Ghosts Next Door

Ghosts Next Door
by Lopaka Kapanui

Aug 31, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #63

PULIKI

For the past ten years, my friends and family have told me that it’s a morbid habit for me to visit the place where my daughter died but I do it because I wasn’t there when it happened. I left her with her teacher and her classmates. Even though she had asked me for one more hug before I left, I had a pressing meeting and I left without giving her that last hug.

Aug 30, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #64

MEA KOLO

It was one of those all-night parties at a large home in Manoa, filled to the walls and perhaps even the rafters by college-aged kids who were drinking and smoking their way into wild abandon. The police were called several times by anal-retentive neighbors whose lives were so drab and uneventful that they felt everyone else should suffer the same.

Aug 29, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #65

MAKANA


It was mid-day at Halema'uma'u crater and many hula halau were offering ho'okupu to the goddess Pele. They came in droves, all dressed in their finery and their colorful kahiko costumes. The various kumu hula presented their best drums and ipu heke and allowed only their best dancers to perform. The dances themselves were bombastic and required persons of great athletic precision and endurance.

Aug 28, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #66

ME'E

A dark and terrible storm raged only in the evening. It drenched the Kapolei neighborhood with its deluge, soaking all things in its wake. Sitting in his bedroom while gazing out into the pitch black of the sudden storm, young Kawika thought it strange that the storm only appeared at night.

Aug 27, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #67

NOHU MA'O

Settling into your new home is a wonderful experience especially when it’s not a rental but a home that you own. It’s an even greater feeling of freedom when you’re a single parent, many single parents struggle but they do their best to provide for their child and give them the best life possible.

Aug 26, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #68

KEKELE

I haven't got much life left in my phone battery so I'll make this as quick and as comprehensible as possible. Fifteen minutes ago this plane was illuminated by a light.....and it still is....that is so bright it looks like daylight. Sort of impossible because it's approximately 8:10 pm.

Aug 25, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #69

WAI KU WAI OLA


I became stagnant water, tepid, unmoving, collecting dust, microbes, and other things which would eventually cause me to give off the unpleasant odor of apathy.

Aug 24, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #70

HO 'A'O


Valerie, can't shake herself out of her depression. She sits there at the table for most of the day until she has to use the bathroom or shower. Eating she never did, picking at snacks she did do. Mostly, she nurses a full cup of whiskey until she eventually polishes it off and refills it and sits there and repeats the cycle.

Aug 23, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #71

HALE

From the window of her upstairs bedroom, Rita saw Boy emerge from the back seat of his car with a wooden gourd in his hand. Kealoha stepped out of his employer's way as he made a beeline for the front door. Aunty Rita hurried down the stairs and stopped Boy in the foyer.

Aug 22, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #72

MA KELA 'AO'AO I KA MOANA


The shores are pristine and the sands are as white as the sun will allow the colors to be. The blue ocean in all her majesty caresses the shore as if to release it of some unknown tension. The waters ebb away and the sands sigh in great comfort.

Aug 21, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #73

KA WAHINE I KUNAWAI

He was small for his age and puberty had not yet blossomed him to what would be his fullest height and strength. The heart of a thousand warriors beat in his soul and his bravery could not be matched. Unfortunately, his physical stature could not carry him far, and so he was mercilessly bullied by his much larger peers. His name was Kalaukoa but his classmates teased him, "Laulau." He could only stand it for so long until he would ball up his little fists and let the punches fly.

Aug 20, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #74

KA MELE I MAKIKI


June 20, 1982

Larson,

You'll be glad to know that I've finally saved enough money from my two jobs that I could move out from Aniani place. I'm living on Liholiho Street in town. The parking lot is downstairs and you have to walk up to get to my apartment. It's like I live on the second floor. There are banana and ti leaf plants all around the building with a few red ginger plants here and there. After bills, I always have enough to eat out or to go see a movie. I'm glad I work during the day because in the evenings I meet some of my old classmates to dance the night away in the Waikiki clubs. Everyone tells me that my parents are sad that I moved out but by the way they act in person......I strongly doubt it. I feel bad in but not enough to move back. I'm writing because I want to know if you personally know of anyone who could come and bless my apartment? In the dead of night, I'll hear the records playing on the phonograph from the living room. It's an old song and the words go this way.

'On a little street in Singapore, we'd meet beside a lotus covered door.
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face, how pale the hands that held me
in embrace....'

It's an odd melodic song and I've never heard it before because I don't have it in my record collection. You know my collection, it's a mix of everything but not a song like that. Every night I leave my bedroom to see who broke in through my lanai door and invaded my privacy by playing that kind of music. The living room is always empty and quiet and the phonograph is off. I place my hands on the sides of it to feel if it was recently playing but it's cold. This has gone on for several nights now so I think it's a ghost. Let me know of someone that you can think of?

Mahalo

Allan

..........................................

