Spooky Kine Investigations

Excerpts From "Science or Pseudoscience: Magnetic Healing, Psychic Phenomena, and Other Heterodoxies"

2012-02-21T22:09:00.001-10:00

Those who sneer at “pseudoscience” reveal scientism: the belief that only science is authoritative when it comes to knowledge.

One trouble with that attitude is that a great deal within science is incorrect “knowledge.” The history of science is a continuing chronicle of old ideas discarded, theories superseded, “facts” modified.

Since science as well as “pseudoscience” suffers from mistakes, it makes little sense to attempt to distinguish them on grounds of what is true or not.

If scientific knowledge were the only knowledge important to human beings - which it is not - then one could simply turn to science for guidance on what to believe.

If scientific knowledge were always correct - which it is not - then one would know what to believe at least on those matters with which science concerns itself.

If science were easily defined - which it is not - then it would also be easy to know when claimed knowledge is pseudoscience rather than the real thing.

But as things stand, there is available no quick or easy guidance about what to believe, not only on the many matters over which apparently competent people differ but also over some where the experts seem to be in agreement. At times we do well to believe what we’re told; at other times we had better not. Sometimes there’s no better guide than the experience of what you’ve seen for yourself; at other times your eyes deceive you. We should be open to new ideas - but on the other hand we should always be skeptical and critical before accepting a new idea, for old beliefs are often well tested by experience whereas new ones may be untested hunches. It’s good to see the whole picture, to be holistic, to be interdisciplinary - but on the other hand, in many fields progress requires concentration on ultraspecialized techniques, theories, and facts.

Bauer, Henry H. Science or Pseudoscience: Magnetic Healing, Psychic Phenomena, and Other Heterodoxies. 1st ed. Urbana and Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2001. ix, x, 2. Print.

Paranormal Observation

2012-01-28T17:27:00.001-10:00

Paranormal observation is a systematically based observational technique developed by Spooky Kine Investigations for the gathering and documentation of empirical data in the study of paranormal research and investigations.

Goal: To prove the existence of paranormal phenomena.
Problem: We can’t prove phenomena that is unnatural or unexplainable truly exists.
Solution: We can only find correlations within systematically observed data to track consistency in unexplainable occurrences. [Taken from S.K.I.'s Guide to Paranormal Research and Investigations in Hawai'i]

An Excerpt on Science vs Pseudoscience

2012-01-22T16:59:00.000-10:00

"I don't want you to get the wrong impression. Science is a very human activity. Its practioners share all the flaws and shortcomings we all possess. It is a dynamic, highly competitive activity. Emotions often come into play. But there is also a strongly cooperative aspect of science. Most scientists have a sense of allegiance to the long-term honesty and integrity of the process. Science is, among other things, an organized means for testing the validity of ideas and claims. When a hypothesis fails to stand up to repeated tests, it is discarded. Pseudoscience operates by slightly different rules.

Science is a process of searching to understand nature and is always undergoing revision. There is a strong no-holds-barred, let-the-facts-fall-where-they-may attitude. Pseudoscience clings emotionally to comforting ideas long after they've been shown to be most likely wrong.

Scientists try to be careful to limit their claims to matters that they can support reasonably well, with good evidence. Pseudoscientists make wild and exaggerated claims that go far beyond the evidence.

Scientists actively seek out comments and criticism from well-informed colleagues before publishing a claim. Pseudoscientists usually do all they can to avoid informed criticism before publication.

Scientists usually publish their research in scientific journals that take steps - peer reviews - to ensure that the work meets minimal standards of competence and accuracy before accepting it. Pseudoscientists usually go straight to the public, their claims first appearing in commercial books whose publishers make no independent efforts to verify accuracy, or in ther publications that care only about a good story.

Scientists usually frame a hypothesis in such a way that if it is wrong it can be proved wrong. Pseudoscientists attempt to frame their claims in such a way that they cannot be proved wrong. They constantly shift the grounds for substantiation or purposely make vague or ambiguous statements that cannot be tested.

Scientists realize that the burden of proof is on the investigator making the claim. A hypothesis is not accepted as valid until it has stood up to many tests. Pseudoscientists place a burden of disproof on the critics. They generally hold that their claim is true unless others "disprove" it. Scientists accept that the stronger the claim made (that is, the more it contradicts previously demonstrated evidence), the greater the evidence must be for it before it can be accepted. Pseudoscientists thrive on the probability that the more sensational the claim, the more publicity it will get , and thus the more supporters it will gain among sympathetic segments of the public.

Scientists realize all information is imperfect. They try to avoid absolutes. They attempt to present an honest assessment of the amount of error attached to all measurements and of the degree of reliability associated with all claims. Pseudoscientists often present their claims as infallibly true. They make no effort to distinguish between the varying quality of evidence they use to support their claims.

Scientists build on other scientific work. They familiarize themselves with previous relevant research before attempting to extend or modify it. Pseudoscientists often ignore previous studies altogether, especially research results that conflict with their pet hypotheses.

When shown to be wrong, most scientists usually acknowledge that fact - not always immediately and not always gracefully, for they are human - and they usually either modify the work according to the criticisms or go on to other things. Pseudoscientists tend to be committed believers .They feel any criticism is only a sign of the closed minds and ignorance of scientists. They are quick to don the role of martyr. They appeal to public sympathies.

Science, all in all, is an error-correcting activity. Pseudoscience is an error-promulgating activity.

No wonder, then, that the borderlands of science, where pseudoscientists and their gazetteers so frequently trod, are littered with the wreckage of misbegotten ideas, misleading information, and misdirected hopes. What good scientific ideas do emerge in the borderlands - and some occasionally do - are quickly obscured and made unrecognizable by the accumulating layers of unevaluated, untested nonsense.

Not that any of this deters pseudoscientists and their ideas from reaching public prominence. To the contrary. They appeal straight to the public and they speak with confidence and certainty - no wishy-washy qualifications and none of that technical language that scientists are always putting in their writings to confuse us. They direct their appeal toward the personal interests and deepest psychological needs of the audience. The public eats it up, publishers find it profitable, television talk-show and entertainment programs know that audiences love it. Soon there is so much misleading information flying about that the consumer has no way of distinguishing tested ideas from half-truths and falsehoods, or responsible scientific speculation from outright fantasy. Many don't care. Those prone to accept exotic claims uncritically really aren't concerned about the truth. Others just see it all as harmless entertainment.

I do think, however, that there is a large segment of the public that honestly does prefer accurate to inaccurate information and facts to nonfacts. Most people do want to base their opinions on some semblance of a realistic view of the world."

Frazier, Kendrick. Paranormal Borderlands of Science. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1981. IX, X, XI. Print.

2011-11-24T21:42:00.001-10:00

VOLUNTEER this Sunday Nov. 27, 10 am – 2 pm at Haiku Valley, meet 9:30 at HPU's Hawai'i Loa Campus shuttle stop. Bring water, wear comfortable clothing, shoes, hats, and gloves; for ground clean up. STAY SPOOKY!

From Mālama mea hō‘ike mo‘olelo

CAMP KOKOKAHI - PART 2

2011-10-17T20:22:00.000-10:00

AS EXPERIENCED BY: Wesley

LOCATION: Camp Kokokahi / Kāne‘ohe / O‘ahu / Hawai‘i

DATE: 1973

“Who’s next?”

We all looked at David Kamaka. David looked uncomfortable. “Why me?” he asked.

“Because,” slurred Dason, “you Hawaiian. You must get good ghost stories.”

David hesitated. “Nah, not really.”

Manuel passed the bottle of wine to David. “Come on, you scared or what?”

David shook his head. "No."

"So what then?" I asked. I handed him a cigarette.

David stared at the bottle of wine in one hand and the cigarette in the other. "My tutu said that. . ."

"Her grandson is a wuss?" finished Dason, punching David in the arm.

David didn't even flinch. "No, she said that when you talk about bad things, you invite them into your life."

"So you are scared," teased Karen. "You're worried your little story will evoke bad spirits."

Everyone laughed. Then we started to chant, "David! David!"

David took one last drag on the cigarette and extinguished it on the wooden plank, staring off into the distance. He stood up slowly, and proceeded to drink the entire bottle of wine without taking a breath. David roughly tossed the bottle to Dason.

“Fine,” he said. “I got a story.”

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.

"This is a true story. It happened way before I was born, when my mom was just a keiki. One night, my tutu had finished putting my mom to bed and was in the living room watching television when she heard a scream. It wasn’t the normal cry from a baby who was hungry or needed a diaper change. My tutu said it was the most terrifying scream she'd ever heard. So she rushed into my mom's room and saw. . ."

David paused. Everyone seemed to lean forward, waiting for him to continue.

"Well?" asked Karen. "What did she see?"

