I'm glad you're feeling the love!
The setting and gear being parallel to the real world situation makes it feel immediate, and ratchets up the tension. We played in the backwoods of Killarney Provincial Park, and I loved seeing my wife's face when she realised almost all her useful gear was in the tent, and our food was already 15ft up in a tree some 150ft or so into the woods.
Where The Night Things were waiting.
And I've never been so excited to hear my daughter say, "ok, I REALLY don't think I want to play this again".