Audible Original By: R.L. Stine
Published: October 3, 2019
Length: 4 hrs. 32 min

This full-ensemble audio book has some seriously creepy moments in it. Some of it is fun-creepy and then other times it is just creepy-creepy. But overall, I have one major question – what kind of non-real parents are sending their kids to Camp Red Moon? Out of all the youth camps in the world they are choosing to send their precious babies to a camp where robots take over and tragic deaths occur – not to mention werewolves, ghosts, and other monsters.

Description:

Camp nights or camp frights?

Every sleepaway camp promises memories that last a lifetime. But the memories from Camp Red Moon might give you nightmares!

• The campfire appears to dim when the moon turns blood red and strange creatures prowl the forest.
• Do you find a total lookalike at camp? Is it coincidence or is he a shapeshifter trying to take over your life?
• Why don’t your competitors at the robotics competition seem exactly…human?
• And why do campers do anything to avoid Cabin 6?

The master of the scary story, R.L. Stine, has handpicked a staff of storytelling counselors – Dan Poblocki, Ellen Oh, and Justin Reynolds – to help him tell the creepy campfire stories that swirl around Camp Red Moon.

No matter how bright the campfire, get ready for some CHILLS!

Thoughts:

From the outside Camp Red Moon appears to be the perfect camp. Kids love it – LOVE – and then there are so many different activities the kids can choose to do – tennis, archery, robotics, talent shows, kickball league, ropes course, canoeing, etc. It has cabins and counselors and campfires – everything that makes for the perfect camp. Except…what it also has is a lot of strange events and a lot of never-ending rumors. As R.L. Stine says in the beginning of the audio book – “Why in the brightest sunshine does the air here always carry a chill? Why do the frightening campfire stories all seem so real?” In this full-cast Audible Original, we get to hear four different short stories that begin to give us an idea of what some of what makes Camp Red Moon so special.

Episode 1 – The Werewolf in the Woods by R.L. Stine – In this story a boy, Peter, is slowly getting frustrated with his camp counselor, Danny. The camp counselor loves to tell ghost stories at campfire time. Peter tends to believe them and gets scared and ends up feeling like the camp counselor is picking on him and scaring him on purpose. Peter tries to be cool for a while, but then finally can’t take it anymore and comes up with a plan to scare him back.

Out of the four stories, The Werewolf in the Woods was my least favorite. I found Peter to be a bit of a whiner and needed to just relax about everything. I’m also not sure I completely approve of the ‘scare him back’ plan that I can’t talk about without spoiling anything.

Episode 2 – The New Camper by Dan Poblocki – This was hands down my favorite. In this story we meet Sammy, who is a new arrival at Camp Red Moon. Sammy is shy and awkward and for whatever reason doesn’t use contractions. Richard is his cabin mate and is the first one to befriend him and introduce him to everyone. But slowly Richard notices that Sammy is trailing him constantly, wearing the exact same outfits Richard does and even changes his hair to match Richards too. Everybody says Richard is making a big deal out of nothing, but….

Ok. Body snatching/changing/taking over stories creep me out. I know I’m an adult and these are geared toward the middle grade age, but I had to fast forward a few places – not because the story was bad, but because it was so good and I was getting a bit too unsettled. Nothing creepier to me than hearing someone plead over an audio book to believe that they are who they say they are.

Episode 3 – The Battle of the Bots by Justin A. Reynolds – In comparison to the other stories, especially episode 2 and 4, this was more on the fun side of creepy than scary. The Battle of the Bots is just that – a battle of robots made by the Robotics team at Camp Red Moon against the robotic team from New Horizon. Except, the robots take over the camp and it is up to the kids to get back control. This story was probably my second favorite due to the fun feeling it gave off.

Episode 4 – The Ghost in Cabin 6 by Ellen Oh. A new summer starts at Camp Red Moon. The kids all gather for first day instructions where they are reminded to avoid Cabin 6. If they don’t they will be kicked out of camp. Steven is glad to be back again at Camp Red Moon. The only problem is he has a new step-sister who annoys him. Plus, she desperately wants to check out Cabin 6. She doesn’t believe in ghosts at all and wonders what the big deal is. Except, this is Camp Red Moon and what is in Cabin 6 is a very big deal.

Overall, this was a fun batch of stories to listen to. What is interesting to me in comparison to typical audio books is how much ambient noise is added to the stories. To me, this was most noticeable in episode 4. When the parents came for Parent Day you could hear all the various background conversations going on with all the other campers and their families. Then later when a ghost story was told around a campfire all the ambient noise was removed except for the crackle of the fire and crickets chirping in the background.

Rating: 4.5