Ghost in the Graveyard
Thanks very much to Sarah Corkum, whose recent posting to the Guiding Mailing List reminded me of this great game!
Basically this is a game of reverse hide-and-go-seek. Select a pair of players to be ghosts. They go and hide somewhere in the playing area (they should hide together for safety reasons; however, if you have older girls, they can hide on their own). While they are hiding, the rest of the group gathers at the "home" or "safe" area, closes their eyes and counts (loudly), "One, o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock..." all the way up to "Thirteen o'clock". Then the girls fan out through the playing area, looking for the ghosts. If a player spots one of the ghosts, she yells "Ghost in the graveyard, run, run, RUN!" This warns all the girls to race back to the safe area. At the cry of "ghosts in the graveyard", the ghosts, too, are free to move and chase the players. Anyone they tag becomes a ghost in the next round. So in the first round of the game you only have one or two ghosts, but as the game progresses, you may have many ghosts all at the same time.
Note: Regardless of which ghost is spotted first, once a player yells "Ghost in the graveyard, run, run, RUN!", ALL the ghosts are free to run. This is one of the elements that makes this game scary, since a player could be concentrating on a ghost she can see, only to turn around and find another ghost emerging from a hiding spot!
Safety Note: This game can be played at any time of the day or night, but because it involves running, I prefer to play it right at dusk. The changing light makes for a suitably creepy ambience, but it's still possible to see tripping hazards in the playing area. :-)