Campfire Tales: Hot Wheels

August 27, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

A 23-year-old named Greg flew to St. Thomas on a one-way ticket expecting paradise: white sand beaches, turquoise water, and a break from his life back home. He got a job at Duffy’s Love Shack, a tiki bar built in a parking lot where drinks came in souvenir shark cups and ladies’ night meant fake tattoos behind the bar. One evening during his smoke break, he noticed a beat-up black four-door sedan park in the lot. An older man in kitchen garb got out and walked away. Greg went back to serving volcanoes and shark tanks. Then the smoke started.

At first it seemed ordinary—Greg had owned cars that smoked after parking—but the smoke turned into flames a foot high coming from the hood. The head bartender grabbed a fire extinguisher. A customer pointed out that the bar’s 80s playlist was playing the Ghostbusters theme song at that exact moment. The car was empty. No keys in the ignition. Yet when a staff member popped the hood, a fireball erupted.

Then the engine turned on by itself.

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What you'll learn

1 Campfire Tales: Hot Wheels
2 (01:43) **Opening: A Close Call on a Curve** - The narrator recalls turning 16, getting his driver's license, and driving a beat-up Mustang through a dangerous bend in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
3 (05:36) **A One-Way Ticket to Paradise** - Greg, the first storyteller, describes flying to St. Thomas on his 23rd birthday for a fresh start, only to discover island life is more complicated than it seems.
4 (07:56) **Life at Duffy's Love Shack** - Greg gets a job as a server at a wacky tiki bar in a plaza, describing the wild ladies' nights and the island's unique drink culture.
5 (09:00) **The Smoking Car** - During a smoke break, Greg notices an older black sedan park in the lot, driven by a man in kitchen garb who walks away.
6 (10:44) **Flames and the Ghostbusters Theme** - The smoke turns into flames, and as the bartender grabs a fire extinguisher, a customer points out that the Ghostbusters theme song is playing on the bar's playlist.
7 (15:40) **The Car Comes Alive** - The staff opens the hood to find no keys in the ignition, yet the engine suddenly turns on and the car starts revving on its own.

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Show Notes

There’s a jumbie in a jalopy and the spirits are flowing during happy hour on St. Thomas. Plus, everybody kicks butt in Lee’s Los Gatos Spin Class but Cycle 23 is out of this world.

Snap Judgment presents this year's Campfire Tales... "Hot Wheels.” A supernatural summer tradition that features stories from our evil twin Spooked. Spooked drops weekly, you can listen on any podcast platform. Tune in and be afraid...

STORIES

Joyride

There’s a jumbie in a jalopy and the spirits are flowing during happy hour on St. Thomas.

Thanks, Greg, for sharing your story! Produced and scouted by Paulina Creque, original score by Doug Stuart, artwork by Teo Ducot.

Soul Cycle

Everybody kicks ass in Lee’s Spin Class but Cycle 23 is out of this world.

Thanks Lee for sharing your story! Produced by Zoë Ferrigno, original score by Sandra Lawson-Ndu.

Season 17 - Episode 39

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