"It still haunts my tutu til this day. And she's one tough lady. It was a menehune."

There was a sigh of relief and some people laughed.

"A menehune?" Dason asked. "I thought you were gonna say was one monster or something."

"Yeah," Karen said, "aren't they like cute little elves? Don't they build stuff?"

David shook his head, his jaw clenched. "Not this menehune."

"Okay, sorry," I said, seeing how agitated David had become because we weren't taking him seriously. "So what about your tutu?"

"My tutu saw this menehune with dark green skin like a reptile and reddish-orange hair. It was hunched over the cradle, its gnarled fingers around the baby’s neck, choking it. The baby's screams had stopped. 'Eh!' my tutu shouted. The green menehune continued to suffocate the baby but turned to look at my tutu, its sinister red eyes staring at her. It pointed at my tutu and laughed, a high-pitched laugh, mocking her, revealing its teeth, some decaying, some viciously sharp. She remembered stories her kupuna told her about evil menehune. The only way to get rid of them was to swear. So she swore at the menehune at the top of her lungs. She let out her anger and fear with the worst words she knew.

"Green Menehune"
By Gabriel Del Aragon

"The green menehune flinched and released my mom, who started to cry again. My tutu was relived that the baby was okay but she continued to swear. The green menehune cowered to a corner of the room, still laughing and pointing. My tutu intensified her swearing and walked towards the green menehune until it jumped out of a nearby window, its reddish-orange hair flowing behind it. My tutu rushed to comfort my mom and found the impression of a handprint where the green menehune had tried to squeeze the life out of her daughter. To this day, more than 40 years later, my mom still has that handprint on her neck."

Manuel walked over to David and sat down next to him. "I remember seeing your mom and wondering if that was a birthmark."

David shook his head. "It's not."

"She's lucky to be alive," I said, patting David on the back. "Good story, man."

Everyone clapped and Dason slurred, "I thought menehune were good."

"Not that green one with reddish-orange hair." David said.

Suddenly, without warning, the wind picked up and began blowing wildly. Empty bottles of wine fell over and rolled into the bay. Karen struggled to keep her hair out of her face and her skirt from flying up. We tried gathering our belongings but it had gotten so dark that we could barely see a thing. I looked up towards the moon and saw its light hidden behind a bunch of clouds, moving furiously, almost like mist. I couldn't believe my eyes as I watched the clouds part to reveal a ghostly white figure illuminated within the full moon's glow. The figure resembled an woman, with long white hair billowing wildly around her hunched body. Her bony arms reached forward as if longing for an embrace.

"What the?" Dason asked. He was looking up as well. "Am I that drunk?"

By this point everyone was staring at the moon, the womanly figure still there, beckoning.

"No, I see it, too," I said, shivering from the chilly torrent of wind.

"What do we do?" screamed Karen.

"We need to leave," David said, pointing to the other side of the pier. "Now!"

We all hurried as fast as we could down the pier, even though we were drunk, terrified and the wind threatened to blow us into the bay at any second. But we all got back to camp safely. No one said a word. The wind had died down and right before I entered my cabin, I forced myself to look up at the moon. The woman had disappeared.

EPILOGUE

That night at Camp Kokokahi was the first time I'd heard of the green menehune, but it wouldn't be the last.

About a year later, my friends and I were at a party in Wahiawa. Cute girls from Leilehua High School were there and we wanted to impress them. Dason started telling them spooky kine stories, hoping they would squeal and jump into our arms. He tried to tell them David’s story about the green menehune that we'd heard the year before at Camp Kokokahi. But he was so drunk that he forgot to describe what the menehune looked like. I rolled my eyes and continued to drink my beer.

Summer, a cute hapa girl, took a long drink from her red plastic cup and said, "Actually, something really strange happened to me recently."

"Yeah?" I asked, moving closer to her. "Tell us."

Summer hesitated. "You'll think I'm crazy."

"Or drunk!" shouted Dason, clinking his beer bottle on Summer's cup.

Summer snicked. "Well," she said, "one night, I arrived home late when I realized I forgot my house key. But I knew the backdoor would be open."

"Good to know!" Dason said, laughing.

“Shut up," I told my idiot friend. I put my hand on Summer's shoulder. "Go on."

“I opened the back door, which leads into the kitchen, as quietly as I could. I heard a rustling sound coming from inside. I figured it must have been my mom or sister. But when I walked into the kitchen, I saw. . .it was a. . ." She cringed. "I feel so stupid, you're gonna laugh."

I patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "What did you see?"

Summer bit her lip. "There was a green menehune sitting on one of the kitchen table chairs. I was so shocked, I yelled, "Holy, s**t!" I think I startled it because it looked up with these creepy red eyes then ran right past me, out of the house. I thought I was losing my mind."

"You're lucky it didn't kill you," I said. "Dason forgot to mention it, but that evil menehune he was talking about was green, too. Green with red eyes. It tried to choke our friend's mom to death when she was a baby."

"No," Summer said. "It probably wasn't the same thing."

"What else do you remember about it?" I asked. I wasn't even trying to scare her anymore. I just had to know.

"Well," Summer said,. "Its hair. As it ran past me, I noticed its reddish-orange hair flowing behind it."

WRITTEN BY: Courtney Kunimura

for Spooky Kine Investigations

SKI.ckunimura@gmail.com

ARTWORK BY: Gabriel Del Aragon

for Spooky Kine Investigations

SKI.gdelaragon@gmail.com

WHISTLING SAINT OF MOLOKAI‘I

2011-09-16T21:39:00.001-10:00

November 02, 2010

SKI investigators Gabe and Wayne had been invited to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace to take a tour of Hawai‘i’s first Roman Catholic church. They were greeted by their knowledgeable guide who showed them around the church’s interior and shared with them stories about its history. They were pleasantly surprised to learn that the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace was the church at which Saint Damien had been ordained into the priesthood on May 21, 1864.

In one of the corners of the church stands a beautiful wooden display case made of Koa. Within this display case sits a small wooden box, which their guide said contains one of Saint Damien’s heel bones. Wayne asked the guide if they would allow him to take a few pictures of the amazing display. Their guide encouraged it, and Wayne walked over to the display case. Gabe stood about 10 feet away on Wayne's left taking pictures of the church’s front altar when Gabe began hearing some very unusual sounds. The following is an audio recording that they had been taking during that moment...

Whistling Saint of Moloka‘i (mp3)

MYNAH HEALING

2011-08-29T18:02:00.000-10:00

SKI REPORT #20091106-03

AS EXPERIENCED BY: Gabe
LOCATION: Kaimuki / O‘ahu / Hawai‘i
DATE: ?

I’ve noticed that whenever my wife travels and I’m alone in the house, strange things tend to happen. It’s as if the “coast is clear” for odd or creepy occurrences. Whenever my wife is around, bizarre incidents cease for some reason, or if something weird does happen, at least she’s there to validate that I hadn’t been imagining things and tell me, “Babe, you’re not crazy.” I deeply appreciate my wife’s unconditional love and reassurance.

One Wednesday evening in March, she left to compete with her hālau in the Merry Monarch Festival, a popular hula competition on the Big Island of Hawai‘i. The first night she was gone, I swear I felt something watching me. Watching me as I watched TV. Watching me as I brushed my teeth. Watching me as I got ready for bed.

There always seemed to be a strange presence in the room, like an uncomfortable pressure. All night I tossed and turned and as a result, didn’t get more than three hours of sleep. The following morning, Thursday, I felt like I was coming down with a cold. My sinuses were stuffed up and there was a tickle in my throat I couldn’t get rid of.

By Friday, I woke up completely nauseated and tired, with my stomach in knots. My head throbbed so painfully I could barely focus on anything else. I had a monthly meeting I had to go to that I never missed. I felt so sick I was thinking of canceling.

At that moment, my wife called to check on me. I told her how awful I felt and she asked if I was still going to the meeting, as she knew how important the meetings were to me. I was about to tell her that I wasn’t going, when I realized that if it were her, she would fight through her illness. So I sucked it up and told her I was going to the meeting. After she wished me well, I splashed some cold water on my face and pulled myself together as best I could and hopped in the car.

I managed the 15-minute drive without passing out and parked a couple of blocks from our meeting place. I sat in the driver’s seat, dreading the walk to the building. It wasn’t a particularly long walk, I was just worried I might faint on the street or do something equally as emasculating and embarrassing.

I hoisted myself out of the car when suddenly I heard a high-pitched chuckle. Startled, I looked around and saw a mynah bird staring at me from the telephone wire above my car. I hoped it would fly away and find somewhere else besides my car to do its business.

I started walking and turned at an intersection, when a shadow swooped past my head. It was that same mynah bird. It flew up onto the street sign in front of me, still staring.

