1.25.2009

Door Stopper

Informant: Female/24/Korean ancestry
Location: Kaimuki, Oahu

My apartment was on the side of the building that got the best breeze. Because of this, all the doors in the apartment had to be closed carefully. If they were let go, they would slam so hard the hinges would come loose. I had to have a repair man come to fix that problem once with my front door, and was careful not to let the door slam ever since.

The bedroom doors were also subject to severe slamming. I secured my door with a case of blank CD’s most of the time. One day I was sitting at my computer, and I saw out of the corner of my eye my unsecured door start to close. I braced myself for the violent slam, but right before it slammed, the door stopped abruptly, as if someone had grabbed it. Then the door opened slightly, and closed gently.

What freaked me out the most was that it looked like someone had grabbed it right before it slammed, opened it wide enough to walk into the room, and closed it gently behind them. Was it a strange wind vortex phenomenon? I’ll never know. I had never seen it happen before, and I never saw it happen again.

Billowing Curtains

Informant: Male/25/Portuguese – mixed ancestry
Location: Hilo, Hawaii

One day my cousin, my brother and I were in my room getting ready to go to bed. It was about 12 pm, all the lights were out, and it was completely silent. This was Hilo before all the coqui frogs invaded, so really, it was just about completely silent. Suddenly I get this feeling, like something is watching us. You know that feeling? Like something is just standing there and watching you? All of a sudden the curtains on one of the windows starts flapping in the breeze. But there was no breeze, no sound even. They just started billowing like something was strolling under them to take a look out the window. A few seconds later they fell back down, and I realized….the windows were closed. The door was closed.

How did that happen? Pressure change? Maybe. But no one was awake in the house except us, and there was definitely no opening of doors or anything anywhere. So I said to my brother and cousin, "Hey, did you guys see that?" They were both awake, and had seen it too -- by chance maybe. After a few minutes I got the courage to recheck the windows -- and yep, they were closed. Really though, I’ve never understood how curtains could flap back and forth for a few seconds like there was something under them, even if you take in to account the possibility of pressure change in the house.

1.18.2009

Wake Up

Informant: Female/23/white - Hawaiian ancestry
Location: Kilauea, Kauai

I had an early wake up call in the morning, so the night before I asked my mom if she could wake me up. As I was sleeping, I heard someone whisper in my ear, "Liana, Liana, wake up," and I felt someone shake me, as if trying to shake me awake. I woke up, but nobody was there. Nobody was in my room. I looked at the clock, and it was still the middle of the night.

I went upstairs to my parents room to see if my mom had tried to wake me. I walked in and she was still sleeping, and I said, "Mom, did you just come downstairs to wake me up?"

She didn't.

1.06.2009

A Faceless Woman at St. Joseph High?

Informant: Male/40/Portuguese ancestry
Location: St. Joseph High School, Big Island

This was a story that the upperclassmen would tell the incoming freshman each year at St. Joseph High School.

The story goes that during 70's, two girls were in the restroom getting ready for school to start. While they were applying their makeup, there was a woman in the restroom with them, brushing her hair over her face. The girls just assumed that the woman was one of the sisters. After the girls were done with their makeup, one of them turned to the woman to ask to borrow her brush. The woman turned to them, revealing her missing face.