Paralyzed

Informant: Female/18 years old/Caucasian Ancestry
Location: Hilo, by the side of the Wailuku River, Big Island

When I was about fourteen, I woke up in the middle of the night suddenly. There was no noise, I was just suddenly awake. However, I couldn't move a muscle. My legs, hands, arms, toes, eyelids, everything, felt like it was paralyzed. I started to freak out, thinking something was wrong. I strained and strained but I couldn't move anything.

Suddenly, out of the dark, I heard someone whisper my name. "Julia!" it whispered. The voice was that of an older male, and I heard it right next to my ear. Now I was really freaked out, I honestly felt someone was there.

A few seconds later (that seemed like hours) I snapped out of it and could move normally. I checked everywhere in my room and there was no one there. My brother was sleeping soundly across the hall and I couldn't figure it out.

I laid awake for the rest of the night, wondering if the voice would come back. It never has.

It Knew My Name...

Informant: Male/? years old/? ancestry
Location: Ahae'ho'omalu, Big Island

The following is true and I was not on any kind of drug or alcohol, nor was I dreaming. I lived on Kauai for about 15 years spending my high school years there. I had heard many bizarre and spooky stories, including stories about the Night Marchers. I had no idea that one day I would encounter them up close!

In May of 1995 I went to the Big Island for a job interview. I didn't get the job and I was "marooned" on the island, as I was broke and didn't know anybody. I pitched a tent in Anae'ho'omalu, on the Kona side of the Big Island, far enough away from the resort area where I would not be easily found. This would be my "base camp" until I could get myself on my feet again.

My tent was well hidden in the Ke'awe and you could not see it unless you knew it was there. I pitched the tent on the only flat ground as the area is all lava fields. I saw many petroglyphs and a partially collapsed wall where I pitched my tent next to, utilizing the flat ground.

One night, during the later part of the month when the moon was waning and crescent-shaped, I bedded down. It was about 10:15pm and I was just nodding off to sleep when quickly I came to my senses because I heard someone walking past my tent on the beach trail.

It sounded like plastic buckets "clunking" together, so I figured the sounds was just someone out for a night dive. I laid still and waited for them to pass. I thought it odd that whoever they were had no lights. However, my single-man tent was covered completely with a canopy and I could not see out.

Then suddenly, someone came to my well-hidden tent and called my name, in a clear and unmistakable deep, masculine, guttural voice. I knew instantly that this was a voice not of this world!

I could "sense" that this "entity" was enjoying scaring me and it knew that I knew it was a ghost. It had almost a hint mischief in it's voice. It knew I was freaking out, and it knew my name to top it all off! Nobody knew me on the Big Island at that time. I certainly didn't tell the job interviewer that I was camped on the beach.

I could also sense that this being "had to go" as if it had more important things to do. I laid still, petrified with fear for about 20 minutes until I felt I was clear to go. I grabbed my blanket and ran as fast as I could along the beach to the lighted resort area about a 1/4 mile away.

I later overheard one of the employees of the resort not too long after the experience who saw "The Night Marchers" as she was driving home through the lava fields after completing her night shift. I believe it to be the same night that I had my weird encounter.

I looked up the date and the phase of the moon in a book of the Hawaiian Moon Calendar. One of the things it said was it was the time that The Night Marchers are seen! Another book explained the "clunking" sounds as calabashes suspended from a pole in which provisions were carried when on a journey in the days of old. This experience remains to this day, the most inexplicable event of my life.

The Mango Tree in the Cemetary

Informant: Female/73 years old/Portuguese Ancestry
Location: Hilo, Big Island

Growing up during the 40's and 50's, we used to roam the neighborhood as children. During that time, one of the popular things to do in the neighborhood was picking fruit.

There used to be this mango tree in the middle of the cemetery right next door to my house that had the biggest mangoes that I can remember.


Being small children, the only way we could attempt to get those mangoes was to climb onto this nearby headstone, and then climb onto the mango tree.

However, no one could ever get the mangoes. Everybody that I know that has climbed that tree to pick the mangoes, fell off trying to do so. But they wouldn't just fall off. Victims of the mango tree have described it more as being pushed or flown off. Many times, this would result in a broken bone or some other serious injury.

I remember there was this one day I went with one of my friends to try and get the mangoes. She climbed onto the headstone, and then onto the tree. The way that she was on the tree, she should have fallen straight down. Instead, it seemed like she flew a good distance away from the tree and she broke her arm.

After that, the tree was cut down. To this day, I cannot remember anyone ever being able to get the mangoes by climbing on to the tree, only by using a fruit picker.

Fear at the City of Refuge

Informant: Male/24/mixed ancestry
Location: City of Refuge, Big Island

My Boy Scout troop went on a camping trip to the City of Refuge, an old native Hawaiian temple which in the native days, when there were many Hawaiian tribes on the Big Island, prisoners of war could run away from their captors. If they made it in the city walls they couldn’t be killed. So my Boy Scout troop decided to camp about a mile out from this place. We arrive at this campsite, a nice, small place. Not much of a beach, but it’s perfect for camping: quiet, no wind, no rain.

The next day, we wake up to a beautiful, sunny day. We decided to walk to the City of Refuge. About 2 miles down a trail we saw some altars along the way and some petroglyphs. It was a really scenic, historical area with lots of native religious history. There were altars and walls where native villages used to be, some overtaken by the Kiawe trees that now inhabit the area.

