done the rituals specified in the book, and they said about the positive/negative outcome/consequences of doing the rituals.
It would be helpful to me at least to know what happened when the ritual was successful/or what the negative outcome/consequences when the ritual was not done correctly or not finished so whatever you communicated with was unleashed into the world and it seemed like the author was intentionally vague on details in some ways, so I would appreciate more information, because sometimes it was lacking.
It made me wonder what would happen, if you looked at the entity you summoned, didn't follow all the rules, don't believe the ritual would work (I don't recommend anyone doing the rituals alone or with anyone that is a non-believer in rituals, spirits or entities since they would be at risk and could antagonise whatever you are summoning)

The low risk rituals are not that threatening, but they still have risks or consequences involved.
The medium-high risk rituals are a lot more dangerous spiritually, due to a possible spirit/entity attachment if the ritual(s) is not completed/the rules are not followed and respected fully or correctly! I think it is dangerous to say about the rituals, but for the author to not say about spiritual protection before/after doing the rituals.
I would recommend using a sage smudging stick, saying a prayer to whatever god/goddess/deity that you believe in before/after doing the rituals, spiritual cleansing is important to avoid, long term affect's of the rituals. It is better to do the rituals in a group, to lessen or avoid any bad luck after doing the rituals, done do them alone.

In my opinion the most potentially dangerous rituals are the following:
Daruma San (The Bath Ritual) This ritual involves summoning a onryo or vengeful Yurei (a Japanese spirit with evil intentions)
Bloody Mary: This has many consequences, just because you may/may not not see anything, it doesn't mean that you didn't summon something. The Candyman ritual was not mentioned so I was a bit disappointed about it.
The Midnight game (A.K.A. The Midnight Man): This involves summoning a entity, it is dangerous and there are unknown consequences if they get close enough to touch you, never let that happen
Light as a feather, Stiff as a board: This ritual is dangerous, it seems like it would change someone's personality during/after completing the ritual
Hide and seek alone (Hitori Kakurenbo): This is a form of necromancy, which involves summoning a spirit to possess a doll and animate it, it's dangerous if not done correctly.
The doors of your mind: This ritual is dangerous, there is no reversal ritual to undo it, once it is done.
Closet to another world: A ritual that involves summoning a entity into a closet, it doesn't seem like there is a way to get rid of it once it is summoned.
The Corner Ritual: This ritual involves summoning a spirit/entity and can be dangerous, due to unknown whereabouts of at least one person
Sister, Sister (Sara Sarita) This ritual involves summoning two entities (Entities are NOT human spirits, entities are NOT human at all they are demons, so be careful!)
The Hosting Ritual: This ritual involves summoning spirits into your home
The Fortune Ritual: This involves summoning a entity which you cannot look at, while at a crossroads, there is no way to tell if it is lying to you.

A lot of the rituals involve summoning a spirits/entities that you may or may not see, you have no idea if it is telling you the truth, don't automatically trust what it tells you, because spirits and entities lie to entice you. I take communication with spirits/entities or rituals seriously, and so should everyone else that has read the book/my review.
I did enjoy reading the book, but it was lacking in terms of the real risks/consequences of the rituals, the potential spiritual danger, and stupidity of calling the summoning rituals a "game"
I would recommend to anyone that reads this books, to do a lot of research about spiritual protection, the rules, consequences of the rituals before attempting any of them!
There are still some rituals that are dangerous that were not mentioned in the book so a follow up book, that is more detailed would be great. Other dangerous rituals that were not mentioned are: the three kings, the dark reflection ritual, dry bones among others. I look forward to reading more books like this in the future.… (altro)

Well this is a fun little read. A sort of encyclopedia of all the games, well most, that we dared to play in our youth. Not only does it tell you how to play, the risks involved if you play, it gives you a bit of history as to the origination of the game. I found that quite fascinating, considering dating back to the 1600s.

Each game is prefaced with Risk Level, Objective, Additional Warnings, and Reward before giving the step by step of how to do so.

Infused with intellect and humor, it’s a fun dip into the lighter (sorta) side of history. Some of these games I’ve never heard of but look forward to partaking in. I especially want to try “The Doors Of Your Mind.” Some sound a bit too sinister or provocative to try, but then again, life IS but a game of chance. As in the author’s own words, “If you choose to ignore this advice and play the games locked in this book, just remember: what you summon may not want the game to end.”… (altro)

I imagine that many of us…me included…may have played some of these games at slumber parties or just as a dare with a group of friends on a slow, dark night when we were bored. I don’t think many of us really expected to conjure anything…hoped maybe…but if by chance we did…we would have run one another down trying to escape. In this little book we have 24 “games” covering 6 chapters. Suitable warnings are given about not setting the house on fire with lit candles or stabbing one another with the sharp objects, as well as having sufficient room to carry some of them out…and the necessary material that will be needed. I’m not sure if the author actually believes any of these games were possible of producing any results much less the indented ones... or if she is mostly wishing to sell the book. My voice of common sense reasoning would like to think that most adults would maybe be intrigued, but still have that inner little “no-nonsense” voice that would whisper loudly while hitting you in the head with this book...“forget this whole insane thing”!!!! . In spite of the levels of risk and other warning given at the beginning of each game….and the more dire warnings given at the end… I’m not 100% convinced that these games are really “games”…or that they are “safe games.” The one thing that I immediately noticed was there were no instructions telling you how to get rid of what you might encounter…and you are told over and over that this is a “possibility” and that it /they may not leave, if you achieved your objective. I would consider that a BIG one that should also be included.

I do have to say as a ghost story junkie that I found the idea of these games intriguing…I remember how they fired my 14 year old imagination. There were some that I had never heard of since they originated In Japan and Indonesia but may have gone by other names in the U.S., and some have sprouted up as recently as 2011 with the availability of the internet. I believe the author…while presenting exacting information that would be guaranteed to scare the devil out of most folks…she takes the subject a tad too lightly by failing to include more warning and caution about actually trying any of these games and the possible outcome. My grandmother was from Ireland and she had grown up with many stories and legends. Her beliefs of “things that go bump in the night” was pretty vivid…and I remember her warning us as kids about inviting things in…that they were not, and would not be, our friends. These games were not all designed to appeal to the younger crowd, but that is going to probably be the target audience. While they are intended to be played in fun…anyone that reads or watches movies knows how the possibilities can fire the imagination and sometimes those fires are never entirely extinguished. The term “figment of your imagination” is not entirely a figment of your imagination. For some people these games will present a real danger. Not for anything the games called but for what they imagined they called. The mind and the imagination are extremely powerful instruments… even if that is the only place these “demons” are dwelling. I would suggest that anyone think long and hard before indulging in any of these pastimes. I gave the book a 4 star rating. Anyone that can take it with a grain of salt will enjoy it…but bear in mind by the very way it is written and designed…it IS an instruction manual.

I received an advance copy of this book from Chronicle Books in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are entirely all my own. … (altro)