Campfire Ghost Stories
Campfire Ghost Stories
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The dogs Lick
There was once a nice old lady who had a lovely little dog. One day, the old lady heard on the radio that a crazy murderer had escaped from jail and that she should lock all her doors and windows. So she locked every door and window in the house except one tiny one to let some air in. She thought that a murderer would never get in through there.
So that night she went to bed as usual. She knew everything was okay because when she put down her hand the dog licked it. But later in the night she heard a drip, drip, drip. She put her hand down and the dog licked it and everything was okay, so she went downstairs to check out the tap. But the tap wasn't dripping. So she went to bed again. And everything was okay. She woke up again later in the night, though, so she thought the dripping sound must be coming from the shower. She went into the bathroom, and there was her dog, dead, hanging in the shower, dripping with blood, all its intestines hanging out.
The Cursing of Colonel Buck
Now Colonel Buck was not what you'd call the most virtuous man in town.
No sir! He had an eye for the ladies, did Colonel Buck, and he would
chase them 'til he got what he wanted. Then he would drop them like a
hot brick.
Well, Colonel Buck has a pretty maid working for him.
It weren't long before he started noticing her and she, poor lass,
started looking back. One thing led to another, don't you know, and one
day Colonel Buck turned out his pretty maid, seeing as she was unmarried
and in the family way.
Well now, that pretty lass had a
deformed baby boy, and she had a hard time making ends meet with a
growing son. She began putting pressure on ol' Colonel Buck to take
responsibility for the boy. Well, Colonel Buck weren't having none of
that. He began putting it about town that this lassie was really a
witch. The rumor spread and spread. The townsfolk became a-feared of the
lass and one day they grabbed the woman and brought her before Colonel
Buck. He condemned her to death for sorcery, and had her burned at the
stake. The woman shouted a curse at the Colonel as she burned, swearing
that he would always bear the mark of this injustice.
Her poor
young son was forced to watch his mother being burned as a witch. When
one of his mother's legs fell from her burning body, he broke away from
the crowd, ran forward to pick up the leg and fled. It was the only
piece of his mother he had left to bury.
After Colonel Buck's
death, a grand tombstone was erected in his honor. A few weeks later, a
strange discoloration began to form on the stone. It was the picture of a
woman's leg. The reminder of the woman and her curse embarrassed the
people of Bucksport. They had the stone thrown out to sea. But the stone
was washed ashore, the image of the leg still branded upon it. The town
leaders had the stone smashed to bits and they put a new tombstone on
Colonel Buck's grave. But the image of the leg reappeared on the new
stone, and could not be removed. It remains there to this day; a
reminder of a poor girl who was robbed of her innocence and later her
life by Colonel Buck.
The Black Ribbon
Long ago, a young man met and fell in love with a beautiful
young woman. She was always dressed exquisitely and she always wore a
black ribbon around her neck.
Soon the man and the woman were married and moved into a little cottage
by the sea. They started out very happily, but soon the young man became
more and more curious as to why his wife wore a ribbon around her neck
all the time. One day he decided to ask her. The only answer he received
was that he would be sorry if she took it off, so she would not take it
off.
The young man was not happy with his wife's answer. Time passed and
eventually all he could think about was that black ribbon. One day, he
awoke before his wife, went into her sewing box and got a pair of
scissors, and cut off the ribbon that was around her neck. His wife woke
up with a start. Her head fell off and rolled onto the floor while the
woman screamed "I told you you'd be sorry!".
Ghost in the Alley
Rumors were rife about the alleyway behind the tavern. It was haunted, folks said. Haunted by the ghost of a young girl who had been found murdered in that self-same passage. People avoided the small street after dark, for the spirit was said to be a vengeful one. Of course, no one could name anyone whom the ghost had actually killed, but the tales were enough to keep people away from the alley at night.
Fortunately
for the owners of the tavern that backed onto the alley, their front
door faced a well-lit road and so business was not slack.
Then
one night, while the tavern was full of drinkers, a nasty character
named O’Hare wandered into the bar. Women and children were not safe in
his presence, but especially not women.
After O’Hare
had consumed far too much alcohol, he suddenly announced to the bar that
he’d seen a pretty young thing in the alley out back of the tavern. The
bartender froze in the middle of polishing a glass, and the men around
the bar exchanged covert glances. No one said a word, but everyone was
thinking about the ghost of the vengeful young girl. Everyone
in the bar looked down at their glasses as he stumbled to his feet. No
one made a move to stop him, and there was a quiet air of “he deserves
what’s coming to him” about the bar as O’Hare left the building. It’s
just too bad that there isn’t really a ghost, thought the bartender,
setting down the shining glass and picking up another one to polish.
O’Hare sorely needed a lesson in human kindness and respect for others.
At
that moment, a horrible scream came from the alley. Everyone in the
tavern looked up in shock and fear. Had there really been a ghost out
there? Or was O’Hare up to his old tricks and even now accosting one of
their womenfolk?
The men leapt to
their feet and raced to the back door of the tavern. Pouring out into
the street, they were met by an unnatural cold, and their eyes were
dazzled by a blaze of light.
