I want to let everyone know that the person who submitted this to Creepypasta is unknown, as well as the author himself.
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Occurring to the fact that most kiddie shows have turned up dead
ends, one show, Candle Cove, has made an impact here. I made myself hunt
down whatever cast remained of the show, regardless of their fear. I
wanted to know EVERYTHING about this show. But in the process, I came to
understand that there hid something much darker aboard it than just
what I was told and what I had heard. I have posted some of my thoughts
into the page at points, to have a feel for the interviewees here. I
note that those being interviewed are indicated by the quotation marks
around them. You may notice that a censor will appear. I did that so no
one may want to bombard me with questions and such. It’s a privacy thing
and I’m sorry if I offended the readers. With that, I present to you
this page in the lore…
CANDLE COVE EXPERIENCES: TALES OF THE LAUGHINGSTOCK
(DAY 1)
My first knowing of the CANDLE COVE lore came out on the NetNostalgia
Forum back some time, however many of the episodes have never been found
and many of the props are either long gone or spread out over the
world, however after this mention of the show, I had to dig further into
it.
What I discovered over my round trip was something dark residing within the studios itself…
The show, originally called “Pirate Place” was loosely based on an
old, quite lost short story called “The Nickerbocker’s Tale” from 1767
about a little Irish boy arriving to a land of pirates to find his way
back home. The story’s writer, a man believed to be named Collin
Caulkry, vanished into the dark. Stories about it say that he was a
madman who married well and had a daughter who vanished without a trace
near his home. This inspired him to write the story and shortly after,
he was found dead by his wife.
The story was lost for several years until in 1970, when a local TV
station in Ashland found the rights to the story and converted it into a
children’s series. I managed to find some of the studios workers but
none of them were able to tell me about it…Well, there was one…
(DAY 2)
Asking this woman to nearly relive her nightmare of 1971 was nearly
impossible. But thankfully she decided to, reluctantly anyways…
“Ok Ms…” “I’m not comfortable giving my last name OR my first.” Okay
then, mind if I call you ‘Jane’?” “No, I don’t.” “Okay then. Well Jane, I
understand you had a part in the kiddie show ‘Candle Cove’ correct?”
“Set designer, well part of it. I helped in the construction of The
Laughingstock and many of the characters as well.” “I see, was it a good
experience?” “Oh very. It was a great one, until towards the end of the
show itself.” “How so?” “Well that damn Grimes, that’s what it was.”
Grimes? Emerson Grimes, the show’s director? “Is there another Grimes
you know on the series?”
Here she lit a cigarette, something that from her appearance and fear of Grimes fortold, I actually expected from her.
“Well how did he manage to scare you?” “How did he…HE WAS A NUTJOB! A
LOONEY! He forced a five year old girl (Jodie Silver) to near
heatstroke, changed scripts. Everything was fine until the show grew
darker and darker.” How dark was it getting?
Now this I kind of knew about, the infamous question to the Skin-Taker and his answer to Janice.
“When a skeleton named the Skin Taker proclaims that the reason for
his mouth to move weird is for grinding your skin, you will have some
problems. Grimes was insane. But the last straw was the LAST episode of
the series.”
I knew about this and moved onto her designs of the show. She
explained that it was a damned kiddie show that turned into a “puppet
show from hell” overnight. She wanted to end the conversation but not
before I asked about any surviving members or crew…
“There are a few of them still around but you’ll have to find them on your own…”
(DAY 3)
I did however manage to find Jodie Silver, who played Janice on the
show, now an adult of 45. She resides with her husband, Damon Louis and
her two kids. If you see her now, she has lost all of that childhood
spunk that she had on the show. She works as a writer of Pirate stories
and haunted mysteries. I managed to record, on tape, an interview with
her…
“Um, are you Ms. Jodie Silver?” “Why I haven’t been called that in
years. Yes, I am Jodie Silver, but people call me Jodie Louis nowadays.”