June 28, 1982

Allan,

I figured you don't have a phone cause you haven't given me your number and your return address is a P.O Box. I figured you get your mail from the post office down the street. I have my uncle who can go and bless your place but you have to let me know where the heck it is?

Best

Larson

......................

Larson finally received a letter from Allan with a phone number and an address. The address was correct. Larson parked in front of the humble building and took a walk up to Liholiho and Wilder where he found a payphone and gave Allan a call. A woman answered and Larson asked if he could speak to Allan? The woman replied there wasn't an Allan that lived there. The woman on the phone identified herself as Aragon Sheila. Larson apologized and hung up. Walking back down Liholiho street, Larson got to his car and lo and behold, there was Allan coming down the stairs of his apartment. Larson recalls that Allan was dressed in his favorite pair of slacks and aloha shirt. His shoes were also his favorite ones he wore to prom in high school. The only strange thing is that Allan wore women's makeup on his face. Eyebrows, eyelashes, eyeliner, foundation, and lip gloss shining over a mess of caked-on lipstick. His fingernails were blood-red press on, a stark contrast to Allan's dark skin.

"Allan?" Larson called out, a bit unsure.

Allan stopped and regarded Larson with a smile. "Are you the gentleman that called earlier? I'm Aragon Shiela," he said as he extended his hand. Larson took it and gave a tentative greeting.

"Hi....um Allan is this........what are you doing?" Larson could feel his facial expression of confusion and concern.

"Allan is in here somewhere, I let him out from time to time. My god, it's so tough being a murdered ghost in that old apartment of mine! I just HAD to get out and get some air!" Allan smiled but spoke in the female voice that Larson heard over the phone earlier. "Coming?"

"Uh..........no..no.....you go on," Larson was still trying to take in what he saw in front of him. Did Allan's guilt finally get the best of him? Larson would find out later on that the previous tenant was a Torch singer at the old Glade's nightclub who was murdered in the same apartment where Allan lived. The murderer was a married man who became insanely jealous when he found out that Aragon Sheila had been seeing someone else. He climbed in through the lanai door and waited until Aragon Sheila came home, and killed her in the living room.

Allan walked away as if he were floating on air, and to himself, Larson could hear Allan singing a tune,

'On a little street in Singapore, we'd meet beside a lotus covered door.
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face, how pale the hands that held me
in embrace....'

.................................................................................................................................


Come listen to Lopaka's storytelling LIVE - Friday, August 23rd, 7:30pm, at the Honolulu Museum of Art Doris Duke Theater


In Hawaii, one of the most common questions when meeting someone new is, "What school did you grad from?" In Lopaka's world, the question has become, "Is your old school haunted?" Come hear about which schools are most haunted, which neighborhoods are most haunted, and which shopping centers are most haunted on our island of O‘ahu. Could it be yours? Join us, you might just be surprised.

Please note: This is not a scientific study; the "most haunted" stories are purely based on the number of ghost stories and haunted tales shared with our storyteller about each place.

7:30pm, Friday, August 23rd

$15 per person/ $12 museum members

Get your tickets HERE




Aug 19, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #75

WAHINE I KE KAHAWAI

For a short while in the 70's we lived on Ponohana Loop in Waimalu. Until this day, I could never figure out why. At the end of our block was the intersection of Ponohana, Pono, and Ponohale St. My neighbors and I would take the right turn at that intersection and ride along the canal of Waimalu stream until we found its source.

Aug 18, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #76

KA LIMA I KA LEPO

It's very therapeutic. Most look at it as unsightly and beneath them and yes even though it is, it's probably the best thing you can do for yourself. There are healthy minerals in it and it has good overall benefits physically and spiritually. This earth, this Hawaiian earth which gave birth to man himself and the many things that sustain him is what my people call, "Lepo."

Aug 17, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #77

HO'OMAIKA' I


The 'Ohana who lived in Liliha heights had a legitimate claim. Indeed, their house was haunted and indeed there was an apparition flitting about. Everyone saw it, every communicated and interacted with it in some capacity big and small. It wasn't anyone they knew, the family had only recently purchased the property and had not yet lived there a full two months before the apparition manifested.

Aug 16, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #78

HELE HO'OKAHI


So that Jose could feel a bit more relaxed Boy suggested that they drive using Jose's Cadillac rather than the Imperial Crown. Kealoha drove the three Rizal brother's and Tabby in Boy's car and Tiny and Rita rode with Ivan.

Aug 15, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #79

GET BACK TO WHERE YOU ONCE BELONGED


Jose and Manny fashioned the wrought iron dome combining both their welding and hydraulics skills. Oscar was the muscle who carried the pieces in. In the Cadillac parked just across the street from the old abandoned Makiki house is where Junior sat and tested the security cameras on three of his laptops.

