Fun Campfire Ghost Stories

by Bradshaw, John

  A short time later, the Matthew’s house was put on the market and sold. The couple who bought it went missing a day after moving in, never to be heard of again. The house sat vacant for many years when a man passing through the area had taken a shortcut through the old Matthew’s property. He turned up missing and was found in the woods a few days later. The man was out of his mind, unable to talk and was committed to the hospital of the insane. He is still there today and has never uttered a word about what happened to him the night he disappeared at the Matthew’s place. Finally, a man purchased the house to fix up and resale. He has never been seen since. Several years later, the court give me the responsibility to sell the house, Sam said, but I have had no luck since everybody is afraid of the house and think it contains the evil spirit of Matthews. “If I don’t take care of the ghost, than I can’t sell the house,” Sam said.

  “Well where do I come in?” Jim said. Sam told him that if he was able to spend the night in the old house and nothing happened, then the spell on the place would be broken and people would not be afraid of the house anymore. If something did happen then Jim’s skills were to be put to the test to get rid of whatever it was that was haunting the house. “Oh…and did I tell you that if you got the job done, I will pay you $10,000 dollars?” Jim said it was a deal, just let him have a couple of days to get some things together. Sam gave Jim a key to the house and the directions to it as they parted ways.

  A couple of days later, Jim arrived at the old house, unlocked the front door and went in. He looked around and besides the dirty tattered drapes, cobwebs, and the occasional mouse, he did not see anything unusual. Jim went into a room toward the back of the house and unzipped the bag of supplies he had. He set out two powerful flashlights, took out his .45 colt hand gun and slapped in the magazine, pulled back the slide and chambered a round. He laid the extra magazine to his gun on an old table that was next to a broken recliner where Jim planned to spend the night, along with a book and some cough medicine. As the sun went down, Jim had his dinner of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a sip of coffee from his large thermos.

  It was a moonless night so darkness came on fast. All of a sudden, Jim heard a noise upstairs. A thump followed by a bump. Being an unusual sound, Jim grabbed his flashlight and his gun. Another bump followed by another bump upstairs getting closer. Jim turned on his flashlight and aimed the beam toward the entrance of the room which was just across from the stairs. Bump…bump…bump the noise was coming from the stairs. Soon Jim heard a thump as whatever it was hit the bottom of the stairs. Jim raised his gun and pointed it toward the door Bump…Bump…Bump…then BLAST, the door blew open. Moments later, a coffin, wobbling from side to side, came bumping into the room. It was an old coffin moving toward Jim. Jim raised his weapon and fired. The coffin kept moving toward him. Jim fired until his clip was empty, but it had no effect on the approaching coffin. Jim reloaded with his spare magazine and emptied it into the coffin without effect. The coffin was almost within arms reach when Jim threw the gun and one of his flashlights at the coffin which just bounced off. The only thing left to throw was his cough medicine. He threw it and it broke on the coffin and ran down the front of it. All of a sudden the “coffin” stopped.

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  Chapter 6 - The prized possession

  One evening, I was driving home from a camping trip in the mountains and my truck started shuttering. Luckily, there was a farm up ahead so I pulled in and stopped. I knocked on the door and asked the farmer if I could use his phone to call for help. Unfortunately, he didn't have a phone way out there. He said I could spend the night in his barn and use his tools to fix my truck in the morning. He even invited me to have dinner before turning in for the night. We had a nice dinner of steak, potatoes, beans and salad.

  After dinner the farmer showed me to the barn so I could lay out my sleeping bag on the straw. It was a real nice barn and I was sure I'd get a good night's sleep. Over on the side of the barn was a huge solid steel door. I thought that this was out of place since I had never seen a barn with a steel door let alone one with a door the size of this one. The farmer told me that was where he kept his most prized possession. Just as he was about to leave he turned and asked if I would like to see what was behind the door. Always curious, I said, “Why sure.”

