The camp leader gathered his charges inside his tent to tell them of the next day’s activities.

Once he had outlaid the next day’s schedule, he told them that in the tradition of such camps he had a story to tell before they went off to bed.

The spot where they were camping was famous for a time many years before when a family camped there on their way to settling in a district another day’s trekking away.

During the night it appears the family were attacked and not one survived.

It was several weeks later before another family happened upon the remains of the family’s camp. The sight of the destruction and the manner of death haunted the discovering family, and they relayed the story to the police when they arrived at their destination.

The deceased family were laid to rest in graves dug by their discoverers, and a stone cairn was erected in their memory.

Over the years stories of the screams of the family were reported by campers, and soon the area was known as a place to avoid.

The camp leader said he was telling the story in case anyone heard screams during the night.

The campers said it was a great ghost story and settled down for the night.

In the morning the camp leader found his campers huddled around the campfire, bleary-eyed and somewhat disorientated.

Not one had slept, they found themselves crowded into one tent determined to stay alert, as they were sure they heard screams off in the distance from where the camp leader had said the cairn was.

It was around 3am when one of the campers screamed noticing there was a bloodstain on the door of their tent. She was also adamant she saw a bloodied hand reach inside the flap of the tent before she screamed alerting the others.

So freaked were they there was no more sleep that night.

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/02/24/sunday-writing-prompt-campfire-ghost-stories/