Red Door, Yellow Door

Submission 6,226

Part of a series on Magic (paranormal). [View Related Entries]

About

Red Door, Yellow Door, also known as The Doors of Your Mind or Black Door, White Door, is a paranormal game where one player, the "host," puts another, eyes closed and head in the host's lap, in a light trance by constantly rubbing their temples and saying, "red door, yellow door, any other color door." Once in a trance, the host describes a hallway with many colored doors to the entranced person, who then describes their exploration into said doors and what they see inside of them, all while remaining in the trance. The host is also tasked with guiding the player out of the trance. The game gained prevalence throughout the 2010s, becoming a viral trend on TikTok in 2020 and again in 2022.

Origin

The origins of Red Door, Yellow Door are unclear, although seem to date back before the 2010s. The earliest known post referencing the game is a November 16th, 2011 post to DeviantArt^[1] by spricket. The post shows a page of a conceptual manga series where a boy is playing the game (shown below). The post description gives instructions on how to play Red Door, Yellow Door.

On July 16th, 2012, Redditor brickell posted a description of the game, which he calls "The Doors of Your Mind," to /r/threekings,^[2] gaining over 130 upvotes in 10 years. The top comment^[3] by Redditor RevolutionisNigh suggests the game existed multiple years before the post, reading:

I did this with some friends in high school many years ago! One friend knew how to…hypnotize?, I guess, people basically by having them lay their heads in her lap, while she massaged their temples – something very similar to this ritual – and tell some sort of very weird, but calming story. When she was sure that they were "hypotized" (I'm still not sure that's what is was exactly), then she would start asking the person questions about "doors" that they should be seeing, and walking them through some of them.

How to Play

Light some candles in a quiet, dim room and set up a recording device (optional)
Set an alarm for one hour
Pick a host and a player. The player lays on the floor with their head in the host's lap, facing upward.
The player closes their eyes, The host rubs both the player's temples in a steady, circular motion.
As the host, say, "You are at one end of a long hallway. There are numerous doors on both sides, spanning the entire length. I want you to explore these doors and the rooms behind them. Describe what you see, hear, tough and feel."
The player describes everything they encounter in the doors as the host asks questions, meant to get the player to elaborate on what they're experiencing.
When the alarm rings, the host guides the player out of the trance by leaving the current door and closing all previously opened doors.

Additionally, there are certain things a player and host are meant to look out for at the risk of being possessed. According to The Ghost In My Machine,^[4] if the player enters a room full of clocks or if they encounter an old woman they should immediately leave the room. If you encounter a man with a suit, the host should end the session immediately.

Spread

On January 14th, 2015, the blog The Ghost in My Machine^[4] published a description of the game and how to play it. On April 9th, Scary for Kids^[5] published an article on the game. That year, several videos were posted to YouTube^[6] where children play the game, including an upload on June 7th, 2015 that gained over 20,000 views in seven years. On October 15th, 2017, YouTuber^[7] D_Vlog posted a video where he plays the game, gaining over 260,000 views in five years (shown below, left). On May 8th, 2018, YouTuber^[8] Crumbled Cookie posted a video playing the game, gaining over 740,000 views in four years (shown below, right).

In early 2020, TikTokers began uploading videos of themselves and friends playing Red Door Yellow Door. On January 30th, 2020, TikToker^[9] @kobie.beef420 posted a video allegedly showing their friend Josh possessed after playing the game, gaining over 2 million views in two years (shown below, left). On February 9th, TikToker^[10] @beau.seipler3 posted a video showing her playing the game with her brother, who describes running into an "all black man," causing the host to scream and try and free him from the trance, gaining over 3.6 million views in two years (shown below, right).

On November 12th, 2020, YouTuber^[11] Jessii Vee posted a video about the game, gaining over a million views in two years (shown below).

The game went viral on TikTok^[12] again in July 2022. On July 26th, 2022, Christian TikToker @narrowistheroad posted a video condemning the game as demonic, gaining over 1.2 million views in a week (shown below). On August 2nd,