Scary camping stories for kids

Camping is a great chance for some outdoor fun with your kids, but there’s always that one challenge: tearing them away from their phones and gadgets. Luckily, there are many fun camping games you can try on your trip, or you can even engage in a little bit of old school storytelling! 

We forgot how entertaining it is to simply hear someone tell a tale (especially a spooky one), so gather round for a night of creepy entertainment with these short scary stories for kids.

Cow’s head

If you want a scary story to tell your kids in the dark, get your flashlight and start with Cow’s head. It’s about Oksana, a poor Ukrainian girl living with her father, stepsister Olena and evil stepmother. When they ran out of money one harsh winter, the stepmother sent Oksana to a cottage deep in the woods so they only had one daughter to feed instead of two. The forest was frightening, unwelcoming and supposedly full of demons and monsters, but Oksana was brave and practical, managing to survive in the harsh environment. 

It was still scary, though, and one night she suddenly heard a knock on the door, precisely at midnight. She hid under her blanket; the knocking continued. She finally opened the door to see who it was — and saw nothing. Then she looked down and found a terrifying demon with no body, only a Cow’s Head. The demon said: “I am cold and hungry. May I sleep by your fire?”. Oksana was reluctant, but her compassion won, so she let the head enter and gave everything it asked for: a place to sleep, fire to warm up and the only food she had left. In the morning she found a surprise — the monster was gone, leaving a chest filled with gorgeous gowns and heaps of gold and jewels for Oksana. 

At that moment her father entered the cottage, telling her to come back home with him. Happier than ever, Oksana showed him the trunk and returned to their village, where she was hailed as a hero for showing courage and kindness to the demon. As for her evil stepmother, she went to the cottage in the woods to see if she, too, could acquire the riches. However, when the Cow’s Head appeared, she was too lazy to help it, so her possessions all turned to dust!

The ghost of Blackbeard

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate life’s for me! 

Kids love stories about bearded adventurers sailing the seas, and a bit of spookiness just adds to the fun. Tell them the real-life tale of old Blackbeard, the infamous pirate who stole precious cargo off passing ships in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. He plundered for years before being stopped by a captain in the British Royal Navy, Robert Maynard, who hunted him down and ambushed his ship in the Battle of Ocracoke Inlet.

Blackbeard was killed, but it took five gunshots and about twenty cuts before he fell down dead. Not wanting to risk it, the frightened navy men cut his head and threw the body in the sea so they could never reconnect and come to life. Here’s the thing that makes this the perfect scary story for kids sleepovers or camping trips: witnesses say that Blackbeard’s ghost still haunts the area, forever looking for its missing head. 

Spine-chilling, right?

Hairy toe

The story goes like this: there once was an old woman who found a giant hairy toe in the woods. Hungry, she went home, cooked the toe and ate the soup for dinner. It was delicious! However, later that night she heard a terrifying voice in the forest, bellowing “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!” 

Stomping could be heard, and the old woman barred her door of fear of the creature approaching. No use: soon there was a giant figure in her doorway, demanding his toe. The lady confessed to eating it, and there was no trace of her ever again – only a huge footprint found in the dust outside her cottage.

You can read the full story here or invent your own details to make it even scarier. One thing’s for sure: children are fascinated by disgusting things, so this hairy tale is bound to become a classic among your scary campfire stories for kids.

With plenty of group activities for various age groups, water sports and organized summer camps, kids are going to have the time of their lives in our exciting resort on the island of Pag. The only thing that could raise more goosebumps is turning on that flashlight in the dark and having a spooky, ghostly story night!