Ignoring the pesky bird I continued on my way. But once again, the mynah flew past my head and perched upon a nearby fence. Annoyed, I clicked my tongue at the bird, but it wasn’t phased. I sighed and crossed the street onto the next block. As I continued my walk, the mynah stayed with me, repeating its pattern of swooping past me and landing a few yards in front of me. Fence to wire, wire to sign, sign to post. It kept pace with me all the way to the back entrance of the office building where our

meeting was being held.

As I approached the back gate, the mynah jumped onto the railing right next to me. Since the bird seemed so bold, out of curiosity I held out my hand towards it, it didn’t even flinch. I took out my cell phone from my pocket and snapped a photo of it next to my hand. The mynah unnervingly stared right into my eyes. “I'm going now, goodbye!”

Had I really just talked to a bird? I shook my head and walked into the courtyard heading toward the building stairwell. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head, as the last thing I needed was to lose my balance and topple down the stairs. As I stepped onto the first stair, I felt a scratching upon my backpack.

I turned to see the mynah scurrying up my backpack! It climbed onto my shoulder and perched. Again, it stared into my eyes. “What? You wanna come with me?” The mynah didn’t move. It just sat there so I climbed up three flights of stairs feeling like some kind of crazy pirate with a bird on my shoulder. When I got to the meeting room I asked, “Are you coming to the meeting?” The fearless mynah didn’t move and continued to stare at me. I opened the door and entered the room.

As soon as the people present at the meeting saw my new friend, it flew out of the room. One of the ladies exclaimed, “What the heck was that?”

I told her it was a mynah bird and explained to everyone there what had happened. Another lady, Sherry, rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, right!” But when she opened the door, we found that the had mynah had merely relocated to the outside railing.

“Quick, give me your cell phone,” Sherry said, “so I can take a picture of you and your new buddy.” I went to stand next to the mynah but as soon as Sherry raised the phone, the bird began to walk away.

“Move closer to it!” Sherry instructed, waving me closer to the bird.

I scooted towards the bird and Sherry pulled the phone up again. The mynah started moving away again so she quickly snapped the picture. She inspected it and said, “You need to get closer, the bird looks like it's hanging out in the background or something.”

Sherry stepped outside through the doorway and the bird flew away. But as it left, I realized that my stomachache had subsided and my head felt a lot better. The nausea was also gone and for the first time since my wife had left, I felt calm.

What makes this experience so unique is that Hawai‘i’s mynah birds are wild. They typically do not interact with people. However, this mynah bird was different. It actually consistently maintained eye contact and felt comfortable enough to perch upon my shoulder. Had the mynah somehow relieved me of my illness? I know it sounds crazy, but after it flew away, I felt better than normal, at peace. I believe in family animal protectors, or ‘aumakua, but my family’s ‘aumakua is the shark, not the mynah bird.

By no means am I unappreciative of the healing the mynah provided me that day. It just surprised me, and pleasantly so. The mynahs gentle feet upon my shoulder felt similar to that of a reassuring hand, letting me know that everything was going to be just fine.

WRITTEN BY: Gabriel Del Aragon
for Spooky Kine Investigations
SKI.gdelaragon@gmail.com

EDITED BY: Courtney Kunimura
for Spooky Kine Investigations
SKI.ckunimura@gmail.com

THE ROAD TO KAILUA-KONA

2011-08-20T20:04:00.000-10:00

Dusk was approaching quickly as Harry and Shige sped along Saddle Road heading home to Kailua-Kona.

Once the last bits of light vanished from the sky, they would be traveling along what was considered to be one of the most hazardous roads in the state of Hawai‘i. It wasn’t so much the dark of night that made Harry nervous, but rather the number of drinks he and Shige had consumed at a friend’s house in Hilo before heading home for the evening.

Suddenly, there was a loud pop and Harry’s car began jerking up and down along the rear driver’s side, feeling as if it had sprained an ankle and was now hobbling along to support its injured foot.

Thunka, thunka ,thunka, thunka, thunka...

Harry groaned as he pulled the car off to the side of the road and brought it to a stop. He threw on the hazard lights and turned to shake awake Shige, who had fallen asleep only two minutes into the ride home.

“Eh, Shige, wake up. I tink we get one flat tire. Help me change um.”

Shige’s glazed eyes opened slowly as he turned to look at his friend.

“We go,” Harry said, getting out of the car. “Stay dark already.”

Harry pulled open the trunk and removed the carjack and spare tire as Shige slowly climbed out from the passenger seat. They slipped the jack beneath the car and began cranking.

In a few minutes, they changed the tire and were on their way. But less than a mile had passed when in the distance Shige spotted a white figure just barely illuminated by the car headlights.

“Harry, you see dat?”

“What?” Harry asked as he peered through the windshield.

“Ova dea, on da right. I think das one wahine waving at us. How come she out hea by herself in da dark? Eh Harry, we bettah make sure she okay.”

Harry nodded in agreement and once again pulled the car to the side of the road as Shige leaned out the window and called to the woman. The woman put her hand down, smiled, and walked over to the car.

“You okay o wat?” Shige asked.

As the woman, who was dressed in white slowly approached the car, they could see that she was carrying a small woven basket.

“ Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for stopping for me.” she replied

As she moved closer, Harry and Shige were both taken aback by the woman's striking beauty. Her skin was smooth and tanned, long ‘ehu hair flowed down past her shoulders, and her smile seemed to beam as brightly as the white dress she wore.

“How come you stay out hea by yourself?” asked Shige.

“I came here to pick ‘ohelo berries but I lost track of time. Before I knew it, the sun had set and I was out here walking down this road. In the dark.”

“Good ting we came by den.” said Shige. He elbowed Harry.

“Uh, you like one ride?” Harry asked.

“Thank you, that’s very kind.”

Harry jumped out of the car and opened the back door. The woman smiled and gracefully settled into the backseat.

They conversed as they traveled along Saddle Road. The woman explained to the guys that she was excited to return home to make delicious jam out of the ‘ohelo berries she had picked.

“Hooo dat sounds good!” Shige exclaimed, smacking his lips.

“Would either of you two care to try one?” the woman asked as she reached into her small woven basket and produced two of the reddest, most ripest berries that they had ever seen.

“No need ask us twice.” Harry took the berry from the woman, thanked her, and bit down on it.

The tart berry juice exploded with flavor and suddenly Harry found himself back in his childhood, to summers past when his grandmother would spread homemade ‘ohelo berry jam and liliko‘i butter on toast for his afternoon snack. It seemed as if it had been decades since he last experienced the taste.

Harry quickly snapped out of his dream-like state when he realized that they were quickly approaching the end of Saddle Road.

“Miss, you like me turn right or left on Belt Road?”

There was no answer.

Harry looked into his rear view mirror to find that the beautiful woman they had picked up along the roadside was gone.

WRITTEN BY: Wayne Takabayashi
for Spooky Kine Investigations
SKI.wtakabayashi@gmail.com

CAMP KOKOKAHI - PART 1

2011-07-16T14:26:00.000-10:00

S.K.I. REPORT #20090828-02
CAMP KOKOKAHI - PART 1
AS EXPERIENCED BY: Wesley
LOCATION: Camp Kokokahi / Kāne‘ohe / O‘ahu / Hawai‘i
DATE: 1973

While I was a high school student back in the 1970’s, I was a part of the Concert Wind Assembly (CWA). Every year without fail, the CWA would visit one of the neighboring islands for a retreat, an end-of-the-year reward for us students. During my senior year, we must not have deserved it because instead of going to Maui or the Big Island, we spent three nights on the other side of the Ko‘olau Mountains, at Camp Kokokahi.

When the students complained, our band director, Mr. Elton Chong, reassured us that it was a great place. He said that Kokokahi was founded during a time when most people only associated with other members of their own ethnicity, and it was supposed to be a place of diversity where people would gather in harmony and share their culture and heritage and crap like that. It was only when Elton mentioned that Camp Kokokahi had the longest wooden pier in the state, neary three hundred yards long, did the place suddenly seem appealing. I envisioned us sneaking off to “explore” the pier after lights out and having some fun.

Camp Kokokahi Pier
Photo courtesy of the Crick Family.

And that’s exactly what happened our first night there. A handful of us, armed with smokes and bottles of wine, set out by the light of the moon to traverse the long wooden pier. Even though the moon seemed brighter on this side of the island, it was still pretty damn dark. And there were missing planks here and there, making the journey much more perilous than we had expected.

By the time we reached the end of the pier, we were all thirsty and ready to party. We settled down, opened a couple bottles of wine and lit up some homemade cigarettes to help us relax. I took a long drag on a cigarette my friend passed me and watched the moon’s reflection gently bouncing off the rolling waves of Kāne‘ohe Bay. The cool breeze, carrying the distinct scent of salty seawater, was refreshing and welcome.

