The Great Outdoors

Hold a flashlight under your face as you tell your spooky story to give youself an eery glow.

Here's a campfire tale that's spooktacular fun for all ages. Personalize it by substituting your family member's names for the names here.

A sister and two brothers were walking home after playing in a valley. They had lost track of time and it was almost dark. "Let's take the shortcut through the woods," said Sarah. "The woods are kind of scary," said Eric. Little Jimmy, the youngest, just shrugged. He never said much; Eric and Sarah were always telling him to shut up. Sarah ended the argument. She marched down the forest trail and called back, "If you think the woods are bad, wait until you see how scary Mom and Dad will be if we don't get home before dark." It was dark in the woods. Trees loomed overhead, their branches dangling like arms ready to snatch someone. The kids sensed wild animals lurking. The children were happy to see the bridge that went over the creek. They were almost home. Suddenly a hideous Goblin appeared at the other end of the bridge. He had rotten teeth; clumpy, nasty hair; and scratchy long fingernails. He certainly needed a bath. "Wha...wha...what do you want?" Sarah stuttered. "I want you to be my prisoners and serve me for the rest of your lives," growled the Goblin. "I'm the most powerful goblin in the world, so it's no use running or resisting." Sarah pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. She wasn't. Eric chewed his lower lip. Jimmy shrugged. "You don't look so tough to me," Sarah finally said. "If we can think of something that you can't do, will you let us go then?" "Very well," the Goblin agreed. Sarah pointed to a pine tree. It was taller than her mom's office building and as big around as a merry-go-round. "Pull that tree out of the ground," she challenged. The Goblin wrapped his hairy arms around the tree and uprooted it like a weed. Eric pointed to a boulder. It was as big as a house, and weighed 5 tons. "Throw that boulder in the next county," he said. The Goblin picked it up and threw it like a baseball. Eric and Sarah cried. They didn't want to be prisoners. They looked at little Jimmy, but what could he do? Jimmy thought for a minute, gulped a few mouthfuls of air, then let out a mighty burp. "Catch that a paint it green," Jimmy said. Of course, the Goblin couldn't. So the children skipped home.