  We walked over to the huge medal door and the farmer, after removing a steel wedge from under the door, grabbed the iron ring on the door and pulled it open - creeeeeeeek. There I saw stairs heading down into the dark and I followed the farmer down the stairs - squeek, squeek, squeek.

  At the bottom of the stairs there was a large oak door with an iron bolt. The farmer pushed the bolt across - clunk - and pulled the door open - creeeeeeek - and walked through.

  Down a narrow, dark tunnel we encountered another steel door with a solid crossbar holding it closed. The farmer lifted the crossbar - groooooan - and struggled to pull the door open – uuumph - and we walked on.

  A few yards further on was a clear door made of Plexiglas 18 inches thick. It had a combination lock and I watched as the farmer opened it - 13-66-6 - click, click, click and then swung the door open - swooooosh.

  Past this door was a huge cage made of 3-inch round steal bars. But, that wasn't what caught my attention. What I saw was the huge monster inside the cage. It was gigantic! It was covered with purple fur! And, it was asleep.

  The farmer said, “This is my most prized possession. Very few people have ever seen it. This is my purple gorilla and you've got to promise me, I mean really promise me, that you will NOT touch him!” Well, I thought that was about the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. Of course, I'm not going to touch a gigantic purple gorilla! So I promised him and I thanked him for showing me.

  Then, we made our way back to the surface. He closed the glass door - swooosh - and spun the lock - click, click, click. He closed the steel door - uumph, - and lowered the crossbar - groooan. He closed the oak door - creeeeeek - and slid the bolt in place - clunk. We climbed the stairs - squeek, squeek, squeek and then closed the giant steel door placing the wedge under it.

  Well, I was tired so I laid out my sleeping bag and 'hit the hay' as the farmer went back to his house. As I laid there smelling the fresh straw, I just couldn't stop thinking about that purple gorilla. What a magnificent creature! I wonder why the farmer didn't want me to touch it. Hmmmm, it was asleep so what harm would come of it?

  Finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I couldn't fight it any longer. Sure that the farmer was fast asleep, I jumped up and went over to the giant steel door removed the wedge, grabbed the iron ring on the door, and pulled it open - creeeeeeeek. I went down the stairs - squeek, squeek, squeek. I pushed the bolt on the oak door open - clunk - and pulled the door open - creeeeeeeek - and walked through.

  I raised the crossbar on the steel door - grooooooan - and struggled to pull the door open - uuumph - and walked on.

  I came to the 18-inch thick Plexiglas door and opened the combination lock - 13-66-6 - click, click, click and then swung the door open - swooooosh.

  I walked up to the huge cage made of 3-inch round steal bars and gazed at the purple gorilla that was still fast asleep. After pausing for a second, I reached out my hand and I softly touched his fur.

  He immediately jumped up and let out a blood-curdling roar, turning and staring at me with huge, blood-red eyes. His fangs over two feet long were dripping with saliva.

  Needless to say, I tore out of there as fast as I could! When I got to the glass door, I could hear the gorilla tearing at the bars of the cage. I turned around in time to see him ripping and bending the bars and forcing his way through.

  I closed the glass door - swooosh - and spun the lock - click, click, click - and ran on. Just as I was closing the steel door - uumph - I heard the gorilla hit the glass door and it shattered into thousands of shards of glass. I lowered the crossbar - groooan - and ran on. I slammed the oak door closed - creeeek - just as the steel door exploded off its hinges. I
slid the bolt in place - clunk - and ran as fast as I could up the stairs - squeek, squeek, squeek. Just as I was closing the huge steel door - ker-thump - the oak door disintegrated into pieces no bigger than a toothpick.

  I didn't bother to put the wedge under the door - instead I ran to my truck hoping to escape. As I opened my truck's door, the huge steel door flew from its hinges and the huge purple gorilla sprang out into the yard. He saw me as I jumped in the truck and tried to get it started.

