Spooky Tales
See short Channel 9 AM News Interview with Jeff on Halloween 07.
I've always told spooky tales. Perhaps because I was born on Halloween, or maybe the astrologer was right who said my stars align in a way that make people confess to me. All I know is that people are constantly coming up to share their personal supernatural events with me. And so I’m constantly telling the best new spooky stories to audiences - sharing them is one of the greatest pleasures of my career. Hawaii just teams with great narratives of the extrasensory life here. I’ll soon have a 4th CD to add to the other three in the Haunted Hawaii series. I’m very proud of this collection.
I tell Spooky Stories- a LOT! Most of my evening shows have spooky elements in them - certainly parts of the Arabian Nights and Egyptian mythology are horrific. I've a dozen longish European tales that I return to year after year as well (Rank Devil Mountain). And in ALL my Cds I’ve been totally fascinated with power of music. I am blessed to work with a gifted group of talented musicians on Maui (with piano wizard Les Adam in the center, www.betzandadam.com). They love playing to stories as much as I love having them. I am thrilled at how their soundscapes extend and color the narratives of both Spooky Tales and Children’s stories.(article Duets: Tunes ‘n Tales).
Here in Hawaii, people love spooky stories. My Talk Story Festival is Hawaii's biggest and oldest storytelling celebration (I created it ('89), direct it, and host it). The first of three free nights (Friday Night) is always for SpoOoky Tales, and it always attracts our biggest crowd. The auditorium is often overfilled- packed- standing room only. The audience of about 1000 people are extremely attentive! I think Spookies are so popular here because Hawaii is such a spiritual and spirit-filled land.
HAWAII’S SPOOKIES
Since coming to the Hawaiian Islands from Italy in 1982, I have been told/given an outstanding variety and volume of true local supernatural tales rooted in Hawaiian culture. Indeed, these contemporary folk tales have guided me to a deeper understanding and respect for these traditions, so tangibly alive in Hawaii today. It's a source of great pride, responsibility, and discomfort that I am often invited to speak before local & Hawaiian communities to tell these stories. These tales are a trust. My role is to tell what has been told to me so that the stories will live on… and to tell them right!
STORY STRUCTURE
I begin describing the context where I meet a person who then tells me a tale. I become that teller, the characters in the story, myself listening and responding, and the narrative voice. This gives me tremendous flexibility to shape and pace the tale, and also a chance to create portraits of the society and people here at home. Some mainland listeners wonder if my characterizations are charactatures, while audiences here laugh in recognition. WE ARE THESE FOLKS! Pele lives here, and she messes with people. Menehune (the tiny first people) too. Rocks (pohaku) change shapes. Dogs instantly grow. The spirits of the ancestors demand respect. Sharks are relatives. All true, all true.
Makia Malo (from Kalaupapa Molokai) and I have toured quite a bit. He calls me a ‘hunter and gatherer’ of stories. I am a white man in a brown world telling tales from Polynesia which I have been told. Some would say I have no right to share these tales. I invite you to read my response the article Cultural Stereotypes.
I like mixing humor with horror. The humor becomes a release valve for the tension. And oh, to craft the chilling ending of a tale where there is no release, to feel the room drop into a profound encounter with the "OTHER", to guide listeners into a "chicken skin" goose-bump experience is a delicious thrill. I know from the screams and the screaming silence that the story is HAPPENING to them, INSIDE them, in the mind's eye of imagination. I know they are MOVED… and then I bring them back into the room… this is a primal delight. Providing such powerful experiences is really my specialty. Yes, I get carried away. My voice and body change- PLENTY! It's chilling fun to visit dark lands where we'd never go without a guide, who brings us back to safety again. Humans love to be scared. I bring folks back alright- but not back unchanged.
CONSIDER THIS: A SOCIETY WHO DOES NOT LEARN TO FACE & OVERCOME WHAT IT FEARS CAN BE MANIPULATED BY BRINGING UP SUCH FEARS.
100Candles at Kapiolani Community College 10/07 (Kapio College newspaper) An old Japanese tradition is continued. A candle is blown out with every ghost story until, in the dark, you are supposed to see ghosts. Jeff Gere & Lopaka Kapanui talked for 3.5 hours until the custodians chased them out. They were on ghost tale number 92.
HonoluluMagazine 10/08 (JG recommendations telling Spooky Tales)
