July 19, 2025 • 13 mins
In this episode of Unexplained Realms, we dive into the chilling legend of Zozo, a mysterious demon said to manifest through Ouija boards. From eerie encounters to violent possessions, we unravel real-life accounts and the dark history behind this malevolent entity. Is Zozo a product of the subconscious… or a true force from the other side? Listen, if you dare.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The following podcast may not befor all listeners.
Listener discretion is advised. What if something is waiting
every time you touched a Ouija board?
What if the planchette isn't just moving on its own, but
being pulled slowly, deliberately, by something you
(00:21):
can't see? In this episode, we're stepping
into the dark with Zozo, the name that turns up in frantic
stories and sleepless nights. This is Unexplained Realms, and
I hope you'll journey with me past the edge of folklore, down
into the marrow of shadow and dread.
(00:43):
What waits there is older than superstition and far, far
darker. Settle in, but keep a light on
because some doors once opened, don't shut so easily.
(01:04):
Before exploring too far into Zozo, we should chat about the
tool that summons him, a Ouija board.
It emerged in the world in the 1890s, coinciding with America's
spiritualist craze. Sold as a harmless parlor game,
the board was marketed with a wink and a promise.
(01:26):
But the people who made it had no idea what kind of door they
were opening. By the 1920's, the Ouija board
had become ubiquitous, as commonas a deck of cards.
Families and friends circled around, fingertips just brushing
the planchette, all hoping for awhispered message from the other
(01:47):
side. But sometimes the voices that
answered weren't the ones anyonewanted to hear.
Sometimes they lied and sometimes they never laughed,
and sometimes they spelled one name over and over.
ZO ZO1 of the first modern Zozo encounters to gain notoriety
(02:12):
online occurred in 2009, when a man named Darren Evans shared
his story on an online ghost forum.
According to Darren, it started out with nothing more than a
casual curiosity. He had a few sessions with the
Ouija board just to see what might happen, but whatever he
(02:32):
invited in didn't want to leave.Zozo told Darren that it had
come to take his family to Paradise.
When Darren pressed for an answer.
Where exactly is paradise? The planchette slid across the
board, letter by letter, until it's spelled out HELL.
(02:54):
Frequently, Zozo spat out ugly obscenities in languages that
sounded like Latin or Hebrew. The haunting escalated quickly.
Poltergeist activity rattled thehouse.
Violent nightmares kept him up at night, and the atmosphere in
his home turned suffocating. It got worse.
(03:14):
Darren's young daughter nearly drowned in the bathtub and at
one point was hospitalized with an unexplained infection.
He described Zozo as slick and mocking, always one step ahead
of him. When the planchette moved, it
would sweep in frantic figure eights between Z&O.
(03:36):
The entity would pretend to be several spirits at once, sweet,
talking you one minute, then turning cruel A heartbeat later.
It craved fear, and it knew justhow to get it.
Darren's story spread like wildfire.
Soon, others started sharing their encounters with Zozo.
(03:57):
Thousands of them all described the same name and the same
chilling pattern. What stands out about the
encounters with Zozo is their remarkable consistency.
Most which encounters are random, fleeting, and have
different names and personalities.
But Zozo shows up everywhere, across borders, languages,
(04:20):
decades. No matter where or when, the
pattern stays the same. People say that once you've made
contact, Sozo doesn't let go. It keeps coming back, sometimes
even when the board is packed away and forgotten.
It copies voices, slips into your dreams, worms its way into
(04:40):
your thoughts. Some people start seeing shadowy
figures at the edge of their vision.
Others hear scratching behind their walls or notice
electronics shorting out for no reason.
Birds fly into windows. Strange sickness follows.
The more you engage, the worse it gets.
(05:01):
The deeper the contact, the darker the fallout.
Scholars and paranormal researchers have long sought to
determine the origin of the nameZozo.
The earliest reference dates back to 1816 in a French occult
text titled Dictionary Infernal.It describes a young girl
(05:22):
allegedly possessed by three spirits, one of them known as
Zozo. Was it a coincidence, or could
this be the first documented encounter with the entity behind
all of these reach abort stories?
Some researchers suggest that Zozo is a mispronunciation of
Pazuzu, the ancient Mesopotamiandemon associated with storms,
(05:45):
disease, and misfortune. The names sound eerily similar,
and both are linked to chaos andterror, but there's nothing
definitive to make this theory solid.
Others see Dojo as something entirely different, a thought
form, or a tulpa. In occult theory, a tulpa is a
(06:06):
being created through intense belief or fear, a sort of
psychic echo that takes on a life of its own.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the word talpa describes something far
stranger than a simple ghost or spirit.
A talpa is a being or even an object brought into existence
(06:27):
through intense and visualization and mental focus.
