Summer. A time for hanging out with friends. A time to enjoy yourself and forget about school and all other responsibilities for a while. A time for camp, and being away from the familiar.
A time-honored tradition at many camps is the gathering of campers around the fire to share scary stories with one another at night. This is a scene that has occurred so often that it’s become the ‘Ghost Story’ trope, and is a familiar tool used by authors to foreshadow events and set their scene for the audience, both in and out of the story. I grew up in the 90s, and remember often trying to stay up late enough to convince my mom to let me watch “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, which always seemed a little more adult and mysterious then “Goosebumps” and “Ghost Writer”. For some reason, I delighted in hearing stories that couldn’t possibly be true, but would delight and thrill me anyway.
In addition to the legendary ghost stories and urban legends, there are dozens of films and books that take place at summer camp, and one of the most iconic will always be the “Friday the Thirteenth” series, which began with the disappearance of a boy at Camp Crystal Lake, and ended in a decades-long legacy of murder. It is because of stories like these that, despite it being a hot and muggy time of year, summer and horror seem to blend so well together, with just the right mix of sizzle and chills.
As we move into the summer, you’re going to hear a lot about our upcoming event, Hot Summer Horror. This July, Mocha Memoirs Press turns eleven years old, and we’re celebrating by doing a Facebook takeover. Our bold fearless authors will be doing readings, and there will be giveaways, trivia, and more all in an effort to chill the spine and delight the senses. Join us on July 9 at 6pm eastern for your chance to come away with a story or two of your own that you’ll want to tell around a campfire yourself before the summer ends.