“What now?” Manuel Bautista asked.

“Truth or dare!” Karen Harrison, a boisterous haole girl suggested.

“Nah,” I said, looking up at the twinkling stars above, “that’s old.”

“I know,” said my friend, Dason Takaki, who was sitting next to me. “Let’s tell ghost stories.”

I thought that was a great idea, and so did everyone else. I mean, here we were, a bunch of teenagers sitting in the dark, in the middle of Kāne‘ohe Bay, on a creepy wooden pier. There couldn’t be a better setting.

“So who first?” I asked.

Before anyone could volunteer, Karen said, “To make it interesting, the story has to be from your own ethnicity.”

I’d told ghost stories before, but none of them really had to do with my own Japanese ancestry. Very interesting.

Manuel took a swig from one of the wine bottles and burped loudly. “I’ll go first,” he said, standing up. The wooden pier beneath him creaked and everyone laughed.

“Careful,” I said. If that guy fell in, I knew I didn’t want to jump in after him.

“Anyone heard of the Aswang?” asked Manuel, rubbing his palms together.

We all looked at each other and shrugged.

“It’s the Filipino vampire,” Manuel explained. When someone snickered he quickly turned to face them. “It’s not funny,” he said. “The Aswang is the most terrifying creature in the Philippines.”

“Yeah? Why?” I asked, as someone handed me a nearly empty bottle of wine. I finished it off.

“Because,” Manuel said, “by day it looks like a normal person. But at night, it transforms into an evil creature with an insatiable appetite. They're known to perch in those giant, twisted banyan trees. From its mouth comes a long, tubular tongue that's shaped like a banyan root, so when its unsuspecting prey walks beneath it, the poor sucker has no idea .”

I shuddered and couldn't help picturing a large, bat-like creature with red, glowing eyes, blue sinewy skin, lurking in a tree, patiently awaiting its next meal.

“Picture this,” Manuel continued, encouraged by the uneasy looks of his classmates, “you’re walking home late one night, minding your own business. You pass beneath the same banyan tree you always pass. Then, without warning, you feel the Aswang’s long, pointy tongue, wrapping around your body. Tighter and tighter, like an anaconda squeezing the life out of you. When you open your mouth to scream, you’ve done exactly what the Aswang wanted. It plunges its tongue into down your throat, slithering its way through your body until it finds your bowels.”

"Aswang"
By Gabriel Del Aragon

“Gross, stop!” cried Karen, who obviously couldn’t handle her liquor or scary stories. She hid her face in her jacket.

“Keep going,” I urged.

“Once the Aswang finds your bowels, you’re screwed,” said Manuel, getting more and more worked up. “Because then it starts sucking through its tongue harder and harder until your insides are on the outside and you’re dead.”

Everyone was silent, trying hard not to picture such a horrific image. What a way to go.

“Is there any way you can tell if a person is actually an Aswang?” asked one girl.

Manuel shrugged. “My lolo told me the when they’re in human form, Aswang usually have blood-shot eyes. ‘Cause they stay up all night hunting for prey.”

I laughed. “So maybe half the stoners at our school aren’t really smoking out, they’re Filipino vampires.” I uncorked a new bottle of wine and handed it to Manuel. “Great story, man.”

Manuel took a bow and sat down with the newly opened bottle of wine.

“Who’s next?”

We all looked at David Kamaka. David looked uncomfortable. “Why me?” he asked.

“Because,” slurred Dason, “you Hawaiian. You must get good ghost stories.”

David hesitated. “Nah, not really.”

Manuel passed the bottle of wine to David. “Come on, you scared or what?”

David shook his head. "No."

"So what then?" I asked. I handed him a cigarette.

David stared at the bottle of wine in one hand and the cigarette in the other. "My tutu said that. . ."

"Her grandson is a wuss?" finished Dason, punching David in the arm.

David didn't even flinch. "No, she said that when you talk about bad things, you invite them into your life."

"So you are scared," teased Karen. "You're worried your little story will evoke bad spirits."

Everyone laughed. Then we started to chant, "David! David!"

David took one last drag on the cigarette and extinguished it on the wooden plank, staring off into the distance. He stood up slowly, and proceeded to drink the entire bottle of wine without taking a breath. David roughly tossed the bottle to Dason.

“Fine,” he said. “I got a story.”

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.

"This is a true story. It happened way before I was born, when my mom was just a keiki. One day, my mom was taking a nap. My tutu was in the living room watching television when she heard a scream. It wasn’t the normal cry from a baby who was hungry or needed a diaper change. My tutu said it was the most terrifying scream she'd ever heard.”

To be continued. . .

WRITTEN BY: Courtney Kunimura
for Spooky Kine Investigations
SKI.ckunimura@gmail.com

ARTWORK BY: Gabriel Del Aragon
for Spooky Kine Investigations
SKI.gdelaragon@gmail.com

WORKS CITED

1) "Aswang." Wikipedia. N.p., 02 Jun 2011. Web. 16 Jun 2011. .

2) "Kokokahi History." YWCA. YWCA of O‘ahu, 2008. Web. 13 Jun 2011. .

WHAT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW

2011-06-11T12:37:00.001-10:00

S.K.I. REPORT #20091106-04
WHAT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW

AS EXPERIENCED BY: Gabe
LOCATION: Interstate H-3, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
DATE: ?

I used to work as a parking attendant on the Leeward side of O‘ahu. Sometimes my shift would end late, between midnight and 1:30am. Though nothing unusual ever happened at work, I can’t say the same for my drive home.

By the time I finished work, I was pretty beat, and to stay awake on my drive home, I tried different things to keep my mind alert and active. I would usually turn up the radio and sing wildly, not like there was anyone to hear me.

As I cruised towards the Windward side along the H-3 one early morning, I noticed that there were no other cars on the road. In the darkness, the outline of the mountains were barely visible. Feeling extra sleepy and perhaps even a little bit lonely, I turned on the radio and at that moment, Santeria started playing. The popular Sublime song was one of my all-time favorites. I cranked up the volume and sang along.

“I don’t practice Santeria, I ain’t got no crystal ball. . .”

I was getting more and more into the lyrics, and when I hit the chorus, I heard an extra pair of vocals coming from the back seat.

I stopped singing and listened carefully. Being familiar with the song, I wondered if this was a different version of Santeria, one I hadn’t heard before.

No, it was the same song that usually played on the radio. But that voice. . .

I didn’t turn around because I knew there was no one else in the car. I just sat quietly waiting for the voice to start singing again.

Nothing.

Attributing it to fatigue after a long shift, I started singing again, “What I really want to know, my baby…”

To my surprise, the other voice chimed in again! This time, I decided to sing a bit longer, pretending I didn’t hear my unseen backup singer.

“What I really want to say, I can’t define...”

When I abruptly stopped, the voice continued on for another line all by itself before suddenly stopping, too. This time I was certain it hadn’t been my imagination, and someone was in the car with me.

On the verge of panic, I pulled over to the shoulder and brought the car to a complete stop. Taking a deep breath, I turned on the cabin lights and quickly searched behind me. The seat was empty.

I turned off the radio, just to make sure there wouldn’t be any more unexpected singing and continued on my journey home. I didn’t need to sing to stay awake anymore, as the strange experience had provided an adrenaline rush throughout my body.

I never heard the phantom backup singer again. I’m not sure how to explain the voice and where it came from. Perhaps, I don’t “really want to know” after all.

WRITTEN BY: Gabriel Del Aragon

and Courtney Kunimura
for Spooky Kine Investigations
SKI.gdelaragon@gmail.com

SKI.ckunimura@gmail.com

Mission Houses Museum Presents

2011-05-27T06:26:00.000-10:00

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

2011-05-08T14:21:00.000-10:00

S.K.I. REPORT #20090928-01

TROUBLE IN PARADISE
AS EXPERIENCED BY: Howard
LOCATION: Paradise Park. Manoa, HI
DATE: 2000 ?

I am by no means a writer, but I will do my best to tell you every last terrifying detail about what happened to us that night up at Paradise Park.

Prior to that night, I was the kind of guy who could look you dead in the eyes and tell you that there were no such things as ghosts. Looking back, my entire attitude towards the supernatural was borderline disrespectful.

About 11 years ago, my friends Dan, Cory, Dean and I had just started college at the University of Hawaii. Instead of going drinking or clubbing like most kids our age, we spent our free time hunting for ghosts. We would hit the so-called “hot spots” and cemeteries in the area, but always returned empty-handed without any evidence or experiences.