Oh, I’m sorry about the mixup, I’m (censored) and I am writing a book
on an old kiddie show you used to be on.” “Jesus Christ. Please tell me
you are joking!”
It was here that I noticed she seemed agitated at the sound of a book
being written on something she was trying so hard to put behind her.
“It’s no joke Mrs. Louis.” “Well I won’t warn you that you are a
total nutcase for doing it. That show has given me bad dreams, ruined my
childhood and I have even had therapy because of it. I don’t wish to
speak about…” “Please Jodie, just one interview, that’s all I’m asking
for. Just one. Hell, if you have to go through therapy again for it,
I’ll personally pay out of pocket.”
It was here she stood long and hard.
“Christ! Fine fine, meet me here for an interview.”
With that, she handed me a card with her address on it. I promised
she wouldn’t regret this, but I had a feeling that she already was…
(DAY 4)
“Hello there Mrs. Louis.” “Well, hi there. Come on in.”
Her house wasn’t big, but not small either. I could tell she had
little ones running about from the sounds of kiddie shows floating
faintly from the television set and many toys scattered about. It was
like trying to walk through a forest of mousetraps without setting one
off. Eventually we got to the small dining area of the home, with a good
outlook over the water. A place to dream dreams.
Okay, now about the show. “Well (censored) it started out as a dream
come true. I was a huge fan of shows like Jumbo’s Circus, Sunshine City
and Fisherman Fred, and I really wanted to be on a kiddie show. I got my
wish when I heard the studio was looking for a young girl to play the
role of ‘Janice’ for their new show. And sure there were many little
girls who wanted the role so badly, so i did my best to win the studio
over, which happened. I loved the idea of the show. I did my very best
to do everything right. Turned out you should be careful of what you
wish for.” Why is that now? “I really don’t want to tell you but I
must…You see, on set, some changes started happening. Grimes would
change scripts, things seemed to be a bit scary. And for the first
episode to seem so mean and such was odd for a kid’s show. And then that
horrible last episode…” “What episode, the last episode of the first
season?” “Wow (censored), you REALLY need to brush up on your history of
this. There were two seasons of the show. The final episode of the
second season was the worst ever.”
I tenatively and carefully asked her to tell me…
“Screams! Just screams. Everyone screaming and that sick man Grimes
destroying the sets. He told everyone to just scream, and loudly; many
did. It got to the point where one of the actors, the man who played the
Skin Taker (referring to Michael Colon) started to bleed. He nearly
choked on his own blood. I bawled my eyes out.”
It was there she started to cry, all of these memories coming back to
her. She asked me to stop and I did. I explained I was sorry to bring
back these memories. I never meant that as my intention.
“I remember the Skin Taker. He hung, his head tilted and low, his jaw hanging from one socket and parts of his arms torn off…”
(DAY 5)
I left to go find Michael Colon when I came across a yard sale (I
know Creepypasta-ish right?). I asked them about some old recorded tapes
I saw and they said they were mostly shows for their son when he was
young. I noticed that some of them were from Candle Cove. Although they
were very smudged and probably in horrible condition, I bought the
videos from them anyway.
(Now its probably here where you would expect me to say that I popped
in the tape and evil shit happened, blah blah blah yadda yadda Satan
appeared threatening to rape my soul and Pirate Percy came at me in a
dream as a cannibalistic demon. Something like a Creepypasta-ish event,
right? That’s not the case, folks.)
I popped it in and sure enough, static. But eventually it came on.
Sure it was jumpy and it was a static juncture but eh, it was the show
nonetheless. It was an odd first show, being that Janice was made fun of
so horribly and that Percy would proclaim for her to not kill him. And
the thought of kidnapping on the show was an odd tidbit to be in there.
But I had to continue, sadly I didn’t make it past Episode 2.
