About this Event
About Ideas After Hours
Ideas After Hours is an intimate conversation series presented by Sip and Scholar and Book Bar. Each month, we explore one big idea. Hear from an author, researcher, or expert before joining a guided discussion with a room full of intellectually curious people. With limited seating, these evenings are designed for thoughtful dialogue, fresh perspectives, and conversations that continue long after the event ends.
About This Month's Idea
How did a simple parlour game become one of the most recognizable symbols of the supernatural?
With Halloween around the corner, we're turning our attention to an object that has been creeping people out for more than a century: the Ouija board 😨
Part game, part alleged gateway to the spirit world, the Ouija board occupies a strange place in popular culture. It has been embraced as entertainment, feared as dangerous, and immortalized in horror films, books, and urban legends. But long before it became a fright-night staple, its story began with something much bigger: a Victorian fascination with Spiritualism and communicating with the dead.
Join author and historian Ann McDougall as she traces the surprising history of the Ouija board, from the parlours of the 19th century to its transformation into a commercial game and, eventually, a cultural phenomenon.
A little history. A little supernatural. Just in time for Halloween. 👻
Doors open 7pm, Lecture starts 730pm
Agenda
🕑: 07:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Arrive, Mingle, Sip
🕑: 07:30 PM - 08:15 PM
Lecture
🕑: 08:15 PM - 09:00 PM
Group Discussion / Q&A
Event venue & nearby stays
Book Bar, 600 Markham Street, Toronto, Canada