Scary Snippets: Campfire Edition
Edited by N.M. Brown

What do you call an urban legend when it is not set in the city, but out in a remote forest or on an island? The Scary Snippets: Campfire Edition of course. I was truly impressed by the creativity and variety of effective ghost stories, interspersed with a few good old slasher tales, plus monsters, werewolves and vampires. The tales that employed dark humour were an especially good surprise – they truly put the “camp” in these campfire tales.

In Loop by David Green, two boys wake up with headaches and no memory of how they got to the place. Turns out they are suffering from much more than a hangover. Very Clever!
Merit Badge by Lamont Turner is a ghost story with a deadly difference.
In Jesses’ Girl by Stephanie Scissom a mystery is solved.
Welcome to Cottonwood Creek by Thomas Baker presents a camping disaster with a twist.
Camp Cooking by J.A. Askew is a clever piece of science fiction involving subversive social commentary.
Her Mother’s Eyes by Micha Castle is seriously intriguing and genuinely speculative.
Lady of the Lake by Jaqueline Moran Meyer is an interesting take on an old myth legend that creates a not-so-urban legend.
Dying Campfire Light by Radar Deboard is evocative and poetic. The fire is keeping the darkness away – but for how long?
In the Light of the Moon by Alannah Roberston-Webb neatly presents a fatal moment of discovery.
Where is the Were-Bear by Andrew Kurtz weaves a clever narrative that keeps the reader guessing until the end.
One more Murder by C. Marry Hultman is an entertaining dark read that holds the reader’s attention.
Hantoop Island by N.M. Brown reveals horror during a psychology session.
When the Sun Comes Up by C. Marry Hultman is a thorough slasher, once again, with a really bizarre twist.
The Trapper by Christo Healy is an original take on the tall tale coming true format.
Deception by Christo Healy makes the most of love and revenge in a horrific little scenario.
The Woods by Christo Healy develops a classic horror tale with atmosphere.
Second Date by David Green gives the impression the author may have a dark sense of humour. Make or break – the second date is often a killer!
Smile by David Green is a sort of misfit’s revenge, with a difference. Yeah – this writer definitely employs some dark humour.
Sisters by Gabi Kenny involves hallucinations and creepy effects.
Camp New Hope by Nicole Henning delivers something more than a nerd’s revenge.
A Campfire Pact by Nicole Henning adopts a LBQ+ perspective as it mocks college snobbery.
Dimples by Julia Skeen requires punctuation but is otherwise a powerfully told tale of psychological manifestation.
Chocolate Covered Cicadas by Kyle Harrison creates a horror from nature, down to its cyclic rhythm.
A Fool’s Moon by Marcus Cook shines as the animals treat a hunter as he deserves.
Dancing Shadows by Micah Castle brings a transformation and an epiphany of horror.
What We’re Meant to Be by Michah Castle is a scientifically created horror.
Full Moon Camping Trip by R. C. Mulhare is a great were-wolf romp told with black humour.
The Price of Success by Joshua E. Borgmann is well written and provides a paranormal metaphor for the rat-race of life.
Gone Glamping by R.C. Mulhare combines a vampire story with a great closing pun.
The Noise Among the Trees by Radar DeBoard is consuming horror in which the leaves are hungry.
Couples Retreat by Scott McGregor: these couples really need to retreat, because the stranger has the best horror story of them all.
The Third Night by Shannon Grant tells the twisted tale of some noisy campers.
How it Burns by Stephanie Kubin develops a study in morbid curiosity.
Be Careful What I Wish For by Tony Logan is an original grungy horror tale.
Inside the Tent by Radar Deboard is a short tale you have to read until the final line to discover how truly clever it is.
Homecoming by Joe Powers delivers a genuine creep as a ghost story.
Nature Calls by Joe Powers cunningly revives the simple horror of going to an outdoor toilet in the night.
The Bad Season by Eric Nirschel personifies nature as it implies there is something weirder than the wind in the coming storm.
Devil’s Grove by Amber Keener starts as an urban legend and finishes with a serve of gross-out.
Just Old Wives’ Tales by Thomas K.S. Wake delivers a shock while bringing an old superstition to life.
The Sweetest Meat by Wayne Lee has two parts: at first, a monster speaks and then there is a news report. The clever reader makes a horrifying connection.
What I Did on My Summer Vacation by Raz T. Slasher ingeniously recounts a close encounter of the hungry kind.
The Tubal Cain Trail by Nicholas Rud skillfully generates an alien seeming landscape that attacks.
Video Witch by J.M. Staley is one of the stand-out inclusions. Presented as a dramatic script, it ends with a cliffhanger. I could guess for ages!
Rebeccas’s Fire by Jennifer Hatfield is another spooky story that conjures real ghosts.
Better Safe Than Sorry by Nicola Kapron documents a grueling vigil against something just outside the light of the fire.
Digital Detox by Charlotte O’Farrell makes you wonder what you might miss if you turned your mobile phone off. This is another great example of black humour.
The Thinner You by Danny Nicholas tells one of the most bizarre weightless stories around.
The Dinner Guest by Marcus Cook inevitably explores that forbidden subject – cannibalism.
The Eyes Have It by Maggie D. Brace paints a compelling picture of eight-legged horror.
Extreme Survival by Wendy Roberts is a journal-style narrative with a twist, and then another couple of twists.
Look What the Cat Dragged In by Tamara Wenteen takes a child’s sweet longing for a pet to horrific extremes.
Revenge of the Candalorian Coves by Sophie Wagner takes a local legend and turns it into a cycle of never-ending tragedy.
Winter of the Wolf by Cecelia Hopkins-Drewer is my mythic contribution. Can a natural-born werewolf survive a human relationship?

New Beginnings by Gary McDonough had a few exciting plot turns I really did not expect.
Camp Go Green by Lisa Flanyack serves out the horror and ends on a safe note. It’s nice to find a little optimism, even in a horror volume!
A Killer Camp Experience by Nerisha Kemraj presents a solid slasher tale that suits the genre.
Sweet Real Estate by Marcus Cook modernizes the witch living in the woods motif.
The Perfect Spot by Galina Trefil adopts an unusual point of view and packs a massive social message.