Previously: Ritual Games That Will Let You Meet Your Double.
Do you wish you could see ghosts? Yes? How much? Do you really wish you could see ghosts? If you can’t currently, have you ever wondered if there was a way you might be able to teach yourself how to see ghosts? Well, there is — supposedly, at least. In fact, there are quite a few ritual games that let you see ghosts (again, supposedly), perfect for playing during the Halloween season and beyond. They range from quite easy to play to fairly elaborate — but although some of them might seem deceptively simple, make no mistake: They’re not any of them safe. Not really. (If you believe they work, at least.)
When I say that we’re going to look at ritual games that teach you how to see ghosts, I should note that I’m not really talking about ritual games that summon ghosts here. I’m talking about games that claim to show you something — to reveal to you a spirit or two that might already be in the room with you, not games that will call anyone or anything to you specifically at that moment. You might think of it as an opening of your third eye, so to speak, if third eyes are something you believe in.
[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]
All the usual disclaimers apply here: Be careful; exercise common sense safety precautions when necessary; and so on and so forth. Although really, the biggest one is always: Play at your own risk.
After all, once you teach yourself to see ghosts… you might not be able to unsee them again.
Ever.
The Sky Is Blue And I See You
Starting out with what’s probably the most recent game of this variety: The Sky Is Blue And I See You, a supposed method for recording ghosts in your home via your phone’s camera that made the rounds on TikTok in the spring of 2025. It’s not complicated to play; all you need is your phone and some kind of indoor environment, and its instructions simply involve setting your phone’s camera to record, then pointing it at the ceiling and tilting the shot down while your recite the words, “The sky is blue and I see you.” If wherever you are happens to be haunted, you’ll supposedly see… something in the recording. Or, something may happen in the environment while you record. Or… well, you get the idea.
This one is almost certainly a made-up game — but it might still be a fun and eerie activity to engage in sometime when you’re at home alone.
Just… make sure you’re prepared to see something you might not be anticipating.
How To See Ghosts By Looking Upside Down
Thai folklore is full of ways to teach yourself to see ghosts — including this one, which may be the most well-known. Indeed, this method for viewing spirits is so well-established, it even makes an appearance in the enormously successful Thai horror film Pee Mak, based on the ghostly legend of Mae Nak.
Again, this one is a relatively easy game to play; it does require some specific locations and circumstances — it needs to be played at night in a wide open outdoor space with a tree nearby — but the actual method itself pretty much just involves bending at the waist and looking through the gap between your legs. Doing so will supposedly reveal to you any ghosts in the vicinity.
What you do with that information — with the knowledge of who or what may be surrounding you — after that is up to you.
The Fox Window Game
The Fox Window Game, which is Japanese in origin, also involves making a window out of your limbs and looking through it to see ghosts. This time, though, it’s not your legs, but your fingers — and, friends, it’s… not an easy position to twist your hands into.
There’s evidence that this method was in use as far back as the Edo period, so it, too, is a longstanding tradition. Proceed carefully, though — not so much for the supernatural danger as for the potential ouch factor.
The Journal Game
This game, which has made the rounds on the internet in Korea for some time, is sometimes positioned as a summoning ritual — it’s usually called “자기에게 있는 귀신 부르기,” which can be translated in a few ways, among which is “Summoning Your Own Ghost” — but the method employed reads very much like a “teach yourself to see in a way you couldn’t before,” so I’m considering a way not just to call ghosts, but to see ghosts.
In any event, I tend to think of it as the Journal Game, as it’s best played with a journal or notebook that you yourself write in frequently — ideal one you also carry around with you regularly. It’ll also work with a school textbook you use often, too, though, so you might also think of it as the Textbook Game.
To play, open the journal textbook up and stare at an open page — specifically at large letters or the gaps between words — for about three minutes. For best results, you’ll end up doing a sort of unfocusing of your eyes thing — the way you might view a Magic Eye image. Eventually, you’ll begin to see ghostly images rise from the page. Just be warned that once you’ve done this, you likely won’t be able to stop seeing these ghostly images everywhere you look; one of them might even start following you around and interfering with your day-to-day life.
