By: Kendall Kraus, Olivia Field, Amanda Flugstad-Clarke, Ellen Bailey, Jess Frieder
RUSS 13 Vampires, Witches, and Firebirds
Professor Gronas
Spring 2015
American history is filled with folklore, from Native American mythology to “real truths” that have made for wonderful campfire narratives that have been passed from friend to friend, father to son, stranger to stranger, for decades. In these stories, much like early European, Greek and Roman tales, the accounts can often be guessed at, as to whether or not they are fact or fiction, but they continue to make the rounds of new generations.
Performance
Telling stories around a campfire is possibly one of the oldest forms of storytelling that exists. There are certain aesthetics that can be achieved in this setting that cannot be in more “civilized” surroundings. A campfire story’s type, length and degree of complexity are determined by what is appropriate for the age of the listeners. The beauty of campfire tales is the power the story-teller has in terms of deciding how they want to modify their story for their listeners. Campfire stories that are told by adolescents and adults to their peers are usually more violent and frightening than those told to younger children. It is important for the storyteller to be familiar enough with their story before they attempt to perform it, since it is impossible to refer to any written notes in the dim lighting. The performance of the story often improves with each telling, which usually results in one person having a preferred tale. The use of gestures is up to the story-teller’s discretion, since it depends on whether or not they are even visible in the light. An experienced story-teller knows how to use the fire light to their advantage, letting it illuminate them in the “spookiest” fashion. A more modern example of this tactic is seen in the use of flashlights in order to illuminate the face in a haunting fashion, especially common at the final punch line of the story.
Length
Campfire stories usually do not exceed ten minutes in length, and the utilization of repetition is usually employed in order to draw the listeners into the story, especially children.
Sub Categories
Campfire tales are incredibly diverse and range in genres, some are funny stories, shaggy-dog tales, tall tales, urban legends and infamous “gotcha” tales. This last genre is a crowd favorite and is on the scarier end of the spectrum. This is the type of campfire story that we will focus on.
Also, campfire stories, particularly the stories meant to scare, can be adapted to similar situations that do not necessarily involve camping… or even a fire. A dark setting and a flashlight can recreate the same atmosphere as a campfire and help generate a spooky vibe.
Modern Day: Movies, & the Internet
Campfire tales, scary stories, and urban legends have been impacted by modern technology and culture, such as movies and the Internet. Scary movies are a popular genre that often get their plots from common campfire folktales, or they create new stories along the same lines of such folklore. Amityville Horror is one example of a horror movie that recreates a popular urban legend and campfire story.
Scary stories and campfire tales are no longer confined to bonfires in the woods. Now there are websites that act as forums for creating and sharing new stories and legends. These stories, while not told in the same setting as the traditional campfire story, have the same intended effect: to spook and scare the audience. The format of these stories is similar to traditional scary campfire stories. One of the most successful and well known of these sites is CreepyPasta (www.creepypasta.com), which is responsible for the creation and spread of modern stories/legends, such as Slender Man.
Campfire Folklore 