  I turned the key and could see the gorilla running across the yard toward me. The truck didn't start. I tried again, and this time the engine turned over and came to life.

  Just as I was putting the truck in gear, the purple gorilla reached the door, grabbed the handle and ripped the door completely off the truck. I stomped on the gas, the engine raced, but nothing happened - the gorilla had lifted the truck off the ground and I was helpless.

  I just knew that I was going to be torn apart, eaten or worse in just a matter of seconds. I thought how foolish I was to disobey the farmer’s wishes. As I sat there helplessly, that enormous purple gorilla reached into the cab, stretched out his giant hairy hand towards me, grabbed my arm, and said, “Tag, you're it!”

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  Chapter 7 - The little vampire bat

  Once Upon a Time, there was a little vampire bat. His vampire bat buddies called him Radar. Every night Radar would leave his comfy cave and go out to have a little dinner. Now what is it vampire bats like to drink? Oh yes... Blood...Wet Red Blood…ewww. Well one night this little vampire bat came back in very late to his cave. His face was covered in delicious yummy blood! Well, when Radar’s hungry buddy bats saw this they said, "Hey, where did you get all that blood? Your face is covered in it." Radar looked embarrassed and he said, "I don't want to talk about it, leave me alone." "Aww come on," cried the other bats, "We’re hungry and we want to know where you got all that scrumptious blood!" But Radar hung firm and said nothing while he slowly cleaned his face dry. His bubby bats persisted, “Where did you get all that blood?” Finally the little bat gave in and said, "Fine, if you must know follow me."

  And so the bats all flew out of the cave into the night air yelling, "Where did you get the blood?" The little bat would just sigh, "Follow me." They followed him for what seemed like miles and miles the whole while crying out, "Where did you get the blood on your face? We want some too! Are we there yet? Are we there? Where did you get the blood on your face?"

  Finally, they arrived and the little bat said, "Do you see that hill over there?" And they all said, "Yes, but we want to know where you got the blood on your face?" And the little bat said, "And do you see that tree on that hill?" And all the bats said "Yes?"

  "Well I didn't and that’s how I got the blood all over my face!”

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  Chapter 8 - The Dare

  Spencer, Adam and Christopher were having lunch at school when they started to share some scary stories they knew.

  "My dad’s friend walked into the Crown Cemetery one night and at midnight the hand of a skeleton reached up out of the ground and grabbed his leg," Spencer said, as he ate his sandwich.

  "So, what happened?" Christopher said.

  "He was pulled down under the dirt and died for lack of air," Spenser answered, while munching on a carrot stick.

  "Oh come on,” Adam said. “I’ve seen that one in a movie somewhere before.”

  "No really, I think it’s a true story,” Spencer said. “If you don’t believe me than I dare you to stick a knife in the ground on top of a grave at midnight tonight and leave it there. Christopher and I will look for the knife the next morning proving you were there.”

  “No sweat,” Adam said, as the friends headed for their next class.

  That night, Adam arrived at the gate of the cemetery. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as a cold breeze rushed by him. He walked in and shortly found a new grave. He took the pocket knife out of his jacket pocket and opened the blade. He wanted to leave right then, but he knew that his friends would make fun of him, so he decided to get this done as quickly as possible and get out of there.

  Adam squatted down, closed his eyes, and jammed the knife into the ground.

  As he quickly went to stand up there was a tug on his jacket. He tried harder to stand up and realized that something was holding on to his jacket and pulling him down. He screamed as hard and long as he could and then fainted.

  The next morning, Spencer and Christopher found Adam fast asleep on top of the grave. They woke Adam up and, without rising, Adam told them the story. They looked down at his jacket and all three of them started laughing out loud. The corner of Adam’s jacket was pinned to the ground by the knife that he had accidentally run through it the night before.

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  Chapter 9 - Directions

  The funeral was a somber event. Old man Williams was 96 years old when he died. He was a rich man, but had few friends. He had lived the last forty years of this life in London, England and had only come home to be buried. Few people attended the funeral, but one of the few was old man William’s grandson Ted.