The Cemetery Dirt Game
From Indonesia, we have the Cemetery Dirt Game, or, how to see ghosts using a blindfold. The idea is that, by anointing your eyelids with earth from a cemetery — a place of the dead — you can open your third eye, so to speak, allowing you yourself to see the dead. The blindfold is simply the vehicle by which the earth is transferred to your eyelids (and held in place, of course).
The key here is using earth not just from a cemetery in general, but from the top of an actual grave, specifically. Also, note that this one is both a bit more involved and therefore a bit more dangerous than the other methods for how to see ghosts we’ve examined so far; there’s quite a lot of prep involved, you’ll need some not super easily acquired items to make it work, and cleansing yourself both literally and figuratively are recommended following an attempt at playing.
Still, though: It might be worth it… if it’s really what you want.
Choose wisely.
How To Check If Your Home Is Haunted
This method for checking if your home is haunted is, in some ways, rather similar to The Sky Is Blue And I See You; however, it predates the TikTok game by more than a decade: I originally dug this one up on some Indonesian sites circa 2014-2016, so it’s been making the rounds for quite some time. The only equipment you really need for it, though, is a smartphone equipped with a video camera, so it’s just as easy to carry off.
To play this game, you’ll need to make not one continuous recording on your phone, but two separate recordings. You’ll start by facing the camera outward — that is, with the phone’s screen facing you — closing your eyes, and rotating slowly in place while you record, capturing the entire room as you go; then, you’ll flip the phone around so the rear-facing lens is now facing you, close your eyes again, and rotate in place once more, this time recording your own face as you go. Then, when it’s time to examine the recordings… look carefully. You might see something you… didn’t expect.
Note that this game is best played in a home you either just moved into, or are planning on moving into soon — that is, not a place you’ve lived in for a considerable amount of time, but a place you’re planning on making your home in the near future. Consider it a sort of insurance policy for your new home, so you know exactly what you’re getting when you move in.
How To See A Ghost By Looking At The Top Of The Stairs
Like the method for seeing ghosts by looking upside down, this one for seeing ghosts by looking at the top of the stairs is Thai in origin, and quite simple to perform. All you have to do is sit down on the top step of a set of stairs, then scoot your way down to the bottom, one step at a time, without getting fully to your feet at any point throughout the descent. Then, when you reach the bottom step, turn around — without rising — and look up towards the top of the stairs, where you began your journey. You will, it’s said, see a ghost there — although who or what the ghost might truly be isn’t specified.
One source says specifically that you’ll see a whopping 42 ghosts, although plenty others omit this detail, so it’s anyone’s guess how many spirits you’re actually meant to see. Where they do all agree, though, is that this game must be performed alone — no spectators allowed.
The House Window Game
The House Window Game, which has been circulating the internet in Japan since at least 2008, is kind of an interesting case. Most of the time when I’ve encountered it, it’s positioned as a way to test how sensitive to spirits you are — what’s often termed in Japanese as testing your “inspiration” — which, to me, is very different from a game that teaches you how to see ghosts.
But at least one source for it does posit that it’s not just a test of whether you can see ghosts, but a way to see ghosts; furthermore, there’s a very similar game, also from Japan, that has an extremely similar structure, minus the business with the windows, that’s positioned as a method for revealing how many ghosts might be in a given location. So… here we are.
This one relies largely on your ability to visualize spaces inside your own mind. First, you must close your eyes and imagine your own home in as great a level of detail as you can. Then, still within your own mind, you must travel throughout the home you’ve conjured up and open all the windows in it. Then, after you’ve opened them all, you must close them all, in the exact reverse order in which you opened them.
Afterwards, think back on your experience: If you saw anyone in your imagined home as you journeyed through it, opening or closing windows, then you will, from that moment forward, (supposedly) be able to see ghosts.
Or maybe you always could, and now you just know you can.
Choose your own adventure.
How To See Ghosts By Combing Your Hair In Front Of A Mirror
This game is Thai in origin, though it’s reminiscent of the game known as Bloody Mary in the West: It’s said that, should you comb your hair in front of a mirror under some highly specific circumstances, you might something… otherworldly in the reflection behind you.
Those circumstances matter, though. First, you must start the game precisely at midnight. Second, you can’t just plop yourself down in front of any mirror; you need to make sure you set up a candle in front of the one you intend to use first, and light it right as you begin. Then, you must use whatever comb or brush you regularly use to tend to your hair, and begin to slowly, calmly comb or brush your hair while you look into the candlelit mirror.
