Spooky Campfire Tales by S.E. Schlosser

For my American Short Story class, I needed to present on a type of short story, so I searched my bookshelf for something new. The obligation, paired with the onset of autumn, pointed to S.E. Schlosser's collection Spooky Campfire Tales. As someone drawn to both the grotesque horror genre and much tamer literature, I can confidently say that this is a great collection for readers of all ages. It is tame and entertaining, yet still fulfills the thrill of a scary story, much like those in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (a handful of stories span both collections).

With more in-depth study for my paper, I came to a conclusion that I can't unsee: the essential spooky story is an inverted fable (like Aesop or various fairy tales) using fear and thrill to push a thinly veiled moral lesson through a simple plot. In other words, they are short, fun, and exciting for adults and kids alike, because they combine the accessibility of fables with a dark karmic edge.

I like this particular collection for a few reasons. First off, the reading is light and quick. The ambiance is perfectly captured, too. It feels like you're hearing them by firelight in the woods, flashlight in hand. The stories are numerous--a great quality to a glutton like myself, who always craves more reading material. Also, having read the foreword, the author's enthusiasm for storytelling and the revival of these classic tall tales translates well. It's refreshing to feel the excitement of the author, and it makes it a more entertaining read. The works themselves are a great combination of eras, familiar and unfamiliar legends, types of characters and settings, and encompass the genre.

Spooky Campfire Tales is the perfect light read for the Halloween season or summer camping trips. Whether you're a hard-core horror reader like myself or are just in the mood for some spooky fun, this collection delivers.