  Ted was a no nonsense type of guy. He was a man of little humor. The family had not been close and there was certainly no love lost here. Ted had never married or had children and cared little about himself or others. Ted treated people with contempt, as simply a means to get what he wanted.

  Old man Williams owned a mansion on Raven Road. It had not been used for over forty years and he used to say that it was haunted by a spirit from long past. Most people thought this story was just an attempt to keep people away from the property. The mansion was old, but still in good repair since old man Williams had employed a caretaker during the day to keep the property up. The caretaker had just quit after old man Williams died a few days earlier.

  After the funeral they had the reading of the will and Ted inherited the mansion on Raven Road. Ted had decided to stay at the mansion a couple of days in order to assess its value for sale.

  It was late when Ted arrived at the mansion. Unlocking the front door, he stepped into the huge entrance hall. Off this hall were many corridors traveling in multiple directions. Ted went up the grand staircase and went down the hall on the left.

  Tired, Ted decided to get to bed, but first he had to find one. The first door on the left was locked, the second door was just a storage closet, the next door on the right was an empty room. After several more doors he found a room with a nice big bed.

  Ted changed into his nightclothes, turned down the bed and was just about to get in when he realized that he had not brushed his teeth and needed to use the toilet. Since the mansion was old there were no bathrooms in the bedrooms, so Ted needed to go find one. Ted grabbed the candle and took off down the hall looking for a bathroom. Up one hall and down another he went without success. Ted was getting more and more frustrated when he turned down the hall on the right.

  At the far end of the hall Ted saw a faint light that seemed to be moving toward him. As it got closer it got a little brighter and seemed to take on the ghostly appearance of a man.

  Ted just stood there motionless with what looked like an impatient look on his face. The ghost now was just a few feet in front of Ted when, in a ghostly voice it said, “I am the ghost of Raven Mansion and I have been roaming these halls for 100 years.” Ted without hesitation said, “Good, you must have found the toilet by now…so where is it?”

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  Chapter 10 - Jimmy’s summer job

  Jimmy was out of school on summer break. He was looking for a summer job, but had little success. The job market in the little town of Backwater was crummy. The few summer jobs available were taken by other kids who had the same job the summer before. This was Jimmy’s first summer where he was able to work. He had been looking forward to earning some extra money and having something constructive to do during the long summer hours.

  One day Jimmy woke up and decided that today would be the day he would find a job. He
got up, washed up, dressed nicely, ate a good breakfast and after giving his Mom a kiss, headed out the door. He rode his bike to the hardware store, but no luck…he went to the hamburger joint, but their schedule was filled…he headed to the movie rental place and again no luck. After another couple of stops with no success, his spirits beaten down, Jimmy turned his bike around for the long ride home.

  As the hard top road turned into a dirt road the sun was slowly settling toward the western horizon. The old Black Hill Cemetery was just ahead on the left marking the halfway point between town and Jimmy’s house.

  As Jimmy got closer to the old graveyard he noticed a sign stuck in the ground that he had not seen before today. It said…Summer help wanted immediately Inquire at the gate… Jimmy slammed on his brakes and stared at the sign. He thought to himself…A Job! He stared at the old under cared for, overgrown graveyard and thought about how creepy this place was. He assumed it was not used anymore since there never seemed to be any activity around the place and everybody went to the large nicely manicured cemetery on the other side of town. Jimmy walked up to the old rusty gate and called out, “Is anybody there?” Silence was the response. Jimmy again called out, “Is anybody there?” Turning to leave, a scratchy hoarse voice came from the far side of the gate. “What do you want?” Jimmy turned back around and seeing the old bent over man with gray stringy shoulder length hair, almost decided to jump on his bike and take off. Taking a deep breath, he told the old man that he had seen the help wanted sign and was there to see if the job was open.