I had read somewhere that in ancient times Paradise Park in Manoa had been the land of the ali‘i and gods. I had also read about banshees supposedly haunting that same area. Excited by the thought that we might actually experience something supernatural, we piled into Dan’s dirt-encrusted Honda Accord and headed into Manoa Valley.

Around 8 p.m., we reached the long dark road leading to Paradise Park. Dan drove, Cory rode shotgun, and Dean and myself sat in the backseat. All I can really remember about the place was that it was pitch black. It was so dark that none of us could see out of the side or rear windows. The only light came from the car headlights guiding us into the sprawling darkness ahead and it didn’t help that the moon was nowhere to be found.

Dan, being extra cautious, coasted slowly along the road when suddenly, the Accord violently shifted to the left as if something enormous had shoved the right side of the car onto its two left wheels. At that exact moment, we all heard a loud, low pitched "AAAHHHHH!" It sounded like something was right there in the car with us. It was so loud my eardrums throbbed and I thought it was an explosion.

We all started screaming and I yelled, “Get us the f*** outta here!!!” Dan floored the gas pedal and sped up to the clearing just before the Manoa Falls trail, swinging the Accord around in one large swoop, and raced out of Paradise Park.

We didn't stop until we reached the Manoa Shopping Center where we all jumped out of the car, gathered our senses, and inspected the vehicle. We searched frantically for any evidence of what had just happened. We tried to be logical about it and figured that whatever slammed into the side of Dan’s car should have left a mark or prints since the car had been dirty before setting out. Upon close inspection, we found nothing. The dirt on the car remained undisturbed, and we all agreed never to return to Paradise Park again.

Though more than a decade has passed since that unforgettable night, we still occasionally try to figure out just what the hell happened. I recently talked to a co-worker about our experience who shared with me that nightmarchers are said to march through that area, especially on the night of Kāne, when the light of the moon yields to the darkness of night. If this is the case, and we somehow disrupted their sacred, solemn march, then we are incredibly lucky to be alive.

WRITTEN BY: Wayne Takabayashi
for Spooky Kine Investigations
SKI.wtakabayashi@gmail.com

WHEN THEY CALL

2011-04-27T20:47:00.000-10:00

S.K.I. REPORT #20091106-01

WHEN THEY CALL

AS EXPERIENCED BY: Gabe

LOCATION: Private Residence. Waimanalo, HI.

DATE: 1986

I was eight-years old when my family moved into the new house. Though it was just down the street from our old one, we were all very excited because we’d have more space and a large yard that encircled the property to play in. I loved our new home.

My grandparents decided to stay in the room at the very end of a long, narrow hallway. The day before our furniture and belongings from our old house had arrived, I was walking down the hall when I heard whispering coming from my grandparents’ room. It sounded like two people having a conversation in hushed tones, and figured it was my grandma and grandpa. As I got closer to their room, the whispering stopped. Curious, I took a quick look into their room but nobody was there. I cautiously walked through the empty room and peered through the back window, expecting to see my grandparents smiling that I had found them. But I didn’t see anyone. Just the large patch of bananas growing in our backyard. I quickly ran out of the room as fast as I could, never to go back there alone.

I mentioned the voices to my dad one day, so he went to check out the situation. Of course he didn’t hear anything. He just looked at me suspiciously, like I was making trouble and said, “It was probably the neighbors. Or the wind blowing through the banana leaves.”

I reluctantly agreed, even though I was certain it hadn’t been the neighbors or the wind.

One morning when I was in the kitchen eating breakfast I heard my mom call my name. “Gabriel!”

Too lazy to see what she wanted, I shouted, “Yeah?”

After a few moments, when she didn’t reply, I stopped eating. “What is it, Mom?” I yelled. Still, silence.

I stood up to investigate and found my mom cleaning the bathroom. “What?” I asked.

My mom stopped scrubbing the tub and smiled. “What?”

“You called me?”

“No,” she said. She studied me, her smile disappearing. “What did you hear?”

“I. . .thought I heard you call my name,” I said.

My mom pulled me closer to her. “Gabriel, if you ever hear someone call you, do not answer. It’s best to go and find the person you think is calling you.”

That sounded like a lot of unnecessary work. “Why?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” she said slowly, “when they call and you answer, you. . .acknowledge them.”

“Them who?” I asked, more confused than ever.

“I don’t know how to explain it to you, Gabriel. For now, just trust me, okay?

My usually easygoing mother looked so worried I didn’t argue. “Okay, Mom. I trust you.”

As years passed, I did my best to ignore the whispering voices, and, as instructed by my mother, I never answered them.

One summer afternoon, when I was a teenager, my dad and I spent countless hours in the hot sun cutting down the banana plants in our backyard. They had become too difficult to maintain. I must have been looking exhausted and dehydrated, because my dad told me to go take a shower while he finished up and hauled the debris to the dump. I nodded, and headed into the house.

I had just begun lathering shampoo into my hair, when suddenly I heard screaming, as if someone were in excruciating agony, and it sounded like my father. When he screamed my name, my chest constricted and I was filled with a sickening sensation of dread. I leapt out of the shower, grabbed my towel and wrapped it around my waist as I hurried outside. I ran out the bathroom door towards my dad’s screaming and prayed I would find him alive.

When I reached the garage, the screaming stopped and I saw that my dad’s truck wasn’t even home. Then I remembered that he had gone to the dump. I felt like an idiot, standing in the garage wearing a towel with suds in my hair. I was still shaken because I knew that I hadn’t imagined the screaming.

As I turned to head back to the bathroom, I heard a faint laugh. A cold breeze touched my bare chest. It traveled up over my shoulders and down my spine. I looked around, I had a feeling I wasn’t alone.

To this day, I still hear the voices. But now instead of my parents, I hear my wife calling me in her various terms of endearment. On occasion she hears the voices too, except it’s my voice that’s calling to her. As unsettling as it is, at least I found someone who understands and even shares in my strange experiences.

Recently, I returned to my childhood home to visit with my dad and family. I was catching up with my sister in the living room when her eight year old son came walking in. “Hey Mom,” he said. “Did you call me?”

WRITTEN BY: Gabe Del Aragon

and Courtney Kunimura

for Spooky Kine Investigations

ski.gdelaragon@gmail.com

ski.ckunimura@gmail.com

Paranormal Hawai'i

2011-04-19T20:26:00.001-10:00

Paranormal Hawai'i Episode 1: The Pā'ina Experiment

On this episode of Paranormal Hawai'i, we follow Spooky Kine Investigations to Judd Trail for "The Pā'ina Experiment". Tonight the team puts their theory to the test and host a pā'ina, a small Hawaiian gathering, by offering food, music, and friendship to the spiritual inhabitants of Judd Trail. The compelling evidence documented in tonight's episode may prove to be quite fascinating. Sit back and enjoy the world premier episode of Paranormal Hawai'i.

The Hand

2011-04-14T20:55:00.002-10:00

SHARED BY: Anonymous
TAKEN ON: June 28, 2009 @ 10:30 pm
LOCATION: Waimanalo, HI
NOTES: The kids were camping out and taking pictures with a cell phone. They didn't notice the hand until the next day. My daughter was sitting with her back to the tent door and it apears that the hand is reaching in and grabbing her shoulder.

In Search Of The Kasha Of Kaimuki

2011-03-21T21:37:00.001-10:00

KASHA - According to Japanese lore, when a person commits a large number of sins during their lifetime, upon their death, a violent windstorm would call forth the Kasha to deliver sinners to hell.

- Shigeru Mizuki (The Encyclopedia Of Demons)

I. Introduction

The Kasha of Kaimuki, a story written by the late author and historian Glen Grant, has long been popularly discussed amongst the people of Hawai‘i who have often pondered the questions, Where exactly is the Kasha house? and Were the events that transpired there real? During Spooky Kine Investigations’ initial search for answers, we scoured the internet only to find recycled information and claims of “credibility” with no substantial proof. We realized that simply stating that a police report had been generated did not necessarily make a story “credible” by default. What we wanted was documented evidence.

Since the passing of Glen Grant, his story The Kasha of Kaimuki has grown by urban legend-sized proportions. Individuals who have either misinterpreted the events or confused fiction with fact have made the search for the real Kasha of Kaimuki a most difficult one. How do we even begin to sort all this information?

We will start from the beginning. First, we will explore Glen Grant’s infamous work of fiction that gave birth to the Kasha of Kaimuki. Next, we will present the facts, two key pieces of documented evidence that we uncovered during our research, conducting a comparative analysis of the original articles that we believe inspired the story. From there we will attempt to locate the house of Glen Grant’s darkest nightmares.