(DAY 8)
There was a gap due to a break for a while. I pursued my interest in
finding any contact with crew members or cast member aside from ‘Jane’
and Jodie. I managed to find a Mr. Walter Shay, who was a stagehand on
the show. I managed to write this letter:
Dear Mr. Shay, My name is (censored), and I am writing a book
entitled Candle Cove Experiences: Tales of the Laughingstock. I am
interviewing whatever remaining crew and cast there are from the show. I
was wondering if we could arrange a possible meeting with one another,
or an actual interview. Of course, if that is alright with you? I can be
contacted at the Nohoma Motel address (censored) thank you for your
time.
I received a letter some time later…
Dear (censored),
You may be the dumbest person I have ever met. Why in the hell would
you dare to bring up such a subject that has haunted me and everyone
else on that show. Do you know the absolute tragedy that has accumulated
from that? But it’s also a way to get things off of my chest from it. I
will meet you for an interview, but what I say about that show is the
100% truth, eyewitness. You must not judge what I will say. If you do,
I’ll make sure that your journey will end with me. Enclosed is a card
for where to meet me and at what time. I am not a snobbish man, but I
won’t do this again.
Sincerely,
Walter Shay.
(DAY 15)
I met with Walter Shay later on within the week, having to time it
right. I left after Day 10 for Tulsa. It took some time to watch the
other episodes but I managed. They did seem darker, as ‘Jane’ had stated
before. Some of them are getting hard to watch, but i have to keep
watching. The infamous ‘To Grind Your Skin’ episode came on. That was
the worst, its one thing with a shitty motel tv that makes EVERY program
like watching something from the 70′s, its another when the damn tape
keeps jumping and staticing out every two minutes. I felt like those
people trying to watch porn on their old boxes, if you know what I mean.
The scramblers.
Anyhow I got to meet him where he wanted. He came in on a wheelchair, explaining how he was paralyzed…
“Okay. Now Mr. Shay, you said you had information?” “Yeah. That whole
damn show is a curse.” “What do you mean by that?” “You only could
dream of what I mean. It’s exactly how i said it. That show is a curse.”
“I don’t understand. Really, I don’t.” “I broke my leg on that show
when a damn ladder fell off and smashed on my leg after I fell. I felt
something when that hit, like something pushed that ladder down. Then
the episodes got darker. There were two episodes that never aired in
Season 2. Those two were the worst of the worst.” What happened? “That
Grimes in one episode has Janice, implied of course, to be cannibalized
by The Skin Taker in a dream. Another one was to reveal that Nathan had
been kidnapped and turned into part of a cape for that bastard. Hell,
Grimes wanted to fucking have Janice killed and skinned alive. ON
CAMERA! The end of the series was to have continued with Melrose winding
up in the world looking for Janice. Me and the cast had to make sure
that never happened so we shot those ideas down every time. This pissed
him off, I think thats why he did that final episode, you know. The
‘Screaming’ Episode.” “You mean he wanted to show a little girl being
skinned alive?” “Yes. and that fucker is a monster too. He didn’t
vanish, I will tell you something I have never told anyone.” “Go on…”
“After we finished filming that episode, I went back to get something of
mine. I saw Grimes pleading to the set pieces, as if they were all
alive. He was pleading that he did his job right, he made sure. He
started ripping his hair and teeth out. Screaming, trying to get
whatever it was away from killing him. He fell backwards and hung
himself on a cord. The sound of his neck snapping. God, it still haunts
me.” “They said that he just vanished. You’re stating he lost it and
accidentally killed himself?” “Yes!”
Now I knew something horrible did happen. It was freaking me out and
now I wanted to stop, but I had to know what happened to Grimes.
“They never found the body. I got rid of it. I couldn’t let them
think that he had just wanted to make things happen to himself, I had to
do something, out of the decency of my being at least.” “What did you
do?” “I buried him. I took his old lanky body out to the woods behind
the studio and I buried him. I told myself there was nothing to fear but
fear itself. But there was something there. I walked back through the
studio and i felt something eerie present in the Skin-Taker puppet. Like
it was watching me. I got out of there as quick as I could. Some time
later, that damned final episode aired and I will never forget what I
saw. It was horrible.”
