One of my favorite places to relax and unwind, and share spooky stories is a quiet town on the rainy side of the Big Island. It’s a charming little town that offers museums, art galleries, shops, restaurants... and ghosts.

It’s the site of the famous landmark, Kūka’emoku, also known as the ‘Iao Needle, and for hundreds of years, ali’i were laid to rest in secret caves along its steep walls. It’s also the site of the terrible battle commonly known as Kaua i Kepaniwai o ‘Iao, Battle at the Dammed Water of ‘Iao. People have reportedly seen ghosts and the legendary night marchers.

When the lieutenant’s family moved into their beachfront house at Barking Sands, they knew right away that something was wrong. In a 1985 article, the wife of a Navy lieutenant commander said that she would get a strange, cold feeling sometimes when walking down the hall. It was like an air conditioner, even though she didn’t have one.

The oral traditions of the much-feared night marchers have survived countless years by being passed down from mouth to ear and then by the learned art of writing and documentation. Their stories have spread through hushed whispers during late-night storytelling around the dinner table. Their procession has been witnessed by Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians from different walks of life.

Headed towards the Southern shore, we take the scenic route through the famous Tree Tunnel on Maluhia Road. Aptly named, the Tree Tunnel is made up of hundreds of fragrant, century-old eucalyptus trees planted along nearly a mile of roadway whose branches seem to reach across the road creating a beautiful tunnel of shade and foliage. Many late-night travelers claim that the Tree Tunnel is haunted.

There have been numerous deaths at this precipice that marks the peak of this pathway from Nu’uanu to Windward Oahu -- from the last stand of Kalanikupule, to falling rocks, strong winds, horses losing their footing, and cars careening out of control, not to mention suicides... and murder. This area has a long and violent history. It’s not just one thing that haunts this place, it’s many.

Thought to have originally been built for the purpose of telepathic communication, the mana here is ever-present and powerful. However, before you try to charge your crystals here (yes, unfortunately, it’s been attempted), one must understand that there is so much more here. The residual negative energy of the untold numbers of men that were sacrificed in the space is also constant.

A woman staying in Waikiki in the 1930s says that on the first night she saw glowing lights just on the edge of the water. On the second night, she saw the same thing, except now, the glowing lights seemed to have shadowy forms as if they were people holding up torches, walking along the beach, heading toward Diamond Head to the old heiau. Now, that heiau is a private school.

Seminarians have long talked of attacks by levitating pencils, of doors that would stick on one side but not the other, of pats that rattled without cause. Even laypeople who work at the religious institution talk of feeling a presence, hearing a voice, having something press against them. “It was real,” Ferraro said, “Told and corroborated by prominent men in the Roman Catholic Church.”

Ghosts are said to congregate in these places every evening from seven o’clock until midnight for a form of entertainment, including the legendary night marchers. Several people who happen to work in these locations today say that their buildings are indeed haunted. While most of Downtown Honolulu closes by 6 or 7pm, nights they have to work late are especially creepy.

This ahupua‘a extends inland from Āliapaʻakai crater to the crest of the Ko‘olau Range and holds many of O‘ahu’s most culturally important sites. Within this wahi pana, this sacred place, is Leilono, the entrance place where souls of the departed leap into Pō, the site of Kalaikoa’s hale iwi, his house of bones, a haunted high school, and a famous path for the legendary night marchers.

Away from the bustle of town, a wide, white strip of beach called Māhā‘ulepū is an important site in Hawaii’s history and culture. Before the 1920s, the sands at Maha’ulepu were white with bones scattered across the beach. Skulls were plentiful, sticking out of the sand anywhere one looked, and just dusting away a few inches of sand revealed more.