Ghosts Haunting Hawaii's Volcano House and the Volcano Goddess

The haunted hotel known as The Volcano House in Hawaii is believed to be haunted, not only by ghosts, but also by the goddess of fire and volcanoes.

In the vast expanse of the Hawaiian Islands, where the fiery heart of Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, pulses beneath the earth’s surface, a haunted tale unfolds within the shadows of the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park with its two active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kīlauea.

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Amidst the rugged landscapes and smoldering craters, the eerie whispers of the past beckon visitors to the historic Volcano House south on The Island of Hawaii.

The haunted hotel known as The Volcano House in Hawaii is believed to be haunted, not only by ghosts, but also by the goddess of fire and volcanoes. — **Hawaii Volcano House:** Old Volcano House No. 42 — the building that was used as the Volcano House Hotel from 1877 to 1921.It now houses a gallery for the Volcano Art Center, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. // *Source: W Nowicki/Wikimedia*

The Haunted Volcano House

The Volcano House is today a series of historic hotels built at the summit of the active shield volcano Kīlauea is over 200 000 years old and still erupting. The very word means spewing and refers to the lava that keeps pouring out from it. In 2018 they had to shut down the entire park because of the explosions, toxic ash clouds and earthquakes.

Standing as a silent witness to centuries of volcanic activity on the border of the park, over the Halema’uma’u Crater, the original building holds the legend and history of something much older than the park from 1916.

Kīlauea became a tourist attraction in the 1840s, and businessmen such as Benjamin Pitman and George Lycurgus operated a series of hotels at the rim, including Volcano House, which is the only hotel or restaurant located within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

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It was first built in 1846 as a one-room shelter of grass and native ohia wood poles before expanding in 1866. However, the echoes of the past took a haunting turn in 1940 when a fierce fire consumed the original structure, leaving behind only the ashes and the lingering spirits that called it home. Ironically enough a fire started in the kitchen, not by the volcano.

The Ghost of the Elderly Woman at the Volcano House

From the ashes the volcanoes left behind of the original house, rose a new hotel. But with the new hotel came a disturbance in the ethereal realm, and it is said that from then on the hotel became a haunted one.

Many who have wandered through its halls of both staff working as well as guests staying, have reported encounters with the ghostly apparition of an elderly woman adorned in 1800s attire. She has no name, no history and no one knows who she was.

She is said to wander the corridors, making unexpected appearances in various rooms, as if tethered to the memories that linger within the walls.

The Haunting of Madame Pele

There are also tales of a phantom dog that materializes in the shadows of the Volcano House. There are also tales about how the guests are greeted by a white dog on the road up to the hotel.

Folklore intertwines with the supernatural, and there are speculation that this canine apparition could be a manifestation of Pele herself, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, volcanoes and lightning. Legends where Pele manifests are often accompanied with a dog at her side, or that this is one of her forms.

Where and when the story about guests seeing ghosts came from, no one really knows. Some have put forth the theory that she is the one behind the haunting of the hotel and that the ghost of the dog is just one of the forms her spirit takes on when haunting the place.

The Mythology of Pele

But who is this Pele said to haunt not only one place in Hawaii, but the whole state? Pele is said to be the goddess of volcanoes and fires in Hawaiian religion, but also the creator of the Hawaiian Islands. She is often referred to as Madame Pele or Tūtū Pele to show respect and known as “She who shapes the sacred land.” Even when the old religion was officially abolished in 1819, people still kept believing in her and her ways found ways to stay in the modern world that was changing Hawaiians ancient ways drastically.

The volcano itself is believed to be inhabited by a family of fire gods, her siblings being connected with other elements, and there are many stories about her, especially about her being passionate, power hungry and jealous with a fiery temper.

Legend has it that Pele herself journeyed on her canoe from the island of Tahiti to Hawaiʻi. Some say she came from the mystical floating land Kuaihelani or perhaps even a land said to be “close to the clouds.”

When on her journey, it was said she tried to create fires on different islands, but her sister, Nāmaka, was chasing her, wanting to put an end to her. In the end, the two sisters fought each other and Pele was killed. With this happening, her body was destroyed but her spirit lives in Halemaʻumaʻu on Kilauea. They say, “Her body is the lava and steam that comes from the volcano.

This is only one of the many stories tying her to the volcano. The locals also sometimes believe that Pele warns the locals about the oncoming eruptions. She can also change form, appearing as a white dog, old woman with white hair, or as a beautiful young woman in a red muumuu.

The Haunted Volcano House

The Volcano House, perched on the edge of nature’s fiery spectacle, stands as a testament to the complex interplay between history and the supernatural. If Madame Pele is haunting the hotel is uncertain, but it is said that George Lycurgus, who ran the hotel for years and years used to pray to her for the sake of the tourists. Although many park rangers didn’t like how he did it as he kept throwing finished gin bottles into the crater to show her respect.

As the molten core of Pele continues to shape the island’s destiny, the Volcano House remains a portal to the otherworldly—a place where the veil between the living and the departed is as thin as the wisps of volcanic smoke that rise from the earth below.