For its 20th season, the Talk Story Festival — tonight through Sunday at McCoy Pavilion, Ala Moana Park — will bring together tellers and tales to tingle the spine, touch the soul, stir the imagination.

"There's never a shortage of stories," organizer Jeff Gere said. "The task is finding who can tell them, who can really make 'em sink in, who can hold the audience riveted."

Gere, a drama specialist for the city Department of Parks and Recreation, has concocted three themed days of storytelling, assembling nearly nine hours of yarns to be presented by 22 tellers, each providing 20 minutes of tales.

With the Halloween season ahead, "Spookies" is tonight's timely theme.

To commemorate the second decade of tale-sharing, "Milestones" is Saturday's motif.

And the nightcap Sunday is "Imagine That!"

"This year, we have some pretty creepy tales," Gere said of the looming spooktacular. "My advisory: If your kids don't have two digits in their age, don't come; if you haven't gone through puberty, don't come. There's some mighty gory stuff; and some really scary obake (ghost, in Japanese) stories."

But, he said, they'll come. In search of chills.

There are a few very personal and memorable tales based on family deaths, said Gere. Nyla Fujii-Babb, a retired public librarian who has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee, is sharing a story based on her father's death. "Tita" Kathy Collins, a Maui entertainer, will uncork her bittersweet tale about the death of her husband, Barry Shannon.

And Lopaka Kapanui, who has embraced the legacy of the late Glenn Grant and capitalizing on ghost tales, also has a couple of real corkers: Vietnam-related supernatural vignettes that are both touching and beautiful.

"The real horror story is about the gas prices and the financial crises we all face, but there are no tales on these themes," Gere said with a chuckle. "And the tale about Hilo Hattie going under ... that is a horror story you didn't expect," he said of the retailer that recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

The Talk Story Festival, said Gere, is a means to escape the realities of life, for a listen and a look at stories that spook and entertain.

"It's all about contrast," he said. "I look for a flow, taking into consideration the dynamics of the tellers. You put on an aggressive guy, who's big and bold, after a teller who is quiet; when you mix the elements, you distinguish the power and quality of each teller. Contrast is one of the qualities of all art."

There will be old, established voices and personalities, along with new ones; there will be mostly Island tellers, and three from the Mainland, too.

There's Ed Chevy, Hawai'i's deaf storyteller, who is presenting an Edgar Allen Poe tale tonight. James McCarthy, a troubadour who also comes with a guitar, also is on the spooky radar tonight.

Cathy Spagnoli of Seattle, an author of 16 books of Asian tales, will take the stage, along with Dann Seki, a DJ and actor, who will delve into traditional Japanese tales.

To add mood and accent story elements, Les Adam, the Maui pianist for singer Willie K, will provide keyboard accompaniment.

"We strive to enhance the stories with live music and lighting effects," said Gere. "It's not just a stage and a mike."