II. Were The Events That Transpired There Real?

Glen Grant’s The Kasha of Kaimuki originally appeared in the October 16, 1992 edition of the Hawaii Herald tabloid. The Hawaii Herald began as an “Americanized” version of a Japanese language publication, the Hawaii Hochi, which focused on Hawaii’s Japanese-American community. Glen Grant’s stories were featured during the publication’s Halloween season for a number of years. It would make sense that Grant’s stories, written primarily for a Japanese audience, would feature Japanese ghosts, legends and lore. In fact, these articles would later be compiled and published by Mutual Publishing in Glen Grant’s Obake: Ghost Stories in Hawai‘i (1994).

The Kasha of Kaimuki featured a fictional character, Arthur McDougal, who Glen Grant described as,“a retired Honolulu International Detective Agency operative” (Grant 101). McDougal served as the recurring hero of Grant’s supernatural detective stories, which were loosely based on actual Honolulu crimes. The following year, Author McDougal would have an entire publication dedicated to his adventures entitled, McDougal's Honolulu Mysteries: Case Studies from the Life of a Honolulu Detective (1995). Without going into too much detail about the story itself (We encourage readers to either purchase the book, or borrow it from your local library), I’m going to quote an excerpt directly from Grant’s work of fiction in regards to the case that the character Arthur McDougal has been called in to investigate.

He wrote:

An hour ago dispatch received a call from the neighbors that there were shrieks coming from this house and that a woman was hysterical in the yard. Something was in the house, they say, that was smashing furniture and attacking anyone who tried to come in. It seemed to be after her son who, according to the officers, was floating smack dab in the middle of the room while all the fracas was going on...The officers say that the attack lasted for nearly an hour! The blood-soaked interior of the room and all the furniture had been smashed to a million bits - as if a tornado had torn into Kaimuki...Uemoto had been methodically pulled apart by the arms, legs and head before his torso was ripped in half like a gutted fish.

(Grant 105-106)

Chicken skin! As only Glen Grant can deliver. Now let us take a look at a comment we found on www.high.site-forums.com posted by SquareBurger, an individual who seems to have misinterpreted this fictional story for actual events:

The family that lived there before the vacancy had two children and a single mother. Both children were killed by this “entity”…ripped apart by an invisible force…right before the mother’s eyes, as well as the eyes of several police officers that were called to the scene, due to screams and major commotion. These events are actually documented in a police report, therefore deeming this event CREDIBLE.

(SquareBurger)

According to Grant’s story, the character of the son, Shingo Uemoto, had already graduated from the University of Hawai‘i and had begun working at his father’s export business located in downtown Honolulu. This information would make Shingo approximately 22 to 23 years of age. So where exactly did SquareBurger get the idea that the “credible” incident involved two children and a single mother?

As an introduction to The Kasha of Kaimuki, Glen Grant wrote of two separate documented incidents that took place within the Kaimuki area, which we believe were his inspirations for Arthur McDougal’s fictional Kasha case.

Incident #1

“In August of 1942 two Honolulu police officers were called to a home in Kaimuki, somewhere near Harding Avenue... As they pulled up in front of the house, a woman was wildly screaming, “She’s trying to kill my children! She’s trying to kill my children!”... the officers stumbled onto a scene that they would never forget. The three children who lived in the house were flying about the room, levitated, slapped and hurled by an invisible force... the officers watched for an hour-and-a-half as the children were assaulted by an unseen and unknown entity.”

(Grant 101-102)

Document #1

Grant recaps Incident #1 almost identically as it had appeared in the newspaper back in 1942. It is entirely possible to see how someone who hadn’t actually read The Kasha Of Kaimuki might have mistaken the fictitious details for fact. Now let us compare Incident #2.

Incident #2

“Thirty years later, another incident took place in a house near Harding Avenue. A young girl had been assaulted by another “unseen force.” Fleeing her house, she and her boyfriend drove off and got as far as the parking lot of a popular nightspot... The police called to the scene reported that a girl was being beaten in the back seat of an automobile by an unseen force. As they entered the car to help her, they were both thrown back to the ground.”

(Grant 102)

Document #2

Unlike his first recap, Grant’s details of incident #2 seem to be significantly different. One might argue that Grant made a habit of changing particular details to protect the identities of the individuals involved. However, this apparently hadn’t stopped him from providing an almost identical recap of incident #1. Perhaps his details came from an entirely different source altogether? The police report?

If the latter is true, unfortunately we have been unable to locate the police report. Our call to the Honolulu Police Department (H.P.D.) Records Department revealed that police reports are not public record. For someone to obtain a copy of a police report one must:

1) Be the individual who originally requested the report,

2) Have the original requestor’s permission to retrieve it or,

3) Via subpoena.

We were told by an H.P.D. Records Department representative that these policies have been in place since at least 1990. For now, we can only validate that both documents #1 and #2 actually appeared in local newspapers.

III. Where Exactly Is The Kasha House?

“The Plymouth plowed through one more mudbath before I turned onto Harding. China told me to look for a two-story white house sitting on a foundation of huge lava boulders.”

(Grant 105)

This is the question Spooky Kine Investigations is still actively researching. Fortunately, property records are available to the public. Popular speculation points to one particular house built in 1938, located on 8th and Harding Avenues, whose records reveal a most intriguing story awaiting to be uncovered.

We had the opportunity to speak with a highly regarded attorney who recalled following a lawsuit that involved property disclosures.

“Purpose of Disclosure Statement: Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 508D (for residential real property), and under common law (for all other real estate transactions, including the sale of vacant land) a seller of residential real property is obligated to fully and accurately disclose in writing to a buyer all “material facts” concerning the property. “Material facts” are defined as “any fact, defect, or condition, past or present, that would be expected to measurably affect the value to a reasonable person of the residential real property being offered for sale.” This Disclosure Statement is intended to assist Seller in organizing and presenting all material facts concerning the Property.”

("Seller's Real Property Disclosure Statement. Hawaii Association of Realtors Standard Form. Revised 4/07 (NC). For Release 5/08")

As this attorney recalls, the buyers of the property were claiming that the seller did not disclose the property’s haunted history. However, the case was dismissed based upon the grounds that ghosts were not recognized by the scientific community.

For now, we would like to leave you with a comment we found on www.realhaunts.com posted by HRH. Why? Because unlike the majority of the cut-and-pastes we’ve come across, this particular post includes specific details, which appear to match up with the documented evidence we are currently tracking. We promise that you readers will be the first to know when we find it. If you have any information concerning Glen Grant's The Kasha of Kaimuki please contact Spooky Kine Investigations at spookykine@gmail.com.

“Aloha~ Oh HOW spooky! My husband and I nearly bought the Kaimuki house on 8th Avenue & Harding, in 1995 or 1996. At the time the owner was an older (in his late 50′s) Haole gentleman. He had listed his house for sale for $500,000. My husband & I really liked the turn of the century, look and feel of an era long gone. The home had 11 feet high ceilings, and REAL hardwood flooring. Plus for those of us who live on O’ahu, Kaimuki is a nice neighborhood with long time residents, and UH, Waikiki, Ala Moana & so much more are just a few minutes away. However, we were told by our Realtor, that the house had some major disclosures. Prior to entering the home for the first time, the owner spoke to us outside the front of the home(on the side that fronts 8th Ave). He told us of 3 separate (and equally frightening) events that happened in the home. The first one was stated earlier about the 2 children being killed in the home. However the way HE explained it to me was that the FATHER killed his 2 children and his wife. He buried his wife and son on the property. Their bodies were found, the daughter’s body was never found. The second event involved a lesbian couple. One of the women had taken on a MALE lover. When the man heard of his "girlfriend"‘s situation he killed her, the other woman, and then himself…in the house. I believe the third event was the what someone else posted earlier. The entity "throwing people around". My husband and I submitted a totally ridiculous offer of $250,000. The Haole man ACCEPTED the offer. We just about SH*T ourselves. What the HELL?!?! We were now in contract for a HAUNTED HOUSE? The house itself was in very rough shape. The house is on post & pier, and was tilting to one side. If you took a marble and placed it on the living room floor, it would totally roll to the lower side of the house. The toilet in the upstairs bathroom leaked to the first floor, dripping down the front of the kitchen cabinets. The toilet downstairs, was sinking into the floor. There was also a closet in one of the bedrooms upstairs that had a hollow space. When you knock on the back of the closet wall, you can hear an empty space. (it’s freaky) My husband & I were young (in our early 20′s) and full of vim & vigor. We (well mostly he) thought we could rehab the house, to it’s original glory!! But I spoke to one of my friends at work. I told her about the house. She said, "that’s the haunted house that everybody knows about. It’s in the Obake Files book". I told my husband about the book. He said DON’T read the book. Well I did!! I was now FREAKING out!!!! So I went crying to my husband who said," Didn’t I say NOT to read the book"? So next, I went for a visit to a Mr Glen Grant, at his then office on King Street & University. YEP….. the author of the book!! (He has since passed on) I was balling, wailing and crying. I could barely talk. Through the loud sobs, and tears I told him about my house. He knew of it, OF COURSE, and said that he wrote the book about the house but that the story he told was true. He may have "embellished" the truth a bit, BUT the basic events were recorded and actual. LOOOONG story short…ok too late for that….we didn’t buy that particular house, but I think of it often, and whenever I drive on Harding and past that house I recount all those events. It has been so long since I have been inside the house, and I don’t know who lives in it now. I hope they are safe.”

