Night has fallen. The campfire flickers and pops, coals glow, listeners creep close to the fire and to the storyteller. It’s time for scary stories. But wait…some of the listeners are too young for the stories of La Llorona or hookman. It’s time for a funny-scary campfire story, just enough for shivers, not enough for nightmares. As many of you know, I’m best known for telling The Ghost With the One Black Eye, and many other classic funny-scary campfire stories. Here are a few tips for effective campfire storytelling for the youngest listeners.
1. Notice the body language of the listeners as you introduce the story. Suggest that the smallest children sit with an older sibling or adult. Some young children like very scary stories, but it’s kinder to the adults who have to be with the child later on to tell gentle stories.
2. Let the listeners know right away that this will be a funny-scary story, not a scary-scary story.
3. Choose a story with a joke ending. You can find a few of these in Alvin Schwartz’ Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark series, in Simon Bronner’s American Children’s Folklore, or ask a ten-year-old who has been to camp.
4. Err on the side of goofy characters, not scary, for young listeners. Build in a hand movement or repetitive phrase so the audience can join in.
5. Sometimes even a funny story can be scary. If you see a kid getting scared, reassure that child that it will all be fine in the end.
6. For a little shiver, pause just before the punchline. This builds suspense and creates an even bigger laugh at the funny ending.
7. Don’t be surprised if children say “That wasn’t scary!” at the end. This is most likely just an observation, not a true critique—and sometimes it’s a way a slightly scared child has of finding courage.
8.In case kids are scared, give the late great storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham’s advice: at night, put your shoes by your bed with the toes side by side, one toe pointing toward the bed and one facing away. This, according to Kathryn, is a surefire way to stay safe from ghosts.
Once the little ones have gone off to bed, and it’s likely that those who are still around the fire can handle it, then tell the truly scary stories.
This year in libraries, I’m doing a storytelling and puppet program called “Campfire tales for adventurous listeners.” Here’s a video from (yikes) 14 years ago with two bits kids will hear in this program.
Really excellent post — so many tidbits of useful info, and I can see you using all of them in your work. And who knew that there’s actually a way to keep ghosts away?!?!