We saw this large, flat rock along the trail, and everyone stopped to look at it. One of our leaders told us all not to climb on it, as boy scouts often like to do. We listened, given the amount of possibly sacrificial altars we’ve passed, and the types of stories told. The leader walked up to it and inspected it. He touched it, then backed away and said "lets go." We turned back and head toward the campsite. We were moving pretty quickly now. It’s obvious that our leader was pretty spooked. Everyone was mostly silent during the trip.

When we got back to camp, 2 friends and I set out exploring. We come across a long, flat path and decided to walk down it. When we reached the end of the path we saw a sign that read "Warning: Hawaiian rock slides! Do not enter!" Apparently it was a rock slide used in a native village for recreation. At this point darkness seemed to fall unusually early, within an hour’s time of us noticing what we had done. The wind picked up, and rain began to pour. Throughout the night, the wind and rain both picked up speed. At one point we were all soaking wet under the large tarp we brought. The scout leader who took us out on the hike, practically screaming at the top of his lungs, tells us this:

When we were out and got to that large, flat rock,
something seemed wrong. Everyone seemed to agree. We all felt it. Something told him to touch the rock, as if it called to him. He couldn’t resist. He touched it, and said he felt the pain of the people who traveled this same trail, being chased by their enemies; the enemies who would surely kill them if they were caught. He felt the pain of those who died in the area. It all came to him in an instant, that’s when everyone was silent. We all felt something, as if something was telling us to leave this place.

Well, the wind and the rain picked up to such a point that no one could sleep. The tents began to soak and it was impossible to stay dry with the wind creating near horizontal rain torrents. So at 6 am, before the sun even peaked out over the mountains, we packed it all up and drove back to Hilo, tired. Most of us hadn’t slept because of the deafening howl of the wind and the cold of the rain.

And that was the end of the trip.

Who are you talking to?

Informant: Female/40/Filipino ancestry
Location: Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center Kona Campsite, Big Island

Every summer, our family and friends spend a weekend camping at the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center Kona campsite. It's always a nice weekend retreat that everybody has a great time at.

This one particular year, my husband had invited a friend from work, along with her family. We will call this friend, "Sue."

So Sue wakes up during the middle of the night, unable to fall asleep. She sees this figure sitting out side of her tent. The figure seemed like another family guest, whom we'll call "Aunty Moana."

So Sue and Aunty Moana make small take. Sue is weirded out though, because she's beginning to sense that the woman she is talking to is not Aunty Moana. It sounds similar to her, but it's too dark to see any distinguishing features. Plus, Aunty Moana was only someone she met for the first time the day before, so she decided to think nothing of it.

So the next morning Sue wakes up. Everything is going about normally until she mentions the conversation she had with Aunty Moana last night. An awkward silence settles in. Aunty Moana didn't spend the night camping. Later we discover, that everybody who was on the camp ground last night, slept through the entire night. Nobody had woken up in the middle of the night and had a conversation with Sue. Who was sue talking to?

Pele Sighting at Kilauea

Informant: Female/16/Mixed ancestry
Location: Volcanoes National Park, Big Island

My hula sisters and I went on a hula retreat a few years ago up at Kilauea on the Big Island where, of course, Pele lives. We were walking around the Volcano park one night when something started following us; we could hear footsteps. So my friend was like "Hey, you guys hear that?" My other friend said "It's probably a weasel or something," so we just kept on walking. Then we heard barking and we were all scared and didn't know what to do. We walked a little faster, and then it started to get warm. Very, very warm. As we got closer to one of the look outs, we could hear chanting & all of us were freakin' out like crazy.

My friend and I were the ones who were most afraid and we decided to stay in one place, but we could sense something right behind us. We all looked behind us and we didn't see anything, but it was really warm, and the chants kept on getting louder and louder.

Then we heard the footsteps again.

I felt something by my feet and when we ran under the light we saw that it was white dog. When we looked out into the dark, we could see another white thing coming right at us and the chant was getting louder and louder. We ran back to our cabin as the chants kept on getting louder. When we finally got inside our cabin we looked out and the dog was right there at our door step. Our kumu said "It's madame Pele" & when i looked out of my window, that white ghost person thing was still there.

I decided to go to sleep, but I couldn't so I went back outside. I noticed that dog was still there and since I'm such an idiot, I decided to go play with it. It was very cold that night so I had to put on a jacket, pants, socks and shoes. I called the dog by me and as I looked at the dog and played with its ears, I noticed it was very hot, like hot water kine. Then the lady came up to me and asked if that was my dog (this was around 6 a.m. and the sun started to rise). I looked at her and I said "No, sorry." I looked down to play with the dog again and then looked up to ask that lady a question, but she was gone.

I kept on playing with the dog and I started to hear chanting again. I looked out where the woods were and I saw that old lady again, and as I looked at her, I looked into her eyes and they were red. I mean, RED, RED, RED! Then she called the dog and it went running to her, and I looked away for a second and turned back and they were both gone. My kumu told me "You just witnessed something that no one has really ever witnessed." I asked him "What is that" and he said "You saw Pele."

So, I get back into my bed and noticed there was a rock on it. It was a medium sized rock and it was real, real, HOT! I looked out the window and saw the dog go running and vanish. I never saw that dog ever again, neither did I see that lady.

But that rock followed me.

I put it outside, but it would always find its way back inside. When I left to Oahu, it found it's way next to my bed there. My Kumu told me to keep that rock with me no matter what. If that rock keeps on coming back to me then that means its my rock and it's a rock that only I can have an no one else can.

To this very day, I still have that rock.