Campfire Stories

Tales to put a stitch in your side or make the hair on your neck stand on end! A good story told around the campfire has got to be one of life's most unsung pleasures.

Autumn has arrived and the fields are empty. At night when a cold wind gathers the leaves, nary a bat will be found to flitter above when the globes of light created by campfires are cast. Gather everyone around.

It's time to tell campfire stories!!!!!

A Brief Introduction

A hand picked collection of campfire stories collected from a few of the dustier corners of the web.

If you decide you want to tell stories, well I think that makes you someone special! All I can say on the subject is: practice, practice, practice. Never become discouraged. Search out and investigate other storytellers to become a better storyteller yourself. Any story you take the time to tell around the campfire will be time well spent.

Reading around a campfire can also be a great family tradition. Not only might you improve reading skills but you may also overcome any hesitancy of public speaking in a controlled environment. Mostly it's fun!

Have you ever heard of an overabundance of storytellers?

Hints on How to Tell Stories

To be a good storyteller practice is needed but to be really good you put all of your heart into it. This is a fib you want your listeners to believe, so act like it. Take several minutes (or hours, lol) and listen to the pro storytellers. Tone, delivery, cadence and inflection are a good part of the tale being told. What you aren't seeing is also important: hand gestures, arms flapping and silly faces. What your body says is an unspoken language that can make or break your tale.

I've gathered a small group of web resources that might help bring out that storyteller in you. The information ranges in depth from one page to entire collections of articles.

Many sites stream audio and a few offer podcasts or downloads. Richard Martin has an excellent website where you can listen to an accomplished storyteller. You can try using storyteller websites as a place to train yourself. If you want to get serious look for workshops and classes to attend at nearby community colleges.

No time to learn a story? Don't sweat it. Practically all of the collected stories are easily printed to be read aloud around a dancing campfire.

You'll have a great time...

The Storytelling FAQ: Maintained by Tim Sheppard. I found this at Richard Martin's old website. Check his new one Tell a Tale and hover over resources for more help. From across the pond, a fully loaded FAQ page! Includes phone numbers - feel free to ring them up - just remember the time diff!
Aaron Shepard's Tell a Story: A short guide to story telling for those brand new to this entertaining campfire tradition. Only five pages long, sink your teeth in! Many of his stories are linked to below.

Yet more help from Aaron here.
The Campfire Stories Handbook - Story Telling: More tips on story telling gathered by The NetWoods Virtual Campsite, Steve Tobin, Campmaster. Steve put together many good stories and topped it off with tips. I can't link directly to the area in the page so you'll have to scroll down a bit more than halfway. A lot of work I know, but worth it.
Wenzel Story Telling Tips: Honest to goodness, Wenzel has a page on how to tell stories. Short, sweet and to the point you get an outline to work with - you noodle the rest!
Storyteller.net - Articles: A group of articles, mostly about storytelling but a little of this-n-that too. There is information here for all levels of storytellers, be ye a novice or accomplished.

Lens of the Day

Awarded Lens of the Day on 6/20/06.

Thanks Sahadeva & Everyone!