Slightly Scary Stories To Tell Around the Campfire

Telling spooky, scary stories around the campfire is a long-honored tradition. Here are a couple of stories that are just spooky enough to send chills down your spine but not so scary to traumatize the kids. So gather the kids around a roaring campfire and begin a night of storytelling of spooky camping tales.

The Whistler In the Woods

Written By: N.M. Fellows

A group of boys were sitting around a campfire telling ghost stories at night, hours after the adults had gone to bed in their tents.   An older boy had just finished a scary story that left the boys on edge when they heard a whistle coming from the woods.

“What was that?” a nervous younger boy asked.

“The Whistler,” replied an older boy with a knowing look in his eyes.

All the boys looked at each other, terrified to ask, but one brave boy asked the question, “What is the Whistler?”.

“It goes by many names besides the Whistler,” replied the older boy.  He continued, “Yowi, Sasquatch,……..Big Foot”.

Just then, another whistle came from the woods, but it sounded closer.  A twig snapped close to the campsite.

The boys began to squirm, staring at each other in terror.

Then they heard whistling all around them, louder, closer.  The sound of knocking on trees echoed with each long whistle.  All the boys froze in terror.  Then it stopped.  Not a sound could be heard.  An eerie quiet filled the night.

“Time for bed!” yelled the boys.

All the boys ran to their tents as the older boys quickly put out the fire.

The next morning, as all the boys emerged from their tents, large footprints could be seen all around their tents and campsite as if someone or something had been watching them all night.  

The Marshmallow Ghost Girl

Written by: N.M. Fellows

The Steel family had finally made it to their campsite after getting lost several times on the Georgia backroads. The Pinewoods Campground was full of fellow campers, and everyone smiled and waved until the family drove their SUV to campsite #13. Then, their expressions turned to pity and fear. The Steel family shook it off, maybe the campsite was un-level or had fire ants. No matter to them, they were excited to begin a relaxing weekend of camping, fishing, and swimming in the nearby lake.

They barely had time to put up their tents as the sun began to set on the horizon. Timmy was sent to the nearby woods to gather sticks to start a fire. He couldn’t wait to eat his favorite camp food, S’mores.

As he was gathering sticks, he noticed a girl about his age had joined him. She was dressed in blue shorts and a white T-shirt. Her hair was long and blonde and seemed to still be wet. She must have just gotten done swimming in the lake. He smiled at her and asked if she was gathering sticks for a fire as well. She smiled and nodded yes. Timmy began talking about all the things he planned on doing on his weekend camping adventure and the girl would nod in acknowledgment and smile at him.

He told her he couldn’t wait to make S’mores. At this announcement, the girl perked up.

“Marshmallows?” she whispered.

“Of course, silly. You can’t have S’mores without Marshmallows”. Timmy laughed.

The girl smiled eerily. “May I have a marshmallow?” she asked.

“Sure”, said Timmy. “Let me get all these sticks to my Dad, and I’ll ask my Mom for some marshmallows. Just give me a minute.”

Timmy ran back to his campsite and dumped the sticks onto the ground by the fire ring. His Dad waved to him, and he went in search of his Mom to find the marshmallows. Timmy quickly found her, and she gave him a baggie of marshmallows to give to his new friend.

Timmy ran back to the spot he left her, but she was nowhere to be found. He began walking around the campground, looking for her. Surely, she hadn’t gone far.

Timmy was stopped by the park ranger.

“Are you lost, young man?” he asked.
“No,” replied Timmy, “I am looking for a girl with long blonde hair, blue shorts, and a white t-shirt. She wanted marshmallows”. He showed the ranger his baggie filled with marshmallows.

The ranger smiled sadly. “So, you have met our Tilly. She loved marshmallows. Follow me.”

He walked Timmy back to his campsite, #13, and shined his light on a little plaque that was hidden in the dark. It read:

This site is dedicated to Tilly McBride, age 12, who drowned on 6/12/73. She had a love of the outdoors and marshmallows. May she rest in peace.

Timmy looked at the ranger with fear in his eyes. This couldn’t be. The girl he met in the woods was real.

The ranger shook his head and let Timmy know he wasn’t the first person to be asked for marshmallows by Tilly. Timmy placed the baggie of marshmallows next to the plaque and went to find his parents and tell them about the girl.

The next morning, he brought his parents to the plaque so they could see for themselves. The baggie of marshmallows was gone, and sticks were used to form the words “Thank you.”

The stories above are original stories and are the property of the writers. They can not be copied or reproduced without written approval.

More Campfire Stories

I found some great books with scary campfire stories for your next campout. These are sure to bring a few frights to your nighttime storytelling and lots of memories of camping.

Campfire Stories for Kids: A Story Collection of Scary and Humorous Camp Fire Tales

This collection of campfire stories by Drake Quinn is sure to put the fright into a campfire storytelling night. You can find the book here.

Short and Shivery

Pictured above is another great book of short stories and tales perfect to tell around the campfire. The book contains 30 chilling tales retold by author Robert D. San Souci. You can find this spine-tingling book here.

Campfire Stories for Kids Trilogy

This trilogy of spooky campfire stories for kids contains 61 stories to scare and entertain all night long. You can find this book collection by Johnny Nelson here.

Don’t Forget

Don’t forget to bring a flashlight or lantern, especially for the kids. It will help them to be less scared of finding their way back to their tent or camper after a night of scary tales. Check out my list of camping lanterns and headlamps here.

Also, set the mood with a colorful, enchanting fire with Mystical Fire.

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