Hawaii's Supernatural

Hawaii loves its ghost stories. People tell and retell stories of night marchers, haunted bathrooms, Morgan’s Corner and vanishing hitchhikers.

If you want to go on a grand ghost tour around Asia, as well as Hawaii and the South Pacific, check out the new book, Asian Supernatural (Mutual Publishing, $18.95). This reference guide by author Alex Paman goes region by region, explaining each culture’s flesh-eating demons, benevolent ghosts, vengeful spirits and other lore.

Take the fehuluni, a Tongan female ghost who removes her head from her shoulders and combs her hair. Or the taotaomona, dwarf-size beings who pinch passersby in Guam. Japan’s rokurokubi enjoy drinking oil-lamp fuel, while the Mongolian death worm, said to grow up to five feet long, spews acid and electric shocks onto its victims. Yikes.

The book is an entertaining Halloween read on its own, and for Hawaii readers, it’s a chance to add some new characters to the usual cast of Pele and menehune.

Haunted Hawaii

If you want to see video of Morgan’s Corner, learn about Hawaii’s cemeteries or read about Oahu’s most paranormally active places, click here.