Horror in Paradise: Grim and Uncanny Tales from Hawaii and the South Seas

by A. Grove Day, Bacil F. Kirtley

We have sought not only the stories of sorcery and the supernatural, but also classic narratives of man's inhumanity and desperate survival by beach and ocean, in jungle or highrise. Often the true accounts of what happened in the island world of Oceania rival, in suspense and allure, even the most imaginative of yarns of South Seas fiction.
There are thirty-four writers whose true "grim and uncanny tales" from Hawaii and the South Seas are collected in this volume.

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Ghosts

285 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

Arthur Grove Day

Reviews

[Gu Kun · Rating 2 out of 5]

The supernatural is simply not my thing.

[Michael Fierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story collection centers on *true life* tales told by various authors inc. several famous ones, all of which take place in the South Seas ~ Oahu, Hawaii, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Fiji, etc.

It was interesting and educated me a great deal on the life of the South Seas natives, as told through *supernatural* accounts, from natives, or, authors usually having lived with them.

It allows the reader to really see how amazing and different many of their beliefs were back then and how strongly these beliefs shaped their culture, altering their everyday lives. And their deaths, might I add! :)

I can't say all the stories within were exactly edge-of-your-seat thrillers, but the editors, without a doubt, put an extensive amount of time compiling this collection. Most of these tales had highlights, though many of them weren't necessarily horrific, almost travel-stories, really. Which, in itself, gave them a credibility that enhanced nearly every story. For that, along with several extraordinary sequences, I am very appreciative for having read this in it's entirety and think it has historical importance.

My favorite was, The Ship That Was Wrecked by a Whale, by Owen Chase, the longer version of which is called, Shipwreck Of The Whaleship Essex, that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick, and used this story as the basis for the ending of his novel.


It had some good memorable stories in but can't rate it above a 3.

[IvyInThePages · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rating: .67 leaves out of 5
-Stories: 1.00/5
-Writing: 1.00/5
Genre: Horror
-Horror: 0/5
Type: Ebook
Worth?: Nah

Hated|Disliked|Meh|It Was Okay|Liked|Really Liked|Loved

I am not even native to Hawaii and I just feel insulted by this damn book.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a wonderful collection of tales, many by well-known writers, of travels and experiences in the South Seas. Some were truly frightening, many were enlightening for conditions and attitudes from the 19th century. Especially frightening, but for different reasons, were The Man Who Turned into a Cassowary by Andre Dupeyrat and The Honolulu Martyrdom. The first is a straightforward account of an impossible occurence experienced by a priest. The second is an account of the "Massie Case," a terrible 1931 miscarriage of justice, recently covered on American Experience on PBS as The Island Murder. If you like history, literature, the supernatural and the South Seas, you will like this.

[BJ Haun · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of "true" stories related to the grim and uncanny presented in reverse chronological order (the newest stories first, the oldest last). The stories from encounters with the supernatural to much more mundane terrors such as disease.

I picked this up as a souvernier from a trip to Hawaii a couple of years ago. It wasn't quite what I expected (I grabbed it on my last day on vacation, and didn't have much time to skim the book), as I was hoping for more legends and ghost stories than "true accounts". That said enough the of the stories were entertaining or interesting that I (eventually) finished the book.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of this collection of stories, tales, histories, and newspaper accounts, only the first one is entirely fictional. The others perhaps have exaggerations or elaborate claims, but they aim to be founded in real events among real people. The authors are a varied bunch and include well known people such as Jack London, Mark Twain, and James Norman Hall. It also has contributions from the likes of Louis Becke, well known to readers of the South Seas at the turn of the twentieth century and other entries from anthropologists, travel writers, and such. It's a good and enjoyable collection. I had already read many of the longer versions excerpted, such as London's The Cruise of the Snark, Becke's By Reef and Palm, and James Norman Hall's Crichton stories. But it was not only good to read these once again but see them placed and compared against the works of other authors. All around the theme of "horror." The horror here has a broad meaning, including horrific events and horrible consequences. There are also some supernatural ghost stories.

The editors for the volume are A. Grove Day and Bacil F. Kirtley. Strange name that last one. I don't know him. But Day is a rather famous figure, being a one time partner in publishing events on Hawaii and the South Seas with James A. Michener. He was also a professor at the University of Hawaii and largely responsible for the origins of Pacific studies as a discipline of sorts. He has also become something of a controversial figure, enjoying a reputation as a conventional liberal on race and cultural issues in his day but now receiving criticism as a cultural spoiler and eraser the history of native Hawaiians as well as Japanese and Chinese immigrants--see Paul Lyons, American Pacificism: Oceania in the U.S. Imagination, which I need to include on my GR entries, if I can get around to it.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spotty collection that includes some real gems. Many of the tales are not about the supernatural but rather about the trauma of colonialism, slavery, and piracy.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11476807
didn't like it myself probibly others would though.