Pseudo-Archaeology · The Archaeology Podcast Network

The Moana Surfrider: Haunted? - Ep 160

·35 min·2 clips

Jane Stanford died of strychnine poisoning after traveling to Hawaii, and her ghost is tied to the hotel.

1. Pseudo-Archaeology episode 160 focuses on the Moana Surfrider Hotel on Waikiki Beach. 2. Dr. Andrew Kinkhella hosts the episode and uses a recent Hawaii trip, a Royal Hawaiian stay, and his own on-site visit to frame the story. 3. The episode asks why the Moana Surfrider matters for archaeology, preservation, and ghost stories. 4. Kinkhella says the Moana Surfrider was built in 1901, while the Royal Hawaiian dates to 1927. 5. He links both hotels to the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. 6. He argues that the pseudo-archaeology angle comes from haunted stories attached to the hotels. 7. Kinkhella describes the Royal Hawaiian photo of a 1927 party that looks like a scene from The Shining. 8. He lists famous Royal Hawaiian guests including Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Franklin Roosevelt, Duke Kahanamoku, Amelia Earhart, Spencer Tracy, Bing Crosby, Helen Keller, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Mary Pickford, Lucille Ball, and Prince Edward. 9. He says Prince Edward, the Duke of Windsor, could not have stayed at the Royal Hawaiian in 1920 because the building did not exist yet. 10. He says that incorrect 1920 claim has spread through AI-generated and search-based lists. 11. Kinkhella describes walking from the beach into the Moana Surfrider's H-shaped layout, banyan-tree courtyard, and open plaza after sunset. 12. He says the banyan tree is a registered landmark tree and notes another banyan tree at the Royal Hawaiian. 13. He says the hotel feels like a Victorian haunted house, with Italian Renaissance-style columns, white painted wood, and a Titanic-like atmosphere. 14. He points out the porch on the Waikiki side, where rocking chairs let guests watch traffic and lights on the main drag. 15. He explains that the wide hallways were designed for steamer trunks because travelers arrived by boat from San Francisco or Los Angeles. 16. He adds that the airy design may also have been intended to move air before air conditioning and possibly to reduce tuberculosis risk. 17. He says Hawaii Calls broadcast from the Moana Surfrider from 1935 to 1975 and used wave-like hiss that listeners initially confused with surf. 18. He then turns to ghost lore, including Jane Stanford's 1905 strychnine poisoning, the suspected secretary Bertha Berner, and sightings of a Victorian apparition. 19. The episode is conversational, anecdotal, and delivered in a loose walking-tour style with repeated asides and corrections. 20. Listeners who like Hawaii history, historic hotels, or ghost stories will get the most from it.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Pseudo-Archaeology