Fun Campfire Ghost Stories by John Bradshaw Page A

clean up and put the
garbage up in a tree so animals would not get into it at night. The
sun had gone down and it was getting dark so Bob told us to brush
our teeth and get ready for ghost stories. I could not wait. I
loved a good ghost story. It was like your entire world is wrapped
up in the story for as long as it lasts. Fun, Fun, Fun…
    We gathered around the campfire, its wavy
yellowish light danced off the faces of my cabin mates. Bob threw a
couple of more logs on the fire as red embers floated up into the
night sky and disappeared. He sat down on a short log turned on
end, facing us. The first story that Bob told was about a giant
purple gorilla. It was a great story with a great ending and we
wanted more. Bob’s next story was about a little ghost that was
afraid and then the story of a hunted house. It was getting late
and you know... there is no sleeping late on a camping trip, so Bob
said he had one more story before it was time to sack out.
    Bob’s last story was about a huge hairy
monster known as Big Foot that roamed these woods. It was half man,
half ape that did not like anybody coming into its woods. It moved
around mostly at night and had a terrible smell like you’ve never
smelled before. This creature stood ten feet tall, strong enough to
tear up trees, had long fangs and claws, and did I mention, smelled
terrible? The fire was burning down to a pile of glowing embers and
darkness was advancing further into our campsite as Bob continued.
Last summer, he said, two campers disappeared, believed taken by
Big Foot because they went outside their tent after lights out.
Their fate to terrible to think about! Bob ended the story and said
that he was going to bed because his stomach was upset from eating
all those hotdogs, beans and marshmallows. He told all of us to hit
the hay and would see us in the morning. The timing was great
because it had just started to sprinkle rain.
    Anyway, Daniel and I zipped up our sleeping
bags and laid there looking at the inside top of our tent. We
talked quietly for a few minutes about the stories we had just
heard and how they did not scare us. Sleep soon overcame us.
Suddenly, I was awakened by a snapping wood sound. I laid there
listening. I could tell the rain had stopped and there was just
silence and darkness. Then I heard what sounded like somebody or
something walking through the campsite. I reached over and shook
Daniel until he woke up. He asked what time it was and I said that
I had no idea. I told Daniel about what I had heard and we both
laid there motionless, straining to hear something, but hoping not
to. The silence was broken by the sharp crack of another piece of
wood. It had to be something heavy to make that large a snap, I
thought. Daniel and I decided that if we could only get over to
Bob’s tent we would be ok. Daniel and I unzipped our sleeping bags
and opened the front flap of our tent. It was really dark and we
could not see or hear anything so we moved slowly towards Bob’s
tent. When we got to Bob’s tent we found that the zipper to the
front flap was stuck and would not open. We heard the rustling of
bushes behind us. We had forgotten our flashlights so all we could
do is turn and meet our fate. We could see the bushes moving. It
looked like something big was stripping the leaves off. At that
moment we were overcome by a horrendous smell. Then, for a moment,
there was silence but the horrible smell lingered. Daniel and I
looked at each other and, at that moment, remembered the Big Foot
ghost story. Sounds of footsteps were heading our way. The
footsteps were coming from the bushes. They were getting closer and
closer, almost upon us when we yelled “Boobbb!!” Suddenly, a bright
light shown in our faces that made us close our eyes. Then a voice
said, “What are you guys doing out of your tent?” To our relief,
Daniel and I realized that it was Bob’s voice in front of us, but
why was he outside his tent walking around making noises in