There are legends everywhere. Unexplained stories of spooks and recurring ghosts. Hawai`i is no different, as the ancient Hawaiian people have their share of ghost stories. Some have been verified by people catching unexplained sightings.
One is about the “Night Marchers,” or spirits who were once alive and return to places familiar to them. They are said to start their march at sunset during certain moon phases, from burial sites to revisit ancient battlefields, heiau or sacred sites.
Marking their arrival with blowing the conch shell, they make their way across a given area and it is said that if you look at them, you’ll die. Some say it’s best that if you find yourself in their path, lie belly-down on the ground and don’t look up so you don’t get taken into with them into the spirit world!1
Another one, told by famous ghost storyteller, Lopaka Kapanui,2 is about grudge-holding spirits who beat a young man while fishing on the reefs.
Due to a shortage of fish in his usual ground, a young man went fishing on another side of the island at dusk. While casting his line, as the moon rose, a number of warriors came from the ridge to where he was fishing. He saw them and tried to grab his gear, but was immediately punched and beaten, falling into the water, and being smashed against the reef. Exhausted, he eventually pulled himself out of the water and later on found out that there was an ancient grudge between his family and another, tied to the fishing grounds he fished at that day.
These stories are a couple of many that illustrate Hawai`i’s supernatural history.
Happy Halloween...
1 Fox, C.T. (2017, October) Haunted Hawai`i: My Personal Experience With The Supernatural And Unexplained. Honolulu Magazine. https://www.honolulumagazine.com/haunted-hawaii-my-personal-experience-with-the-supernatural-and-the-unexplained/
2 Kapanui, L. (2016, August) 100 Ghost Stories Counting to Halloween! 86 Nights Left! “Hawaiian Blood Feud.” http://www.ghostsnextdoor.com/2016/08/100-ghost-stories-counting-to-halloween.html
Haunted Hawaii Nightmarchers Illustration courtesy of The Paranormal Corner Blog Huaka'i Pō - The Nightmarchers of Hawaii