Aug 14, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #80

YOUNG MURAMATSU


I don't know what made me want to own and run a little convenience store in Kapahulu, but it was just something I fell into because I had nothing and no one but myself. It used to be owned by old man Muramatsu and his family from the time when the Chinese merchants migrated from Chinatown after the big fire. As old man Muramatsu told me, it was a good clean family business with good neighbors who came to shop.

Aug 13, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #81

HUI PU


The Rizal brothers arrived directly from Kauai with two whole boxes of homemade Kulolo and five large jars of Pa'akai from Hanapepe. Kealoha brought up the rear with a bigger can of poi from Makaweli. After setting the items down on the table, the Rizals gave me a nod to let me know that the more critical thing from Kipu was downstairs in the trunk of the car.

Aug 12, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #82

MANAWA KUPONO


2010

If anyone of you ever has the cause or the opportunity to be in Boy Napualawa's office, I promise you that it is something you'll never forget. That is, of course, if Boy allows you to remember you were ever there. To save you and me a lengthy description of his office, I will simply tell you that it is as modern an office as can be, except that there is a strong sense of something ancient within the confines of the four walls.

Aug 11, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #83

BE YOU, NOT ME


They're standing there in the middle of a dirt parking lot in Makiki. They're screaming at each other, the woman who called me about her haunted house and her two grown-up adult children. They're screaming at each other. Siblings, male and female. She's screaming at her brother for making things worse; he knows the house is haunted, and he provokes the ghosts to come out and do more. The spirits comply and harass the sister.

Aug 10, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #84

CADILLAC COMES BACK


It's because of the adrenalin born out of my own fear that I climbed the wrong telephone pole. I'd meant to climb the newer concrete pole, which was more massive, dug deep, and practically unmovable. But no, the 1966 Cadillac Hearse Fleetwood was hot on my heels, and the wooden telephone pole was the closest, so I climbed up on it because my mortality was at stake.

Aug 9, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #85

WAIALUA


The woman was buying two cases of Heineken for a party going on in a Waikiki hotel room. She stumbled to the cashiers counter and produced her ID and paid for the beer. She was less graceful, walking out to her car in the parking lot. Through the opened passenger side window, she placed the cases of beer on the seat. Making her way around her vehicle to the driver's side, she hopped in and started up the engine. Just then, someone reached in and pulled the keys out of the ignition.

Aug 8, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #86

MRS. KLEMMER


1975

I remember my sixth-grade year in school when our teacher Mrs. Klemmerʻs husband, passed away from a sudden heart attack in his sleep. She was devastated needless to say, and we didnʻt see her until the end of May. She wasnʻt her old lively self, the one who told us that the world was ours to embrace, to change, to conquer, and to love. That person was gone. All we had then was a shell of someone who was just going through the motions.

Aug 7, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #87

KOHU LIKE


I'm very passionate about specific issues political and otherwise. So, when I am called to bless or cleanse a home or business or what have you, the last thing I ask about is someone's religious or political affiliation. That sort of thing is none of my business.

Aug 6, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #88

FOCUS


I wasn't doing myself or anyone sitting in the small space at the social security office any favors by being there. It wouldn't be long before security noticed that I hadn't taken a number by which my case would be called on the overhead speaker. Quite an odd pair the security guards, one six foot four Samoan girl and one five foot six Hispanic young man.

Aug 5, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #89

MOE


My sleep was fitful and restless. I tossed and turned throughout the night with no relief. When waking up to use the bathroom, my eyes were crusted over and half-opened. I moaned and ached as I made the fifteen step journey to the toilet. I must have made this trek three different times during the evening. Each time I was more tired and weary than the last time. Finally, an hour before dawn, I was fast asleep, my body was utterly relaxed, and I felt as if I’d slumbered on a bed of feathers.

Aug 4, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #90

POPPY


Our little baby granddaughter Charm couldn't say the name 'Puppy' to describe her dog, so she called him 'Poppy.' That was his name, and they were inseparable. They ate played and slept together, and the house was empty and lifeless if not for the sound of Poppy's name being called by our little one.

Aug 3, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #91

ENTER


In our ancient culture, it is a tradition that permission is asked to pass through a place or home of a person or persons. The entrance is usually granted after a lengthy protocol ceremony where a chant is offered, and then a chant returned. Sometimes gifts are exchanged, and in cases where a visitor may have nothing to offer other than his own presence, an ornate chant or song is provided instead.

Aug 2, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #92

HELPLESS


It's painful to see you this way, curled up by the hurt that wounds you so severely that you can only cry tears and not utter a syllable of your suffering. When you were a little girl, you cried because you wanted macaroni and cheese for dinner and not ravioli.

Aug 1, 2019

100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2019 #93

AS TOLD BY ROGER HAMPTON


Ever heard someone say that things will only get worse before they get better? I lived through that experience during my senior year at Kailua High School. It started out with my mother having a massive heart attack and a significant stroke while she took her afternoon nap.