Why is my film turning out like this?

My stepdad just gave me an older 35mm camera, Nikon EM. I'm not sure how to use it very well. I have had 3 rolls of film developed so far and most of my film comes back like this. What am I doing wrong? No. My finger is not over the lens. The pictures that do turn out (usually only 4 or 5 out of a 24 roll film), they are blury. I adjusted the zoom to make it clearer and I have a tripod to help reduce shake.

Also, what is a good site to help me become more familiar with my camera?

Shouldn't you be adjusting the focus instead of the zoom? Zooming in or out when the focus is not set will just make the unfocused image bigger or smaller.

You don't need a "site", though there's plenty of info if you will simply Google your camera name. You need to read and study the camera owner's manual. Here is a link to that:

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon/nikon_em/nikon_em.htm

One quick thing that comes to mind. Do you have the proper batteries in the camera? That camera needs the batteries for the meter and exposure to work correctly, … BUT… It will also function without the batteries, but only in very limited settings, which in turn means the exposure would only be correct for very limited lighting conditions, … Which can be why only some of your photos come out ok.

Again, start with studying the owners manual.

Is the lens clear? Take it off the body, open up the aperture, hold it up to the light and look through it. Are there blurry patches inside the glass? If so, then most likely fungal. If this is the case, look for a clean lens.