Author Rick Carroll's sister Conni married a Hawaiian fellow back in the '70s, Ben Keau from Maui, and "you know how it is," recalled Carroll. "You meet all the relatives. All of them. Living and dead." Collector of spooky tales
delights in horror historyburl burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.comThe groom's father dragged Carroll to Maui graveyards to be introduced to deceased relatives, often in the middle of the night. "And he began to tell stories," said Carroll. "And I couldn't help myself. I started to write them down."
He continues to collect spooky Hawaii-oween stories. Flash forward ... wait, too far ... that's it, about 1995. Carroll has since become a newspaper reporter and travel writer.
Don Chapman, editor of MidWeek, anxious not to do the usual Halloween shtick, asked Carroll to write a profile of Oahu cemetery expert Nanette Purnell. He sprinkled the cover story with sidebars of various scary graveyard stories, all local.
Publisher Buddy Bess was intrigued. Bess Press contacted Carroll and suggested they put out a compilation of such tales to be called "Chicken Skin: True Spooky Stories of Hawaii." The book came out, did well ...
"And then something really scary happened! Another author decided the phrase 'chicken skin' belonged to him, and took us to court, and the judge determined that the phrase was a trademark, whereas we'd thought it was in common usage."
Storytellers include Rick Carroll, Woody Fern, Fox Harmon, Maunalei Love, Sam Henderson, Margot Howlett, Scottie Shelton, Paula Sterling and Keao Rawlins Spooky Tales Festival
Place: Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach
When: 7 to 8:30 p.m. tomorrow
Admission: Free
Call: 921-9711
Note: Kamaaina rates available for those too scared to drive home and wishing to stay overnight.
Not able to use ... THAT ... phrase any more -- "I don't even like using it in conversation!" Carroll shudders -- they settled on "Hawaii's Best Spooky Tales" which, Carroll thinks, is a better title anyway. "On the mainland, they think you've written a cookbook."
Now Bess and Carroll are up to Vol. 5 -- if you count the original, the sixth in the series -- and the books sell 10,000 to 15,000 copies a year -- each! Way-bestsellers, by Hawaii standards.
Carroll thinks of them as oral histories, each piece in the voice of the storyteller. "I'm most proud of introducing 150 new authors over the years, from a 10-year-old boy in Kailua to an 80-year-old lady on Lanai. That includes you!" he enthused, reminding this reporter that the original volume contained a Star-Bulletin story.
"My joy in this is that the original voices of the writers have been preserved. I used to write everything down and rewrite, but it's better to tape-record and edit lightly, so that the oral traditions are preserved in their own vernacular."
Outrigger Hotels is sponsoring a free Spooky Tales Festival from 7 to 8:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. Several of Carroll's contributors will be there to read their own pieces.
In the meantime, Carroll's had "a spooky summer" himself. Diagnosed with esophageal cancer, he's currently undergoing chemo- and radiation therapy.
"I got a 20 percent chance, and hey, that's pretty good. I'm gonna beat it. I've got more spooky tales to tell!"
Click for online
calendars and events.