I was afraid of the show now. What was lying ahead of the episodes
for me? I had some more stops to go to but I advised myself that if
things get too deep, I would stop there and work with what I have….
(DAY 19)
It has been hard to sleep, I keep having the same nightmare: the
Skin-Taker coming at me threatening to grind my skin. It’s hard to wake
up to just static because I can hear that fucking theme song in my head
every time I do. I gave up a little but I had to keep going. I made a
list of people who claimed to have items from the series. Some proved to
be idiots who made the items themselves, indications were of the modern
look to them. However, there were SOME who did have items. The items I
have gotten so far are listed:
One of the Skin Taker’s glass eyes
The arm of Pirate Percy
The Hat (albeit somewhat in tatters) of the Skin Taker
One of the eyes of Horrible Horace
Tooth belonging to The Laughingstock
The most unique item I found, and I swear to you I found this one at a
house in Missouri. The original owner was a man named Kyle Bartlett.
His daughter, Judith, was nice enough to show me part of a collection he
had. He had the original Skin Taker head. Now I thought it was a fake
since the jaw was intact, whereas ‘Jane’ had stated that the Jaw was
partially torn off. As it turns out, Kyle was one of the crewmen on the
show. He loved the Skin-Taker as a villain. When he found that it was so
destroyed, he put much time inserting the jaw back in its place. I
asked to have it, but she denied that request. I did see that it was
missing one eye and its famed hat. I brought these items back and put
them inside by myself. The head is now complete but she allowed no
photography or video to be made, stating that her father wouldn’t want
his favorite to be spoiled. She sounded like a mother to a child.
I had to keep up. My search led me to New York, where one Mr. Michael
Colon lived. The very SAME Michael Colon who voiced the Skin Taker on
the show, the same Michael Colon whose son, Trevor Colon, was murdered
in the Fall of 1981. Meeting him was hard, he wanted nothing to do with
this but I had to interview him. Really I did. He refused for some time,
until he decided to…
“Hello there Mr. Colon” “Yeah, Hi there.” “Um, I am sorry about
this.” “Must not be REALLY sorry to make a man who lost his son TEN
years after that goddamn episode had aired talk about this fucking show.
The nightmares still haunt me! Every night, I can see that episode
playing in my head!” “I’m sorry about your son and the nightmares.”
He took a shot of Jack Daniels and said “Don’t be. Not your fault
this happened. My wife left me three years after he passed on. I had a
dream the night, the very NIGHT it happened. It was the Skin Taker,
holding a knife, chasing him and brutally murdering him. It’s odd that
he was in a neighborhood where a local gang known as the ‘Walking
Skulls’ just so happen to be in. But they don’t use knives in their
crimes. So it was someone else.” “I never knew that. “Never asked me to
tell you. And that damn episode screwed my voice up. Which is why I
sound so different that how I should.” “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Understand. You see, Grimes wanted the show to be dark; I thought he
was nuts. I didn’t want to do the ‘grind your skin’ episode at all since
I read that damn script. He threatened to fire me and I couldn’t do
that; I had a wife and a kid on the way. I couldn’t lose work like that.
So I did it, unfortunately.” “Ah, I see. What happened the night the
last episode premiered?”
He sighed. took another shot of the Jack, and told me.
“After that damned episode, I got the hell out of there. I went
directly home to get all that I could. I grabbed my wife and my infant
son and got the hell out of town. I left that damn place with dignity
and got to a nearby township. I had the misfortune to be in the hospital
in time for that final fucking episode to air. I had no choice but to
watch it. And I regret doing so.” “Oh dear, I’m so sorry to hear that.
If you want to, I could leave here. We could finish if you’d like for it
to.” “Sounds good. I’m sorry, I just can’t do this. I’m just….Sorry!”
I left him there, crying, actually regretting that I’d left him. I wish I hadn’t…
(DAY 27)
I was reading a news paper and I skimmed the obituaries. I am
unfortunate to say that Mr. Michael Colon committed suicide some time
ago. He shot himself in the head. He left a suicide note; the NYPD
stated that it was a letter to me. It had my name and address on it.