In your refection, pay attention to the darkness behind you. You might just see someone else with you there — someone who, should you turn around (do NOT turn around), you wouldn’t otherwise see in the room with you.
How To Use Salt To See If There Are Spirits In Your Home
Not to be confused with Shiomajinai — the wish-granting game played with a pile of salt — this method from Japan for seeing if there are spirits in your home does also involve salt… but it’s more of a ghost detector than anything else.
It works best if there’s a particular location you wish to test — one that might have cold spots, places where the atmosphere just feels a little weird, that kind of place. Once you’ve determined the location you wish to test, and the spot within that location that best satisfies the requirements, place a small square of paper out; then pour a mound of salt on top. Coarse sea salt is best, but you can try with whatever you have available. Then, just sit back at let things be for a few days.
Check the mound of salt each day. If, after a few days, it becomes damp when it shouldn’t be — that is, there’s nothing in the environment that would account for it dampening over time — or if it crumbles when it’s be otherwise undisturbed, then you’ll know: There’s a spirit present.
Tread carefully.
The Picture Game
Ah, yes: A longtime favorite of the modern urban legend ritual game community, the Picture Game has you gathering together at least two participants to snap some pictures of your surroundings — and, perhaps, reveal something unusual in the images. I say at least two, but this one is a definitely a “the more, the merrier” situation; indeed, more is not only recommended, but encouraged.
You’ll also need a length of string, a small mirror for every player, a drinking glass with a beverage in it (preferably something like wine), and — of course — a camera with a flash. After making a circle with the length of string, setting the glass of wine in its center, and positioning each player in a circle around the length of string, their mirror reflecting the ceiling, you’ll take turns with the camera. Each player will take a picture of the center of the circle before passing it to the next player, who will do the same. Later, you’ll have the chance to look through the photographs.
What do you see in them?
If you’re lucky, you’ll see something you didn’t see with your own two eyeballs at the time.
Or perhaps that’s if you’re unlucky.
This game has a tendency to do a number on its players, after all…
The Synchronization Game
Oh? You want an even more elaborate game that lets you (supposedly) take pictures of ghosts? The Synchronization Game might fit that bill for you. In addition to the camera — preferably a DSLR — you’ll need a friend, a large mirror, something to cover the mirror, and something to break the mirror, as well as an excellent sense of timing.
One of the players will be snapping a photograph of the other player and the mirror, the result of which might show you something otherworldly — but you’ll have to be quick, and you’ll have to work together.
Also, don’t forget to destroy the mirror when you’re done.
You… aren’t going to want to keep it around afterwards.
Trust me.
The Umbrella Game
Got an umbrella? Then you’ve got a way to reveal whether there are any ghosts in your environment — as long as you’re indoors, at least.
First, make sure the umbrella is either white or black — no other color. Then, choose your location carefully: It should be a spot that is known for its tragic history — a place that’s been known to host a ghost or two. (And, of course, make sure it’s an indoor location.) Finally, at dusk, go to that location, focus your thoughts on the ghosts you know the place to hold, and then open the umbrella indoors. If you’re lucky, you might see the spirits who reside in that spot.
This Thai legend is particularly interesting to me, given the number of cultures that have superstitions about opening umbrellas indoors bringing bad luck or ill fortune. This superstition may have any number of origins, from ancient peoples wishing not anger the sun gods to the unpredictability of early umbrellas — but either way, it’s perhaps a connection worth noting.
Yeongan Ticket
The Spirit Ticket Game, or Yeongan Ticket in the original Korean, is both the most involved and the most dangerous of the bunch — but also perhaps the most interesting. If played well, and to completion, it will grant you your spirit eyes, or “yeongan eyes” — literally, eyes that see ghosts.
You’ll need some friends to play this one — four, to be exact, for a total of five participants — and access to a classroom in a school building afterhours equipped with nine chairs or desks, a blackboard plus chalk and an eraser, and a handful of other common tools: Candles, matches or a lighter, and, optionally, a time-keeping device and a random number generator.
Then you’ll have to undergo quite an elaborate procedure in which several of the participants… will not be leaving the room with the rest of you at the end of the whole thing.
They’re… something of a sacrifice, you see — the price the rest of you will pay in exchange for gaining your spirit eyes. Is that a sacrifice you’re willing to make?