Practitioners believe that with enough concentration, a thought
form can manifest in the physical world, taking on a kind
of independent reality. Tulpas aren't always sinister in
traditional practice. They can serve as guides or
companions, shaped entirely by the creators intent and
(06:51):
imagination. But there's a darker side too.
If enough people pour energy, fear and belief into a single
idea, especially something as menacing as Zozo possible that
the thought form becomes strong enough to act on its own,
separate from any single mind. With so many people focusing
(07:13):
their dread and fascination on the name Zozo, we may have
collectively breathed it into existence.
Each new story, each new sessiongives it more substance and
power. So when people suggest Zozo
might be a tulpa, they're not just talking about superstition.
They're pointing to the phenomenon where collective fear
(07:35):
and fascination could have givenbirth to something that now acts
independently, feeding off the attention and energy it
receives. Another speculation is that Zozo
isn't just one entity, but part of a network, a legion of
demonic parasites using the samename to lure people in.
(07:57):
This theory suggests that Zozo is more like a mask worn by
different entities to exploit the fear that has already been
built up around its reputation. The goal is to draw in more
victims to blur the line betweenour world and whatever weights
beyond. A parasite demon is more than a
(08:17):
ghost or a trickster. It's a force that feeds,
sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once, on fear, chaos, and
pain. Unlike traditional demons of
religious lore, parasite demons don't want your soul in a in a
fire and brimstone sense. They want to linger, to infect.
(08:40):
They attach themselves to people, places, even objects,
drawing out negative energy and growing stronger the longer they
stay with Dozo, the signs are textbook parasite behavior.
It latches on during a Ouija session and refuses to leave,
stalking its victims through dreams, electronics, and even
(09:03):
daily life long after the board is put away.
It mimics voices, manipulates emotions, and creates rifts,
feeding off of the anxiety and dread it stirs up.
People report feeling drained, sick, or simply wrong, as if
something is leaching energy straight from their core.
(09:24):
Some say parasite demons are like psychic leeches.
They slip in when your guard is down, thrive in your fear, and
only get harder to shake the more you acknowledge them.
The more you interact, the deeper they Burrow.
If Zozo is a parasite demon, that might explain why the
stories about it are so eerily similar, and why it keeps coming
(09:47):
back, and why its presence feelsso much heavier than that of any
ordinary spirit. Zozo isn't just another ghost
story whispered in the dark. It's a presence that seems to
slip between categories, A teemon, a thought form, a
parasite never fitting neatly into any box.
(10:07):
For some, it's the ultimate trickster, charming then cruel,
always one step ahead. For others, it's a force that
wears people down, haunting their dreams, their homes, even
their minds, long after a Ouija board is tucked away in a
closet. What makes Zozo so unnerving
isn't just the terror it inspires, but how it adapts.
(10:31):
Some encounters are classical horror objects flying, eerie
scratches, electronics going haywire.
Others are more psychological, as if Zozo knows exactly which
buttons to push, Isolating people, feeding off their
anxiety, warming its way deeper with every sleepless night.
There's no single explanation that fits every story.
(10:54):
Maybe Zozo is a centuries old demon, it's name echoing through
a cult history since the 1800s. Maybe it's thought form born
from our collective fears, or perhaps something we haven't
even named yet, A predator that's learned to follow the
trail of our curiosity wherever it leads.
But here's what we do know. Whether you believe in demons,
(11:17):
culpas were just the mysterious power of the human mind.
Zozo is real to the people who felt its influence.
The stories are too similar, thedetails too consistent, to
simply dismiss as coincidence orhysteria.
I suppose we'll leave this one to the unexplained realms behind
(11:44):
me. You're hearing Sarah the
Illestra Mentalist with her track Oak City and really a
super fan of her music. Can find her on Spotify and
YouTube and many other places. Definitely suggest you leave the
lights on for tonight. Darren Evans encounter with this
demon was terrifying. His story began like so many
(12:07):
others, just driven by curiosity.
If you watch Ghost Adventures, check out Season 12 episode 3,
where Darren Evans joins the crew in that episode.
Some people believe there's a strange link between this demon
Zozo and Led Zeppelin's mysterious Zoso, a symbol from
their fourth album. Fans noticed that Jimmy Page's
(12:30):
cryptic symbol looks uncannily similar to the demon's name, and
given Jimmy Page's interest in the occult, it's sparked plenty
of speculation. Valerie from Oklahoma inspired
this episode. She sent in her experience with
the demon Zozo, she said. I was 16 when I tried the Ouija
(12:51):
board. My friend thought it was a joke,
but something answered and it spelled Zozo right away.
Will feature that entire story on an upcoming fan episode, but
for now I'll leave you. Thanks for wandering the
unexplained realms with me. If you're thinking of lighting a
candle and sliding that planchette across the board
(13:12):
tonight, remember some doors that once opened.