“Dear (censored),
I’m sorry to announce that by the time you read this, I’ll be gone.
It’s not your fault, but the dreams came back hard after the interview.
It’s much harder for me to deal with it but last night’s dream was the
final straw. The Skin Taker came to me, in that damned hat, stating that
my son has a special place. I saw a part of my boy’s face on the upper
right side of the hat, looking at me with a glassy kind of stare. A
single tear rolled down his face and I heard him screaming in agony. It
broke my heart. I can’t take the dreams anymore, I can’t handle it and I
want you to understand that you musn’t go on. Jodie told me about your
interview with her and she is planning on coming to New York for the
funeral. I told her that she should forget about it, but since you came
around, it’s been harder for her to forget. I have to cease this. I’m so
sorry. Really I am.
Sincerely,
Michael Colon.”
Because of this letter, the death of this man, and the nightmares I
have trudged up, I am ceasing this project and going home. It’s
unfortunate to have to quit this, being that I was far ahead in it, but
it is the right thing to do.
(DAY 30)
My name is (deleted). (censored) was a close friend of mine and he
asked for me to post it here. Recently he killed himself, or it was a
homicide. I’m not so sure. Police said that he was working on something,
but when the interviewed were questioned, they never said a word,
because they knew better then to rat him out and trudge up more
nightmares for themselves. (censored) was a wonderful man in life, his
girlfriend, who is expecting a baby some time within the year, is broken
up about this. I am sorry to say that in his message to me, he wrote
that he met with one final person after the Michael Colon interview. He
stated it was a man named Adrian Grimes, Emerson Grimes’ nephew. He
asked for me to put the interview on here. This interview was made via
telephone.
(censored): Is this Adrian Grimes?
Adrian Grimes: This is he? May I ask what this is about?
(censored): This is about the show ‘Candle Cove’…
AG: That show.
(censored): Yes.
AG: Look, I don’t know who this is but my uncle has been dead for
years. His body was never found and I swear to you that if this is some
prank, It’s not funny.
(censored): It’s not a prank at all. I swear.
AG: Look, you want to know about that show? My uncle was a sick man.
He told me about it and I watched it. Now I will tell you that every
single person that was on that show is in their own place on it. I
however want nothing to do with it. I got to see the making of one
episode, alright. ONE EPISODE! It never got aired, and I hope it never
will either.
(censored): Season two, meaning either episodes 5 or 6…
AG: What the hell are you talking about? No, this happened AFTER the
season ended. A new director, can’t remember his name, it was supposed
to be the SEASON 3 starter. I was invited to be on the show as a
character, and my father took advantage of it. Since then, I hate all of
the show because my fucked up uncle was a part of it. Now leave me
alone!
Friday, September 27, 2013
9/27/13 - Jodie Silver
For those who are unaware, Jodie Silver was the actress who played Janice, the little girl on Candle Cove. From what I have found, she started on the show when she was a mere 9 years of age. Not much is known of her whereabouts. All I know is she is currently 48 years of age, and writes pirate novels.
I have searched deeply to find any way to contact her, yet nothing has come up. If anybody can give me any sort of information, that would be fantastic.
I did manage to find a story containing a supposed interview with her, yet whether its is real or not remains to be seen. I think I'll post it after this.
I have searched deeply to find any way to contact her, yet nothing has come up. If anybody can give me any sort of information, that would be fantastic.
I did manage to find a story containing a supposed interview with her, yet whether its is real or not remains to be seen. I think I'll post it after this.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
9/25/13 - More Possible Photos
I have found some more possible photos from Candle Cove. They were taken from a page in which Kris Straub (The Writer of the first Candle Cove story) is interviewed. I won't post all the photos, as you can look at them on the website (www.kindertrauma.com/?p=25604), however it is a very interesting look into Candle Cove. Still, don't believe everything you read.
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9/25/13 - Day of the Dead
I have found another Creepypasta on Candle Cove. Whenever I find another, I shall post it here.