(HRH)

WRITTEN BY: Wayne Takabayashi

for Spooky Kine Investigations

SKI.wtakabayashi@gmail.com

References

"About the Herald." The Hawaii Herald: Hawaii’s Japanese American Journal. The Hawaii Herald, n.d. Web. 7 Mar 2011. <http://thehawaiiherald.com/>.

"Around Hawaii." Seller's Real Property Disclosure Statement. Hawaii Association of Realtors Standard Form. Revised 4/07 (NC). For Release 5/08. Oceanic Time Warner Cable, n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2011. <http://www.aroundhawaii.com/assets/articles/2008/10/1493/images/Sellers%20Real%20Property%20Disclosure%20Statement.pdf>.

Grant, Glen. "The Kasha Of Kaimuki." The Hawaii Herald. October 16, 1992, Vol.13, No.20. Print.

Grant, Glen. Obake: Ghost Stories in Hawai‘i. 2nd ed. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing, LLC, 1994. 101, 102, 105, 106. Print.

HRH, . "Evicted By Demons." August 21, 2006, 4:25 am. Online Posting to <http://www.realhaunts.com/united-states/evicted-by-demons/comment-page-2/>. Web. 21 Mar 2011.

Police Called To Shoo Ghost From Kaimuki. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1942. Print.

SquareBurger, . "Demonic Spirits In Kaimuki House." Jul 25, 2008, 11:26 am. Online Posting to <http://high.site-forums.com/t160-demonic-spirits-in-kaimuki-house?highlight=kaimuki>. Web. 23 Feb 2011.

Taylor, Lois. Spook Stories. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1972. Print.

For Further Reading

Grant, Glen. McDougal's Honolulu Mysteries: Case Studies from the Life of a Honolulu Detective. 1st ed. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing, LLC, 1995. Print.

Mind Games: Spirits Within Us? (Part II)

2011-03-19T18:27:00.000-10:00

Dear friends, Spooky Kine Investigations remains dedicated to helping people resolve paranormal related issues wherever they occur. We believe this can best be accomplished by the scientific and the spiritual working together. The following article focuses on paranormal studies from a scientific standpoint. It is our hope to supply readers with a more intimate knowledge of existing scientific theories through which to filter possible evidence of paranormal activity. Please note that never in the following article will you hear an absolute explanation for every possible situation. We believe that when it comes to the supernatural, anything is possible. ~ Wayne

Part II: What You See Isn’t Always What You Get

Many people underestimate the power of the human mind. This is exactly the case when it comes to vision. The complexities of human vision are immense, and seeing is only a fraction of the experience. Perhaps the most important part of the visual system is perception. “The goal of perception is to take in information about the world and make sense of it... Visual perception takes in information about the properties and locations of objects so that we can make sense of... our surroundings.” (Smith & Kosslyn, 2007, p. 51). Without visual perception, we wouldn't be able to answer simple questions such as: “What am I looking at?”, “How far away is it?”, or “How fast is it moving?”, just to name a few. Our brain also helps us fill in the missing pieces and perceive more than what is really there. By allowing us to mentally bridge the gaps, we are able to recognize objects without having to see them in their entirety. An example of this would be seeing a car pull out of a garage. When it is only halfway out, you are still able to recognize that it is a car. You don't need to wait for the whole thing to be visible before identifying it. This example shows how perceptual processes can help us fill in the gaps to infer a coherent visual world even without all of the necessary visual information. However, this type of mental processing is not without flaws. “Such processing can also lead us to see things that are not in fact there.” (Smith & Kosslyn, 2007, p. 68). Take a look at Figure 1. What do you see?

Figure 1: An example of an Illusory contour. (n.d.). Source: openlearning.worldpress.com.

There are eight black circles, each with three white lines in them. And yet, when shown this picture, most people claim to see a cube. Upon taking a closer look, one can see that there is no actual cube - it is simply eight carefully placed black circles, each with three carefully placed white lines within them. However, the cube is so vivid that some people even swear to be able to see the full length of the lines that create the cube. These invisible contours are known as illusory contours. An illusory contour is defined as: “One that is not physically present in the stimulus but is filled in by the visual system...The illusory contours that you see are the product of your perceptual processes at work. Filling in the missing pieces provides relevant information that is not present in the sensory stimulus.” (Smith & Kosslyn, 2007, p. 68)

Now, knowing that the brain has the ability to create information, let us present a hypothetical situation. You are walking home from work. It is approaching midnight on a cold, windy night. The only sources of light are the dull street lights and the moon. You look over to your left and see thick brush followed by a small graveyard. You begin to turn your head back towards the street, and out of the corner of your eye you think you see a dark figure. Stopping in your tracks, you turn and take a closer look. All you see are small trees swaying with the wind, fading in and out of the shadows. With no sign of your dark figure, you go on your way once more, eventually reaching your home without incident.

Let us now take consideration of possible explanations for what just happened. On one hand, it may have been a spirit. On the other hand, you may have just experienced an illusory contour, or a simple trick played by your mind. Evaluating these two explanations, which one would seem more likely? Believers would argue the importance of the location and time that it happened. A cemetery in the middle of the night would be a prime location to witness a spirit. Oddly enough, skeptics would use this same evidence, location and time, as proof against this idea. A combination of a dark and heavily shadowed path and an overactive imagination could lead your mind to play tricks on you. In the end, there is no way of knowing for sure one way or the other. However, there is a very important scientific principle that comes into play here, known as parsimony. Also known as Occam's Razor, parsimony suggests preference for the least complex explanation for any given situation (Courtney & Courtney, 2008). It is important to note that this is just a rule of thumb, and that there are exceptions. It is entirely possible that what you saw was paranormal, but looking at it from a logical and scientific standpoint, perhaps what you see isn’t always what you get.

WRITTEN BY: Matthew Terada

for Spooky Kine Investigations

SKI.mterada@gmail.com

* Matthew Terada is currently studying as a psychology major at the University of Hawai‘i. *

Annotated Bibliography

American Tinnitus Association. (2009). About Tinnitus. Retreived November 20, 2009, from ata.org. http://www.ata.org/for-patients/about-tinnitus

Auditory hallucination. (2009). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 25, 2009, from wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_hallucination

Baruss, I. (2001). Failure to replicate electronic voice phenomenon. The journal of scientific exploration, 15(3), 355-367.

Courtney, M., & Courtney, A. (2008). Comments regarding “on the nature of science”. Physics in Canada, 64(3), Retrieved November 25, 2009, from arxiv.org. http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0812/0812.4932.pdf

Delightful Illusions [Online Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2009, from openlearning.worldpress.com. http://openlearning.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/delightful-illusions/

Hines, T. (2003). Pseudoscience and the paranormal. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

Long Island Paranormal Investigators. (2009). Evp classification. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from liparanormalinvestigators.com. http://www.liparanormalinvestigators.com/evp_classification.shtml

Rüdiger, P. (2004). Cognitive illusions: a handbook on fallacies and biases in thinking, judgement and memory. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

Smith, E.E., & Kosslyn, S.M. (2007). Cognitive psychology: mind and brain. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Wynn, C.M., & Wiggins, A.W. (2001). Quantum leaps in the wrong direction: where real science ends and pseudoscience begins. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press.

S.K.I. Most Wanted

2011-02-03T22:34:00.000-10:00

NAME: Mujina, Onna Muji, Noppera-bō, Faceless Ghost
SEX: Female
AGE: 40 - 50
RACE: Asian
HEIGHT: 5'4" - 5'6"
WEIGHT: 110 - 120 lbs
HAIR: Black, Red, Long
EYES: None
COMPLEXION: Pale

This is an artist's rendition of the Mujina, a faceless entity that has been known to frequent the Kahala area on the island of O'ahu. Documented sightings have been reported within the womens' restroom at the old Wai'alae Drive-In and Kahala Mall Center. If you have any information concerning this entity please contact Spooky Kine Investigations at spookykine@gmail.com.

ART BY: Gabe Del Aragon for Spooky Kine Investigations.

“Ka Manakā Pau”

2011-01-08T13:40:00.002-10:00

“Ka Manakā Pau”

These were their words. This was their message.