Never a trolling hose. Sleep tight and if you hear
knocking in threes, don't answer.
The following podcast may not befor all listeners.
Listener discretion is advised. What if something is waiting
every time you touched a Ouija board?
What if the planchette isn't just moving on its own, but
being pulled slowly, deliberately, by something you
(00:21):
can't see? In this episode, we're stepping
into the dark with Zozo, the name that turns up in frantic
stories and sleepless nights. This is Unexplained Realms, and
I hope you'll journey with me past the edge of folklore, down
into the marrow of shadow and dread.
(00:43):
What waits there is older than superstition and far, far
darker. Settle in, but keep a light on
because some doors once opened, don't shut so easily.
(01:04):
Before exploring too far into Zozo, we should chat about the
tool that summons him, a Ouija board.
It emerged in the world in the 1890s, coinciding with America's
spiritualist craze. Sold as a harmless parlor game,
the board was marketed with a wink and a promise.
(01:26):
But the people who made it had no idea what kind of door they
were opening. By the 1920's, the Ouija board
had become ubiquitous, as commonas a deck of cards.
Families and friends circled around, fingertips just brushing
the planchette, all hoping for awhispered message from the other
(01:47):
side. But sometimes the voices that
answered weren't the ones anyonewanted to hear.
Sometimes they lied and sometimes they never laughed,
and sometimes they spelled one name over and over.
ZO ZO1 of the first modern Zozo encounters to gain notoriety
(02:12):
online occurred in 2009, when a man named Darren Evans shared
his story on an online ghost forum.
According to Darren, it started out with nothing more than a
casual curiosity. He had a few sessions with the
Ouija board just to see what might happen, but whatever he
(02:32):
invited in didn't want to leave.Zozo told Darren that it had
come to take his family to Paradise.
When Darren pressed for an answer.
Where exactly is paradise? The planchette slid across the
board, letter by letter, until it's spelled out HELL.
(02:54):
Frequently, Zozo spat out ugly obscenities in languages that
sounded like Latin or Hebrew. The haunting escalated quickly.
Poltergeist activity rattled thehouse.
Violent nightmares kept him up at night, and the atmosphere in
his home turned suffocating. It got worse.
(03:14):
Darren's young daughter nearly drowned in the bathtub and at
one point was hospitalized with an unexplained infection.
He described Zozo as slick and mocking, always one step ahead
of him. When the planchette moved, it
would sweep in frantic figure eights between Z&O.
(03:36):
The entity would pretend to be several spirits at once, sweet,
talking you one minute, then turning cruel A heartbeat later.
It craved fear, and it knew justhow to get it.
Darren's story spread like wildfire.
Soon, others started sharing their encounters with Zozo.
(03:57):
Thousands of them all described the same name and the same
chilling pattern. What stands out about the
encounters with Zozo is their remarkable consistency.
Most which encounters are random, fleeting, and have
different names and personalities.
But Zozo shows up everywhere, across borders, languages,
(04:20):
decades. No matter where or when, the
pattern stays the same. People say that once you've made
contact, Sozo doesn't let go. It keeps coming back, sometimes
even when the board is packed away and forgotten.
It copies voices, slips into your dreams, worms its way into
(04:40):
your thoughts. Some people start seeing shadowy
figures at the edge of their vision.
Others hear scratching behind their walls or notice
electronics shorting out for no reason.
Birds fly into windows. Strange sickness follows.
The more you engage, the worse it gets.
(05:01):
The deeper the contact, the darker the fallout.
Scholars and paranormal researchers have long sought to
determine the origin of the nameZozo.
The earliest reference dates back to 1816 in a French occult
text titled Dictionary Infernal.It describes a young girl
(05:22):
allegedly possessed by three spirits, one of them known as
Zozo. Was it a coincidence, or could
this be the first documented encounter with the entity behind
all of these reach abort stories?
Some researchers suggest that Zozo is a mispronunciation of
Pazuzu, the ancient Mesopotamiandemon associated with storms,
(05:45):
disease, and misfortune. The names sound eerily similar,
and both are linked to chaos andterror, but there's nothing
definitive to make this theory solid.
Others see Dojo as something entirely different, a thought
form, or a tulpa. In occult theory, a tulpa is a
(06:06):
being created through intense belief or fear, a sort of
psychic echo that takes on a life of its own.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the word talpa describes something far
stranger than a simple ghost or spirit.
A talpa is a being or even an object brought into existence
(06:27):
through intense and visualization and mental focus.
Practitioners believe that with enough concentration, a thought
form can manifest in the physical world, taking on a kind
of independent reality. Tulpas aren't always sinister in
traditional practice. They can serve as guides or
companions, shaped entirely by the creators intent and
(06:51):
imagination. But there's a darker side too.