I present to you, Candle Cove - Day of the Dead.
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Candle Cove - Day of the Dead by Tam Lin
“Most of the laugh tracks on television were recorded in the early 1950s. These days, the people you hear laughing are dead.”
-Chuck Palahniuk, “Lullaby”
***
“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, of course.”
“I thought that’s what your job was about: talking?”
“Actually Mrs. Chelsea, I would say that my job is about trust. I can’t expect people who don’t trust me to talk about sensitive things with me. So this session is entirely in your hands.”
“I’ll talk about it. Therapy was my idea, after all. They said that since there was just the one incident it wasn’t really necessary but…I thought it was a good idea.”
“All right then. Tell me what happened.”
“It was just a drawing on the sidewalk. A stencil, you know? Artists leave them around the city, sometimes, and I was out shopping with my family when my son pointed it out. It was a skeleton wearing a top hat, and it had the word ‘Saturday’ underneath it. What do you think that means?”
“It sounds like Baron Samedi.”
“Who?”
“He’s a loa; a voodoo spirit. He watches over the dead and he’s usually represented by a top hat and a skull. ‘Samedi’ means ‘Saturday.’ So this drawing frightened you?”
“I had a kind of fit when I saw it. They called it an anxiety attack. They even took me to the hospital.”
“And what did they find out?”
“They said there’s nothing wrong with me physically. They talked about stress and lack of sleep. And they said I should take it easy but not to worry unless it happened again. But I’m worried anyway.”
“Has anything like this ever happened before?”
“Once. The same day…that my son died.”
“You said your son was the one who noticed the stencil?”
“That’s my youngest son, Dylan. I had an older son, Jonah. But he’s not with us anymore. He was murdered five years ago.”
“I’m very sorry, Mrs. Chelsea. Can I ask if you received any psychological counseling afterwards?”
“No. I was busy with Dylan, you see. Isn’t it strange? The day Jonah died was the same day I found out I was pregnant again. And I guess I just….poured everything into managing the pregnancy. So that I wouldn’t think about anything else. And for years, I didn’t. Not until this week. Should I talk about the murder?”
“As I said, you don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to.”
“I…I’ll talk about it.
“Jonah was fifteen; I had him when I was still in high school. He was very gifted. He played the cello, and the piano, and they made him the organist at our church. That was what got him into trouble.
“The minister was friends with my husband, Jonah’s stepfather, and he loved to hear Jonah play, so he put him at the organ. Everyone loved him. It wasn’t just that Jonah was talented, he was…I guess you could say he had a performer’s charisma. I…I’m sorry, it’s hard to talk about…”
“It’s all right, Mrs. Chelsea. Should we change the subject?”
“No, I’ve already said this much. Something people liked about Jonah, he would always play the hymns but he’d play some of his own music too, before and after the service. He composed his own material; it was very strange sounding, but everyone liked it. Well, almost everyone: One day a man came to us after church and told him to stop.”
“Told him to stop playing?”
“Told him to stop playing his own music. He was very upset. He looked like he hadn’t had much sleep; he might have been drunk. He told us that the song Jonah played that day was…wrong, somehow. That it was driving him crazy. He was screaming at us in the parking lot, telling us that we didn’t realize what we were doing, that he’d spent his whole life trying to get away from that music. It didn’t make any sense.”
“Tell me about the song?”
“It was very odd, now that you mention it. It was…bouncy. It made me think of the circus, for some reason. It made sense if you knew Jonah, though; he was always playing for laughs. I heard him practicing it in his room. It made me feel…unsettled, the first time I heard it.”
“Hmm. And what about this man?”
“Well, that day in the parking lot he just ran off, after scaring the daylights out of us. But the next week, he came back. …with a gun.”
“Mrs. Chelsea—”
“It was the Day of the Dead. November 1st. I remember that. Someone had left something on the organ for Jonah, as a joke. You know those Day of the Dead decorations, the little statuettes of skeletons doing everyday things? Skeleton housewives cooking or a skeleton barber with scissors and a razor or—”
“A therapist.”