The
bartender thrust his way to the front of the crowd and saw the body of
O’Hare lying in a pool of bright white light. His throat had been torn
to pieces, and blood was spilling out in gushes. Above him hovered the
semitransparent figure of a young girl, her eyes gleaming with red fire,
her mouth covered with blood. She glared down at O’Hare and then turned
to look at the crowd. The specter licked the blood from her lips
thoughtfully, her eyes on the bartender’s neck. Then she vanished,
taking the light with her. At their feet, O’Hare gasped out his last breath and died.
The
local authorities were summoned to deal with the body of O’Hare. Though
skeptical at first, they were finally convinced, since there had been
so many eyewitnesses who had seen the ghost hovering over the dying man.
The bartender resigned his
position the next morning and took a job across town, the memory of the
ghost’s hungry stare at his neck prompting him to look elsewhere for
employment.
The Birth of the Jersey Devil
A storm was raging that night in 1735, when Mother
Leeds was brought to bed in child birth. The room was full of woman folk
gathered to help her, more out of curiosity than good will. They had
all heard the rumors that Mother Leeds was involved in witchcraft, and
had sworn she would give birth to a devil.
Tension mounted when at last the baby arrived. It was a relief (and to
some a disappointment), when the baby was born completely normal. But a
few moments later, before their terrified eyes, the child began to
change. The room erupted with screams as the child grew at an enormous
rate, becoming taller than a man and changing into a beast which
resembled a dragon, with a head like a horse, a snake-like body and
bat's wings.
As soon as it was full-grown, the monster began beating all the woman
(including his mother) with its thick, forked tail. With a harsh cry, it
flew through the chimney and vanished into the storm.
The Monster of Leeds, or the Jersey Devil as he was later called, still
haunts the pines of New Jersey, wrecking havoc upon farmer's crops and
livestock, poisoning pools and creeks, and appearing on the Jersey shore
just before a ship wreck.
The Elevator Operator
Herman was spending the night with some friends who lived in
the country. He went to bed late and did not sleep well. Off in the
distance he thought he heard the sound of a horse drawn carriage. He got
up, went to the window, and looked out. There, in the full moon, he saw
the carriage he had heard right outside of the house. The carriage
looked like it was carrying a coffin. The driver of the carriage looked
up at the window where Herman stood. The driver's face was ghostly pale
and very thin. "All aboard", the driver said to Herman. Herman stepped
back from the window and laid back down on the bed. He eventually fell
back into a fitful sleep.
The next morning, he told his friends about the carriage and driver and
they all decided that he just must have had a very bad dream. Later that
day, Herman went back home to his apartment in the city. Just as he
started to board the elevator , he looked at the elevator operator. He
saw the same pale, thin face that had belonged to the carriage driver.
The elevator operator looked at Herman and said "All aboard". Herman
stepped back from the elevator and stood as if in a trance until a few
moments later he was startled by a loud crash. The elevator cable had
broken and the elevator had plummeted down, killing everyone on board.
Later investigation discovered that the elevator operator had been a
temporary employee and hired only for that one day.
Dont look though the keyhole
The Holdbrook hotel sits in the village of Hillmore which is a quiet little place nestled way out in the countryside. A common place to stay for some of the more wealthier travelers and not unusual to see the odd famous face walking through its doors.
One night a man came into town on business and decided to stay in the hotel since it had such a good reputation.
The day the man came into the hotel he went through all the normal procedures of acquiring a room, but when he was given his key the receptionist noticed he was staying directly next door to the room they do not let out to anyone. When handing the man his key the receptionist said to the man to make sure he did not attempt to enter or look inside the room next to his as it was permanently close, upon asking why the receptionist came up with some poorly put together story about maintenance.
The man left for his room and walked past the closed door next to his and thought nothing of it, dumping his gear in his room and heading out into the village to grab some food.
He did not return to the hotel until quite late as he decided to have a few drinks in a local pub before settling down to bed. When he arrived at the hotel he made his way up to his room and walked past the closed off door he was told to stay away from. This is when he noticed the door did not have a number on it and it had one of the old larger key holes instead of the modern slit keys he had on his own door.
Curiosity got the better of him and as no one was around he knelt down to have a peek through the key hole. The room he saw was completely bare and looked like no one had cleaned it for some time, then he noticed a woman sitting in the corner.
She was sat in the very corner of the room with her head hidden beneath her arms, as if she were perhaps crying. The man decided to go to bed after this thinking it quite odd but nothing to worry about.
The next day he went out again and on his way back to his room he decided to have another look through the mystery keyhole and this time he saw something odd. He saw a deep red color that appeared to be moving slightly, and thinking that the woman has somehow known he was there the night before he thought she must have put a cloth or some kind of clothing over the door knob. Feeling a little embarrassed the woman had known he was spying on her he went to his room and went to bed.
The next morning the man gathered his things and went to check out of the hotel, but at the reception he could not help but ask about the room again, and the receptionist said that since he was leaving she might as well tell him why they keep that room closed. She explained to the man that a few years ago a man and his wife came to the hotel and were staying in that room. Then one night during a terrible row, the man killed his wife and left her body in the room. But he didn't just kill her, he gouged out her eyes, leaving 2 empty red sockets.