There’s just one thing: There’s no way to guarantee that you yourself will be a recipient of the spirit eyes, and not the sacrifice paid for others to gain theirs.
It’s not just a sacrifice you have be prepared to make — it’s a risk you must be willing to take.
Is it worth it? I’d say not, but for you… well. Only you can decide that for yourself.
How To See Ghosts By Turning Your Back To A Mirror
Another Thai method for seeing ghosts, again involving the use of a mirror and not entirely unlike Bloody Mary, this one is — as so many are — simple, but specific. Here’s how to play:
At 11:54pm precisely, stand with your back to a mirror. Over the next six minutes, once per minute, swallow. After the sixth minute, close your eyes, then slowly turn around until you’re facing the mirror — or at least, you would be if your eyes weren’t closed. Keep them closed! With your eyes still closed, swallow one more time; then, finally, open your eyes, and look in the mirror. That? There? That’s probably a ghost. Or maybe 16 ghosts, depending on your source for instructions. As with the looking-up-at-the-stairs ritual, the number of ghosts you’ll (maybe) see varies by source.
If you want to make sure that ghost doesn’t stick with you, make sure you close your eyes and swallow one more time before ending the game. Otherwise… you might have some unwanted company following you around afterwards. And trust me: You definitely don’t want that.
The Washbasin Game
Simple to perform, but by no means safe, this Korean method for seeing ghosts might end poorly for you’re not careful… or even if you are. (Remember our old adage? Play at your own risk. Always.)
For this method, you’ll need a washbasin full of water — a sink plugged and filled should work just as well as a standalone basin—and a knife of some sort. (Be careful!) At midnight, if you stand or kneel before the basin in a dark room, put the knife between your tooth, let down your hair if it’s long, and then stare at your reflection in the water, you might see a ghost standing directly behind you.
The ghost, allegedly, will be focused on the tip of the knife — but if the ghost should suddenly lock eyes with you in the water, do NOT let go of the knife.
If you do, the ghost might consider that an invitation to occupy your body.
And it… might not want to give it back. Ever.
You’ve been warned.
The Cutting Your Nails At Night Ritual
Tons of Asian countries and regions, including Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, and India, have superstitions about cutting your nails at night — or, more specifically, about why you shouldn’t do it. Sometimes, it’s said to bring bad luck or usher in ill fortune. Others, it’s said to attract ghosts — or perhaps simply reveal them.
That’s what this particular nail cutting ritual claims to do: Reveal a ghost to you — one that also simply desires to trim their nails.
To play this game, though, you can’t just cut your nails at a random time in a random place. Rather, you must carefully trim all the nails on each hand in a particular order sometime between the hours of 10pm and midnight; then, you’ve got to make sure you bundle up all the nail cuttings in a cloth package; then you’ve got to place the bundle in the westernmost corner of your room. In the middle of the night, you may then wake up to the sound of someone trimming their nails. If you sneak a peek, you’ll see who — or what — it is.
Ghosts: They’re just like us.
How To See Your Guardian Spirit
Is your guardian spirit a ghost? Maybe; maybe not. I think it’s close enough, though, so we’re going to include here. Just, y’know. For funsies.
Similarly to the House Window Game, this Japanese game has you envisioning a location in your mind’s eye — a staircase with which you are especially familiar. After recalling that staircase in as much detail as you can, you’ll then envision yourself traveling up and down it 10 times. After the tenth circuit, when you arrive back at the bottom, you’re meant to look back up the staircase. At the top, you might see a figure. This figure is your guardian spirit.
The ending of this game is also similar to another game we’ve looked at here besides the House Window Game: It’s quite like the Thai method for seeing ghosts by looking up the stairs we talked about earlier. The difference here, of course, is that you’re doing it all in your mind, rather than in a real, physical space.
The connection is interesting, though, isn’t it?
***
So: There you have it — 18 ways to learn how to see ghosts.
Was it worth it?
I hope so.
Because you can never go back now.
Best learn to deal with it.
***
Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Bluesky @GhostMachine13.bsky.social, Twitter @GhostMachine13, and Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And for more games, don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!
[Photos via Tama66 (1, 9), StockSnap, Pexels, EdWhiteImages, Photographer2575, blackrabbitkdj, fancycrave1, xmstms12, candoyi/Pixabay]
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