Keep It Pono - Classic

Spooked - KQED and Snap Studios

A haunting tale from Hawaii unfolds as a man recounts terrifying encounters with the 'night marchers'—spiritual entities believed to traverse ancient paths. After moving into a new home near Kauai

Key takeaways

• The night marchers are revered as powerful spirits tied to ancient Hawaiian traditions and sacred pathways.
• Cultural practices like 'pono' emphasize living in harmony with nature and ancestors to maintain balance.

Main topics

• Hawaiian folklore and night marchers
• Spiritual respect for ancestral paths (Kings Trail)

Notable quotes

"You can't go wrong. Do things the right way. You can't go wrong."

"I know I'm not crazy. I know what I saw is real."

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a powerful reminder of cultural humility and spiritual responsibility. By

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:02) Remember, ignorance is never an excuse. You're listening to Spooked. Stay tuned. Imagine how he decided to give it to me. Probably smiled to himself thinking it's the only way to make sure that boy shows up on time. And it was beautiful to me. Wrapped in the parchment paper with his neat handwriting. For my nappy-headed grandbaby. His pocket watch. The one he always carried around. I think he gave the chain to somebody else, but I get to watch. Beautiful Hamilton. I remember watching him polish it until it shone. So I polish it until it shines as well. And I imagine him saying, now that's how you do it. Only Speaker 1 (1:12) be done one way with him. Speaker 2 (1:14) What's the way we do it, boy? The right way? That's right. Do things the right way. You can't go wrong. Speaker 1 (1:23) I must forget from now as Speaker 2 (1:25) I was then. That's why I never carry granddaddy's watch with me. I'll lose it, break it, but I know me. No way I can let that happen. Instead, keep it hidden, squirreled away in my special spot. So imagine my shock when I reach my hand into the bottom of my sock drawer. It's not there. And only after frantically ripping apart the entire dresser do I understand that I have been robbed. A ring. A frame and my grandfather's watch stolen. And I'm sick. Sick. How dare someone put their filthy hands on something Batman gave to me. That's not a watch to me. It's him. It's a piece of him. And see, everything I own is scuffed. It's torn. It's chipped. It's broken. My bike, my jeans, my shoes. But I'll be god damn. That watch sparkled. At least that, because you polish it the right way. So I holler, I scream, I plot my revenge. I want the person who took it to pay. I want them to suffer. Then I think about someone else holding a piece of my grandfather in their nasty pocket. And I know, with every fiber of my being, I know that they will suffer. Spook starts now. Speaker 2 (3:39) are so lucky today because we're traveling back to paradise. I bet you thought we'd only take you to Hawaii once, am I right? No, that we spare zero expense at Spoot. And if we're going to go back to those white sand beaches and dip our toes in the turquoise water because there's a story we got to get. Well, sometimes you have to suffer for the truth. Speaker 2 (4:05) But in this case, make no mistake, understand there is darkness in paradise. Speaker 1 (4:33) I lived on the windward side of the island. You know, being very tired from work, I would sit down and maybe have a beer or two. And one night I'm doing that and I have a friend of mine with me. We're just sitting around out in the yard in front of the house, Dee and my brother JJ. And we're just kind of like shooting the breeze and talking when all of a sudden this car comes just screeching down the street and it just pulls up in the back of Dee's car. So we all kind of like stand up really fast. And we look in the direction of this car. My friend, we call him Joe Bones, just, you know, threw the door open and came out. He's only wearing shorts and he's got this look of sheer terror. His eyes were just huge. And at first he has a hard time talking. And so I go up to him and say, Joe, hey, what's going on? You know, I mean, is everything all right? We call people like him Calabash Cousin. He's not family, kind of like adopted in a way. But, you know, he's very close to my family. And finally, he's able to say that we had to go to his house and we had to go there right away. And he was insistent on that and kept repeating himself about that. Something had gone on at his house. that he had just moved into. You know, I'm thinking, wow, how big is this? I get into the car with my friend. We're sitting in the front seat. My cousin and my brother jump into the back seat. We got about 15 minutes to get to the location itself. As soon as we get onto the highway, Joel starts to describe why he came to see us. He really starts just unloading. And that was scaring me because the words and everything were coming out so fast. He begins to tell us, He had just moved into this house, which is near a place called Kauai Nui Marsh. He was moving in with his girlfriend, and he was very, very happy about the circumstance. In the back of the house, there's this big plumeria tree filled with these beautiful flowers as well. People use them to make leis. And so the first day they're in the house, they start to unpack. That evening, they start to hear. Speaker 1 (6:58) From out of nowhere, the beating of drums, what we call in Hawaii, pahu. And it just kept building and building up. And it sounded like it was everywhere, like outside of the house, around them, and everything. It's coming from the back of the house. And the only thing that's back there is that marsh. And he took a good look at that marsh. There's no houses. There's nothing there. And so eventually the drumming stops. Speaker 1 (7:30) Joe said they call it a night and then they go to bed. The next day he goes to the back of the house and he looks around and a beautiful plumeria tree that was there is now dead, shriveled up. The flowers are gone and the tree is wilted. And he looked on the ground and there were these footprints. Speaker 1 (7:55) They come up to the tree and go around the tree and then go off again, off into the distance. Something is definitely not right with this situation. He's very, very scared. He goes back into the house. The sun goes down. He just wants things to be normal. Driving down the highway. You could hear the fear in every single word that came out of his mouth. When he was saying, I know I'm not crazy. I know what I saw is real. And I just need you folks to be