Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-28428152-20180307203902

So currently I'm working on the rough draft of a camping story, and I'm concerned that it may be too similar to The Blair Witch Project. The reason for this is that it's about three kids and the protagonist's uncle and grandad camping in the woods during fall break of 1994 to celebrate the protagonist's 15th birthday. It takes place somewhere in Tennessee, the specific area isn't clear, though somewhere close to Adams, which if you don't know is where The Bell Witch stories started. I did this because in middle Tennessee, the Bell WItch is taken pretty seriously by the older population. Like, be careful to even say "Bell Witch" aloud. This is what I grew up with, and though the monster isn't actually The Bell WItch (it's something worse), the grandad (and eventually the kids) belive that the things they hear for the first coupke of nights are the Bell Witch. The whole parallel of camping in the woods, waking up to creepy shit, and even just thinking that it's a witch-type figure makes me worry that the parallel may be too strong.

They mention another ghost story from the south, Ol' Green Eyes, but they don't really take it seriously, as growing up I never knew anyone who took it seriously--it was just a campfire story. I've considered making them think it's Green Eyes, but for now I'm sticking with the Bell Witch because that actually is taken seriously by many and will naturally be more effective for a horror story.

I know also that camping stories might be a bit old here, but hey, I love them. I went camping a lot as a kid, so they just have a special appeal to me. 