If enough people pour energy, fear and belief into a single
idea, especially something as menacing as Zozo possible that
the thought form becomes strong enough to act on its own,
separate from any single mind. With so many people focusing
(07:13):
their dread and fascination on the name Zozo, we may have
collectively breathed it into existence.
Each new story, each new sessiongives it more substance and
power. So when people suggest Zozo
might be a tulpa, they're not just talking about superstition.
They're pointing to the phenomenon where collective fear
(07:35):
and fascination could have givenbirth to something that now acts
independently, feeding off the attention and energy it
receives. Another speculation is that Zozo
isn't just one entity, but part of a network, a legion of
demonic parasites using the samename to lure people in.
(07:57):
This theory suggests that Zozo is more like a mask worn by
different entities to exploit the fear that has already been
built up around its reputation. The goal is to draw in more
victims to blur the line betweenour world and whatever weights
beyond. A parasite demon is more than a
(08:17):
ghost or a trickster. It's a force that feeds,
sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once, on fear, chaos, and
pain. Unlike traditional demons of
religious lore, parasite demons don't want your soul in a in a
fire and brimstone sense. They want to linger, to infect.
(08:40):
They attach themselves to people, places, even objects,
drawing out negative energy and growing stronger the longer they
stay with Dozo, the signs are textbook parasite behavior.
It latches on during a Ouija session and refuses to leave,
stalking its victims through dreams, electronics, and even
(09:03):
daily life long after the board is put away.
It mimics voices, manipulates emotions, and creates rifts,
feeding off of the anxiety and dread it stirs up.
People report feeling drained, sick, or simply wrong, as if
something is leaching energy straight from their core.
(09:24):
Some say parasite demons are like psychic leeches.
They slip in when your guard is down, thrive in your fear, and
only get harder to shake the more you acknowledge them.
The more you interact, the deeper they Burrow.
If Zozo is a parasite demon, that might explain why the
stories about it are so eerily similar, and why it keeps coming
(09:47):
back, and why its presence feelsso much heavier than that of any
ordinary spirit. Zozo isn't just another ghost
story whispered in the dark. It's a presence that seems to
slip between categories, A teemon, a thought form, a
parasite never fitting neatly into any box.
(10:07):
For some, it's the ultimate trickster, charming then cruel,
always one step ahead. For others, it's a force that
wears people down, haunting their dreams, their homes, even
their minds, long after a Ouija board is tucked away in a
closet. What makes Zozo so unnerving
isn't just the terror it inspires, but how it adapts.
(10:31):
Some encounters are classical horror objects flying, eerie
scratches, electronics going haywire.
Others are more psychological, as if Zozo knows exactly which
buttons to push, Isolating people, feeding off their
anxiety, warming its way deeper with every sleepless night.
There's no single explanation that fits every story.
(10:54):
Maybe Zozo is a centuries old demon, it's name echoing through
a cult history since the 1800s. Maybe it's thought form born
from our collective fears, or perhaps something we haven't
even named yet, A predator that's learned to follow the
trail of our curiosity wherever it leads.
But here's what we do know. Whether you believe in demons,
(11:17):
culpas were just the mysterious power of the human mind.
Zozo is real to the people who felt its influence.
The stories are too similar, thedetails too consistent, to
simply dismiss as coincidence orhysteria.
I suppose we'll leave this one to the unexplained realms behind
(11:44):
me. You're hearing Sarah the
Illestra Mentalist with her track Oak City and really a
super fan of her music. Can find her on Spotify and
YouTube and many other places. Definitely suggest you leave the
lights on for tonight. Darren Evans encounter with this
demon was terrifying. His story began like so many
(12:07):
others, just driven by curiosity.
If you watch Ghost Adventures, check out Season 12 episode 3,
where Darren Evans joins the crew in that episode.
Some people believe there's a strange link between this demon
Zozo and Led Zeppelin's mysterious Zoso, a symbol from
their fourth album. Fans noticed that Jimmy Page's
(12:30):
cryptic symbol looks uncannily similar to the demon's name, and
given Jimmy Page's interest in the occult, it's sparked plenty
of speculation. Valerie from Oklahoma inspired
this episode. She sent in her experience with
the demon Zozo, she said. I was 16 when I tried the Ouija
(12:51):
board. My friend thought it was a joke,
but something answered and it spelled Zozo right away.
Will feature that entire story on an upcoming fan episode, but
for now I'll leave you. Thanks for wandering the
unexplained realms with me. If you're thinking of lighting a
candle and sliding that planchette across the board
(13:12):
tonight, remember some doors that once opened.
Never a trolling hose. Sleep tight and if you hear
knocking in threes, don't answer.
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