Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get your stories?
Sometimes people send them to me via email, but a lot of the time they tell the stories to me directly. Many of the stories come from myself and my family and friends. They tell it to me and I write it down. It's important for me to keep the voice of the story teller as authentic as possible.
When someone emails me a story, I do not edit their content. I do basic things like correct grammar, spelling and punctuation, but that is it. As I said, it is important that I keep their voice authentic.
Why are the stories all anonymous?
A lot of people are not comfortable letting others know that they have seen a ghost, or something like it. Therefore, I find they are more comfortable if they know that they don't have to share their name. A lot of people have been reluctant to let me post their story on my website until they learned that it would be anonymous, and only require minimal information.
Why do you include age and ethnicity?
In the stories I include the following:
1. Age
2. Sex
3. Ethnicity
4. Exact location of experience
I think it's important to have a feel for the story teller. Also, sometimes, someone's culture has a lot to do with what they are experiencing. That is why ethnicity is included. This format I have borrowed from Glen Grant, who often used similiar information at the beginning of his stories in his book Obake Files. I thought it would be fun for people familiar with him, and make the stories look a bit like they're from a file. I'm dorky like that.
I just submitted my story to you. Why hasn't it appeared on the website?
The form that I use to submit a story does not upload the story directly to my website. The form is there for your convenience, and once you hit send, it comes directly to me to review. The reason for this is because I get a lot of spam and rude people submitting things that are not stories. I also like to be able to make grammatical corrections, as mentioned above.
Stories are posted every Sunday, and are posted in the order of which they are received. So if you have just submitted a story to me, but I have gotten five more before yours, you won't see yours until I've posted the others. So, yes, sometimes it will be a while before you see your story, because I like to have at least one story per month for readers to enjoy, instead of putting a bunch in one month and having nothing for months on end (like in previous years. Just look at the archives, you'll see what I mean). I know it's inconvenient, and I thank you for your patience.
You can submit your stories using this form or by emailing to weirdhawaii@gmail.com. Pictures are also welcome!