See how the Charlie Charlie game is freaking people out all over the Internet
If your kids say they’ve become scared of “Charlie,” it’s not the neighborhood bully — it’s an urban legend and game that’s taking over the Internet.
The game is simple: You only need two pencils and a piece of paper. Draw a quadrant on the paper and write “Yes” on two of the spaces and “No” on the others, and then cross the pencils to match up with the lines of the quadrant. Finally, say, “Charlie, Charlie are you here?” or “Charlie, Charlie can we play?” and follow up with a question such as, “Will the Royals get over this losing streak?” The allegedly Mexican demon Charlie will supposedly appear and move the top pencil to answer your question.
The origin of “Charlie Charlie” isn’t officially known, but according to Know Your Meme, it might have begun with the YouTube video “Jugando Charly Charlie,” which originated in June 2014. The game, which is similar to Bloody Mary and a Ouija board, garnered attention earlier this week and in the past seven days has been tweeted more than 1.5 million times.
But The Independent explained that a demon isn’t controlling the pencil — gravity and the positioning of the pencils are. The publication added that, unlike a Ouija board, no one is pushing the pencils, which makes many believe a spirit is pushing them. But even the smallest movement will make the pencils move because one is balanced on top of the other.
BBC also reported that no demon named Charlie exists in Mexico and that Mexican demons are typically created by Americans.
But that hasn’t stopped many people from sharing their freakouts — screaming when the pencil moves — on social media, which, at least, is fun to watch.
This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 12:20 PM with the headline "See how the Charlie Charlie game is freaking people out all over the Internet."