Every so often our team along with friends, colleagues, and paranormal enthusiasts, will get together to explore and educate ourselves about our islands’ reported paranormal hot spots. Spooky Kine Investigations strongly believes that the spiritual aspects of paranormal research and studies are just as important as the scientific documentation. We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to work closely with gifted sensitives who teach us about our islands’ spirits, helping us to understand the world as seen through their eyes.

It is crucial for us to acknowledge here that when one puts him/herself out there, you enter into a world which leaves you vulnerable and at their mercy. After all, we are merely guests asking to be welcomed into their homes, and we are expected to behave accordingly. When we fail to do so, spirits may react much like any of us when someone enters and behaves inappropriately. It is for this reason that S.K.I. and our colleagues follow very strict protocols of introducing ourselves, being sincere about our intentions, and always asking for their permission to be there. Should we receive indication to the contrary, we are quick to acknowledge and respectfully leave.

“Ka manakā pau.”

These were their words, spoken to a sensitive one dark December evening at the Judd Trail head located along the winding Nu‘uanu Pali Drive, a place made famous by the urban legend and true life tragedies of Morgan’s Corner. This was their message, to all of us working in the paranormal field, S.K.I. included. When we speak of Hawai‘i’s spirits and share their stories with other people, we should speak in truth and with integrity because they are listening and know when we are not being honest. Dear readers, please understand that it is not S.K.I.’s nor anyone else’s place to dictate how one conducts their business. Neither is it for us undermine nor criticize the hard work of others who are putting in the same amount of time, love, and dedication into our field. However it is our responsibility to teach and educate others of what we learn. Please, take their messages to heart, heed their warnings. Treat Hawai‘i’s spirits with the respect they deserve and always work to teach others to do the same.

“Ka manakā pau (The boresome/uninteresting ends). Ka manakā pau. Ka manakā pau. Stop lying, otherwise do not return.”

WRITTEN BY: Wayne Takabayashi
for Spooky kine Investigations
SKI.wtakabayashi@gmail.com

HAUNTED HAWAII HAUNTINGS INTERVIEW

2010-11-17T21:26:00.001-10:00

Saturday, November 20, 2010 @ 4:30 PM

The Bigfoots Pad Paranormal team will be speaking with Laurene, Phil, and Wayne from Hauntedhawaii.net in a first time interview. Laurene is the webmaster of Haunted Hawaii and spiritual consultant. Phil, is a paranormal investigator and ghost tour guide. Wayne also will be joining us to speak about Spooky Kine Investigations and Paranormal Hawai'i. Tune in to this exciting episode of BFP Paranormal Radio!

CLICK HERE for more details and STAY SPOOKY HAWAII!

Mind Games: Spirits Within Us? (Part I)

2010-11-06T21:53:00.007-10:00

Part I: Introduction

Do you believe in spirits? Have you ever seen or heard something that logic just could not explain? From the unexplainable bump in the night to the shadow you thought you saw out of the corner of your eye, everyone experiences odd occurrences like these once in a while, yet many dismiss them as simple tricks of the mind. The believers out there feel that denying these types of experiences is a mistake, and urge us to trust in our instincts. In fact, many believers use these occurrences as valid evidence of the existence of the supernatural. However, unfortunately for them, many of these claims are potentially explainable from a psychological standpoint.

We are going to be looking at two of our main senses: sight and sound, and how our minds might make us think we've seen or heard something otherworldly. It is important to note that never in this article will you hear an absolute explanation for every possible situation. As we will be looking at the paranormal from a scientific standpoint, it is important for us be practicing good science, and one of the most important aspects of a good scientist is being open to new ideas and concepts. Therefore the biggest issue we want to avoid is confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is “a tendency for people to confirm their preconceptions or hypotheses, independently of whether or not they are true. People can reinforce their existing attitudes by selectively collecting new evidence, by interpreting evidence in a biased way or by selectively recalling information from memory” (Oswald & Grosjean, 2004, p. 79-80). Unfortunately, both believers and skeptics alike fall victim to this extremely important concept. Whereas they interpret every minuscule event as evidence towards their own theories and ideas, often twisting words and evidence to make it seem like it supports their claims. However, as good scientists, we strive to not fall prey to this trap. We must acknowledge the fact that there are things modern science has yet to explain. By understanding and knowing how the human mind works, we will be able to make better conclusions to such events we encounter. Furthermore, by filtering evidence through this critical psychological evaluation filter, occurrences that do pass become even more valid and note worthy.

When discussing such a controversial topic such as this, it is often easy to misinterpret terms that have not been clearly defined. That is why we are first going to define several key terms that will be used throughout this article. The first and perhaps most important term to be defined is the term “spirit.” There are many synonyms affiliated with the term, including: ghost, entity, essence, apparition and specter. For all intents and purposes, spirit(s) as used within this article will be defined as a supernatural essence transcendent in nature. In other words, an unexplainable essence that is independent from our own physical world. The reason for such an ambiguous definition is because the point of this article is to not argue whether or not spirits exist, or even explain what they are. Instead, we are here to discuss possible psychological explanations for occurrences that might otherwise be misinterpreted for paranormal in nature. The second term we will be defining is “believer.” In this article we define a believer as a person who believes spirits exist in one form or another. Conversely, the definition of a “skeptic” will be a person who does not believe in the existence of spirits in any way, shape, or form. With these definitions in place, let us move forward and discover the spirits within us...

WRITTEN BY: Matthew Terada

for Spooky Kine Investigations

SKI.mterada@gmail.com

* Matthew Terada is studying as a psychology major at the University of Hawai‘i.

Annotated Bibliography

American Tinnitus Association. (2009). About Tinnitus. Retreived November 20, 2009, from ata.org. http://www.ata.org/for-patients/about-tinnitus

Auditory hallucination. (2009). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 25, 2009, from wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_hallucination

Baruss, I. (2001). Failure to replicate electronic voice phenomenon. The journal of scientific exploration, 15(3), 355-367.

Delightful Illusions [Online Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2009, from openlearning.worldpress.com. http://openlearning.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/delightful-illusions/

Hines, T. (2003). Pseudoscience and the paranormal. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

Long Island Paranormal Investigators. (2009). Evp classification. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from liparanormalinvestigators.com. http://www.liparanormalinvestigators.com/evp_classification.shtml

Rüdiger, P. (2004). Cognitive illusions: a handbook on fallacies and biases in thinking, judgement and memory. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

Smith, E.E., & Kosslyn, S.M. (2007). Cognitive psychology: mind and brain. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Wynn, C.M., & Wiggins, A.W. (2001). Quantum leaps in the wrong direction: where real science ends and pseudoscience begins. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press.

COMING SOON: THE SCIENCE OF GHOSTS

2010-11-04T23:23:00.000-10:00

This weekend S.K.I. presents a new informative series THE SCIENCE OF GHOSTS. Our first featured article titled, Mind Games: Spirits Within Us?, shares with readers various psychological explanations behind the paranormal experience. It will be presented as a four part article written by S.K.I. investigator Matthew Terada. STAY SPOOKY HAWAII!

HAUNTED HAWAII

2010-10-27T17:39:00.000-10:00

Looking for something FREE and exciting to do with the entire family this Halloween? Spooky Kine recommends you visit our collegues at:www.hauntedhawaii.netfor the largest online collection of Hawaiian ghost stories shared by local people like you and me!

Spookylau 2010

2010-10-14T18:39:00.000-10:00

S.K.I. and the Hawai'i State Library invites you to join us on October 30th @ 11:30 am at the Hawai'i State Library, Hawai'i and the Pacfic Dept. 478 S. King St. Honolulu, HI, for Spookylau 2010!

Meet the team from Spooky Kine Investigations as they provide an inside look at professional paranormal investigations here in our islands. Watch and listen as the team shares video, audio, and photographic evidence, and talks about their personal experiences with the supernatural, with a special guest appearance by colleague Obake Hunter. Spookylau guests in attendance that day will also be the first to preview the all new PARANORMAL HAWAI'I series. We hope to see you all there!

For more information on PARANORMAL HAWAI'I please visit www.paranormalhawaii.com.

Photo Gallery

2010-10-09T14:59:00.000-10:00

SHARED BY: Anonymous
TAKEN ON: February 2010 @ 7:00 - 7:30 am
LOCATION: Saddle City Road, Waimanalo, HI
NOTES: This picture was taken on Saddle City Road in Waimanalo between 7:00 - 730 am. The truck driver had stopped and gotten out to take this picture to show his boss that the truck barely cleared the width of the bridge.
It wasn't until he got home and downloaded this picture from his cell phone that he saw what appeared to be a woman in white standing below the bridge. The driver states that he is certain nobody was around this bridge at the time he took this picture. He has also stated that since noticing the anomaly, he has been having a difficult time sleeping.

INVESTIGATOR NOTES