Customer Reviews

Creepy Campfire Tales Vol. One Halloween Camp Out

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My wife and I are always encouraging our daughter to read but she doesn't like the typical girly books so I ordered this for her because she loves Halloween, campfires, roasting marshmallows and by the description it seemed she might like this book. She was so excited when I surprised her with it and she raced through homework to start reading. From the moment she picked it up she couldn't put it down and it took a mild scolding to get her to stop reading and into bed. The book is a collection of spooky short stories that were exciting and suspenseful but not so bad she had scary dreams. Mr. Adams if you are reading, please hurry with volume two, you have a young fan driving me crazy asking if you are going to write more.

My daughter and son in law pitched a tent this past winter in the family room and camped in front of the fireplace on a cold winter night the book was a big hit with the kids ranging from 4- 7. 4 may have been a little young but this would be good for older kids too.

It's always fun to tell ghost stories around a fire late at night, but coming up with something original isn't always easy. Adams has offerred us a collection of truly original tales that make for a spooky evening.

Adams has a knack for the original while he mixes small-town nastalgia with evil lurking just around the corner, or on the radio, or in the pond, or in the woods.

I'd love to read a full length effort from JA in the future.

We spend many a night at our backyard campfire and several overnighters up in the mountains here in upstate NY and are always looking for new stories to scare the heck out of the boys. We found it here with Creepy Campfire Tales. Wide eyes from our boys looking back at me over the fire while I read from its pages say it all. Keep em coming!!!

So, I read this book after a friend recommended it. I have never really enjoyed 'campfire tales'. This book was as creepy as it promised. And definitely original. I couldn't put the book down. I have shared the book already and have another friend waiting for it to be returned. I'll definitely read the second one. Keep writing, Mr. Adams and keep sharing those freakish dreams of yours. And I'll try to get some of my friends to buy their own copies...

This book is a really awesome book to have!! I was looking for a book with scary campfire stories to read when we all go camping and I hit the jackpot with this book. Everyone absolutely loves it. The stories seem so real and it's very easy to get wrapped up in them. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who loves a good horror story. Looking forward to Part II of Creepy Campfire Tales or any book for that matter written by James D. Adams, he knows how to keep your interest.

This book is perfect to tell around campfires or to kids on hayrides during Halloween parties, if you live in the country like us. The stories are short enough to remember the main details for retelling, yet long enough when you read them by yourself they seem to really be happening. Also, there are no dumb endings or forced scenes where people do unrealistic things. Everything seems like something logical you would do if the story was really ahppening. They all happen at Halloween or In October, and all around campgrounds or camp fires at some point in the story. They are all new too. So many other campfire story books we bought were retellings of old stories or just dumb stories. These are brand new, so the kids will really be shcoked by the endings. There are hayrides, monsters, spooky scenes in the deserted woods, and lonely campsites on farms. Onse story is about a family all alone, in the deep woods of Maine, and what happens to them when an unknown "thing" intrudes on their cook out. Having been to Maine, the feeling lonelinees and isolation in the book matches the real thing. Our friends from the big city (Manchester) think being out in the middle of nowhere is terifying. We think dark city streets are scary, so I bet city folk like our friends would be very scared by this book. It is fine for teens, while there is death and fright, no cusssing or sex (aside from one kissing scene, no nudity you could say.). Many of these characters reminded me of being in school and all the bon fires we would have, which sooner or later, led to telling ghost stories.

I just purchased this book and it took about 30 minutes to read through all the stories. The big plus is that they are original which is refreshingly nice.

I was hoping that a couple of the stories in this book would work for me to read at an upcoming Halloween party for adults I'm hosting. No such luck. The first couple stories would work for the very young -perhaps 5 to 12 years of age. Then the stories shift in violence level and would be best read to teenagers -perhaps 13 to 18.

One story, "Monster Lake" was in my opinion, a poorly disguised exercise in propaganda to scare children about environmental pollution. The EPA would be happy with this, but I prefer political views to be left out of my stories. Yes, creepy monsters created from chemical run-off from somewhere have been the foundation of many good stories, and I never have a problem with kids (and adults!) being reminded about important issues. This particular story hits you over the head with a message. It seemed like the appropriate place to read this to children was on a soapbox.

On the other hand I enjoyed "Campfire in the Dark Woods," and "Trick or Treat Pond."

Overall, if you want a higher level of short scary stories, I would greatly recommend the "Short and Shivery" series retold by Robert D. San Souci. Those stories work for campires and appropriately darkened living rooms as well!

I purchased this book hoping to capture the Halloween spirit and the positive reviews here. Wrong! The first story started out interesting until scarecrows jumped out of the shadows and started dancing around the campfire and start throwing corn cobs at everyone. Sillyness that might amuse a 5 year old. It would be a more entertaining read if the stories were more realistic.Nothing scary or creepy about any of the stories- they are more like scenes from Alice in Wonderland.