Review: Campfire by Shawn Sarles

Publication Date: July 17, 2018
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Genera: YA, Horror, Mystery
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: Be careful what stories you tell around the campfire... they just might come true. Fans of Scream and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will devour this chilling horror debut.

While camping in a remote location, Maddie Davenport gathers around the fire with her friends and family to tell scary stories. Caleb, the handsome young guide, shares the local legend of the ferocious Mountain Men who hunt unsuspecting campers and leave their mark by carving grisly antlers into their victims' foreheads.

The next day, the story comes true.

Now Maddie and her family are lost in the deep woods--with no way out--being stalked by their worst nightmares. Because there were other, more horrifying stories told that night--and Maddie's about to find out just how they end... 

My Rating

4/5 stars

My Review

Campfire is the perfect summer read, especially if you're in the mood for scary stories.

The summer before Maddie's older brother goes away to college, Maddie and her group of tight relatives and friends embarks on a camping trip into the woods. The best part of the trip is that not only Maddie's best friend is coming, but their guide up the mountain is very handsome. When the group decides to tell harmless scary stories around a campfire, they never expected any of them to start coming true. But when a murder occurs at the campsite, the group knows they need to get out. But who is the murderer? Is it the mountain men from one of the stories, or could it be one of them?

This book was definitely a great read if you love the outdoors, are going out into the woods soon, or if you just love scary stories. Campfire is a fairly quick read, especially since there is tons of action and the story itself has scary stories in it as well, so there is definitely a lot going on in this book that keeps the reader interested.

Maddie is a fantastic main character. She is strong, compassionate and very brave, but the best part is that even she has her flaws, which I actually enjoyed because the choices she makes in the book definitely fit her age and make her feel like a real person rather than the "perfect character."

The setting and world-building of this story were fantastic as well. As someone who loves to be outdoors and go hiking a lot, the author managed to capture the feeling extremely well, and it actually made me want to go hiking as I was reading the book. The imagery of the flora and fauna in the story was perfect.

Overall, while I really liked the story and couldn't find anything I didn't really like about it, it just didn't give me that feeling of "wow this book was amazing," which is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. I will definitely be picking up future novels from this author, and handing this book out to all my friends, especially those that have cabins and go camping a lot.

Happy Reading,
Aneta