“Wolf at the Campsite”

Gerad is presently a student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, but he grew up in Tujunga, California. His mother is African-American and grew up in Augusta, Georgia and his father is Caucasian and grew up in upstate New York.

Gerad first heard the story at the age of seven, while on a camping trip with his two sisters and his father. His father told him the legend on two separate occasions. He thinks that the legend is a way in which his father convinced him and his sisters to go to sleep at a reasonable time and to not stay up late in the dark.

The Legend of the Wolf at the Campsite always begins the same way; “A father and his children drove to a campsite in the deep and dark woods. They arrived late at night and had a very difficult time setting up the tent. There was a full moon out and there were strange sounds coming from the woods. The children were scared by the strange noises and the eerie nature of the night, so they asked their father if everything was all right at this campsite. The father said that there was nothing to worry about, as long as all the children go to sleep at a reasonable hour- that wolves only come out at night to get bad children who disobey their parents. The children seemed to be assured of the safety of the area, so not thinking twice about it, they decided to sneak out of the tent at night to play. This was a big mistake. The wolves came out from the surrounding woods and began to attack the children… they screamed but their father was sound asleep.” And the story always ends in the same fashion. The teller explains to the audience that the same thing could happen to them if they disobey as well.

This legend seems to have been invented by an adult who wanted to scare his children into behaving properly. Although there is the possibility that this legend may be true, it is unknown.