Hey, Story Lovers!
People have been telling stories ever since we developed sufficient communication skills. Who doesn’t love to hear a well-spun yarn? Just about everybody enjoys hearing a good story which is why there’s a whole day dedicated to the art of oral story telling. April 27 is Tell a Story Day.
So—how come we’re telling you about this twenty-three days in advance? Well, because telling stories around a campfire is such an essential part of summer camp, it only seems natural that we here at Everything Summer Camp create a contest shaped after this 
national day.
But we don’t want just any kind of story—we want scary summer camp stories—spooky stories that you share while everyone’s sitting around a campfire. The kind that send shivers down spines and put goose bumps on skin. These should be tales that you’ve come up with from your own warped imagination.
After you’ve crafted your story, we want you to make a video recording of yourself telling your chilling tale. Your video may be as simple as holding a flashlight underneath your chin or as grandiose as involving a small cast and props to make your own mini-movie! Then upload your spooky video to YouTube.
Video entries should be no longer than 10 minutes long and, of course, the content of this video should be appropriate for all ages. Make sure to keep your stories clean! If you couldn’t tell it at summer camp, then we don’t want you telling it here.
Submit your video and contest entry information on our customer sign up page by April 27 and enter for your chance to be a winner. Two winners will be chosen—each will win a $100 gift certificate to Everything Summer Camp.
One winner will be chosen by public votes. How many people can you get to vote for your video? The more people you know, the better your odds are of winning. The other winner will be chosen by us—our esteemed judges within Everything Summer Camp.
Here’s the beginning of a little story I’m working on along with you guys–enjoy!
Fire Pit
Sid was the first kid that Angie met at summer camp. When he first approached her he confessed that he was a rather shy boy. But being on the shy side herself, this sat well with Angie and the two became quick friends. They sat with each other throughout mealtimes and during conversation times with the counselors. On hikes they would walk together. They’d even sit and read together on the ledge of the camp’s fire pit. It seemed they were side-by-side the entire time and before either one of them realized it, their camp stay was coming to a close.
They found themselves eating the last dinner they would have at summer camp this season. Angie couldn’t help but to feel a little sad about the fast-approaching end. She’d had so much fun in the last few weeks! But Sid reminded Angie to cheer up—“We still have a whole night left at camp,” he told her.
The campers of O-Phaz-Ma would end their camp stay with the traditional campfire on the last night. And, of course, Sid and Angie sat next to each other.
Everybody joked around for a while, roasting marshmallows by the roaring fire and enjoying each other’s company one last time for the summer. But it didn’t take long for Craig, the primary counselor to flip on a flashlight and pass it off to Daniel, sitting next to him.
“Let’s get some stories, going, huh?” said Craig.
“Oh, um, okay,” said Daniel, unprepared. He went on with a humorous story about a monster with a hook, not for a hand, but for a foot. It got a lot of laughs, but Craig was unsatisfied.
“C’mon, Danny! SCARE US!” he said.
“Well, if you want a scary story so bad why don’t YOU tell one?” Daniel proposed giving the flashlight back to Craig.
“Oh, I don’t know if you guys could handle a scary story from ME!” Craig warned as he turned off the flashlight. But this was received with a band of sarcastic laughing and much jeering. The kids all continued with their discordant chatter in unison until Craig turned the flashlight back on and held it underneath his chin and everyone grew silent again.
The crisp crackling of the burning logs inside the brick fire pit filled the silence for a moment until Craig broke it saying, “Well, OKAY, then. If you insist…”
***Tune in for the second half of this story on April 27th, National Tell a Story Day.***