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Outdoor Skills: Tell a Scary Ghost Story

by Alicia MacLeay
October 30, 2008

It’s a dark and stormy night, and you want to scare the bejezus out of your friends around the campfire. In honor of Halloween, learn to tell a good ghost story. Then on your next camping or backpacking trip you can casually bring it up around the campfire, or just before your tentmate heads out for his 2 a.m. pee break.

“Hey, that reminds me,” you can say. “Did I ever tell you about the time I saw that phantom hitchhiker / man with a hook for a hand / escaped lunatic with a really big knife on this very trail…”

To tell a good ghost story, you first need one to practice. There are entire books and web sites devoted to ghost and scary stories. Read a bunch. Pick one you like, giving preference to ones with local flavor. Give the tale your own spin with details appropriate to your setting and audience. Then practice telling your story as fact in your own voice. You’ll need a scary twist or surprise at the end to complete the effect. If your audience includes kids, be mindful of each child's ability to handle the experience.

Here are two instructional videos with tips on telling ghost stories:

And, here are a few of the many sites with scary stories:

Then tell us your favorite scary story camping or backpacking moment below.