#IWSG Ghost Stories for October

 

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Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It's a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our fearless ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. The awesome co-hosts for the October 2 posting of the IWSG are Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jacqui Murray, and Natalie Aguirre!

October 2 question - Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What's your favorite classic ghostly tale? Tell us about it and why it sends chills up your spine.

My fascination with ghost stories emerged in the early 1990s, shortly after I moved to Honolulu and began learning about local supernatural lore by participating in one of college professor Glen Grant's nighttime ghost tours around the island of O'ahu.

Thrilling tales of night marchers (the spirits of Hawaiian warriors roaming the countryside where ancient battles were fought) and eerie appearances by Madame Pele, the goddess of Hawaiian volcanoes, are at the top of my list for "chicken skin" stories, along with tales set at Kaena Point, the leaping off spot for souls of the recently departed.

The Lost Little Girl of Manoa Valley, a story involving a little girl found crying in a local cemetery late one rainy evening, (of course it was "a dark and stormy night"!) is one of many unsettling though entertaining ghost stories in Glen Grant's book, Chicken Skin Tales. Although I was raised across the road from a cemetery and have never found cemeteries particularly scary, this story set my spine tingling because the finer details of the spiritual encounter make the experience truly believable.

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Kaena Point, northeastern O'ahu

End of the line

Me - not planning to leap off anytime soon!

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