Aloha Fry-Day by Hannah Ii-Epstein

In many indigenous cultures, hallucinogens are inextricably linked to rituals celebrating liminality; their consciousness-expanding qualities can also induce therapeutic emotional release from trauma. But during a night of jubilant euphoria in the 1990s, Sherrie’s unresolved memories erupt into tragedy. The final act in Ii-Epstein’s North Shore Oʻahu drug trilogy, Aloha Fry-Day follows four friends: Sherrie, Sistah, Lei, and Jason, as they meet in the forest to mourn a friend’s death by spreading his ashes and taking hallucinogens. What they find on their mission is unexpected as they share stories which are haunted by the ghosts of the ʻāina.