“Huh?”
“I have one that’s a skeleton therapist, with a skeleton patient on his couch. A client gave it to me. It’s actually quite funny.”
“Oh. Well, this one was a skeleton playing the piano. Jonah thought it was hilarious. He showed it to everyone. Nobody would admit to leaving it. Then he started playing. Everyone was enjoying it. He was coming to the end of the song, and then that man from the week before stood up. And then…”
“…where is that man now, Mrs. Chelsea?”
“In a mental hospital. I’ve visited him a few times. He cries a lot and tells me he’s sorry, but he says, ‘You must understand why. You of all people must understand why I did it.’ I don’t know why he says that. …but the thing I remember about that day now that I never remembered before is that little Day of the Dead statue. The skeleton was wearing a top hat, you see.”
“Ah. So the stencil drawing reminded you of it.”
“No, that wasn’t it. I mean, I suppose it did, but…doctor, I’ve never told anyone this before, but the day that Jonah was murdered, everyone assumed I was hysterical because of what happened, and I was, but it started before that. It started when I saw that little statuette on the church organ.
“Something about that figure, the skeleton and the hat, it terrified me. It scared me so bad that I wanted to stand up and shout to Jonah to run away from it, but I was too frightened to even move. And by the time I could, the man with the gun had already…he’d…”
“It’s all right, Mrs. Chelsea. …but you’re sure that your fear response started before the shooting? Not after?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m sure.”
“Hmm. So the skeleton and the hat: That image upsets you. Do you know why?”
“I can’t imagine.”
“Can you think of the first time you ever saw it?”
“Well… when I was a child I used to have a nightmare. There was a little girl in a room—”
“Was it you?”
“It might have been, but it was hard to tell. Whoever she was, she was in a dark room, and she was crying, and all around her there were these…I guess puppets, or dolls? And they were screaming.”
“The puppets were screaming?”
“Yes, all of them, screaming and screaming, and the little girl was crying.”
“Did you have this nightmare a lot?”
“All the time, when I was five.”
“What does this have to do with the skeleton in the top hat?”
“That was one of the puppets. That’s the first time I can remember seeing that image. Well, not seeing exactly, but that’s my earliest memory.”
“I see. What did your parents do when you told them about this dream?”
“They took the TV away.”
“Why?”
“They said that I had the dream because of something I saw on TV.”
“Do you remember that?”
“No. And I didn’t at the time either. But they insisted. It was…actually very strange, now that I think about it. It seemed to scare them, somehow. Of course, it’s hard to remember. I was so young, you know?”
“Of course. Do you still have this dream?”
“No. That is…not until very recently.”
“But you’ve had it again?”
“Yes, just after the stencil drawing, and the anxiety attack. That same night, actually. But only that once. And that was the first time in, oh, forty years, I guess. It’s normal, right, to have that dream again, after seeing something that reminded me of it?”
“We don’t really deal in words like normal or abnormal here, Mrs. Chelsea. I would say that it is noteworthy that you had the same dream after so long. But I don’t think it’s something you have to worry about. Can I ask, was anything different about the dream this time?”
“…yes.”
“And what was that?”
“One of the puppets. It looked like…it looked like Jonah…”
“It’s all right to cry, Mrs. Chelsea. Here, dry your eyes. I can imagine it was very upsetting, but it’s important to remember that dreams are your mind’s way of trying to tell us something. Can you remember any other strange dreams about your oldest son?”
“For a while right after he died I would have one where I was standing on the shore, watching him sail away on a big ship.”
“That’s a very common image.”
“No, not like this; there was something wrong with that ship. Something terrible. And the people on it with him…they weren’t people. Not normal people. I had the feeling they were, you know, kidnapping him. Carrying him away, like they were—”
“Pirates?”
“Yes, that’s it. And I heard music too: strange, jumbled circus music. It sounded a little like the song that Jonah played in church. And you know, come to think of it, he told me that the song came to him in a dream first. It might even have been a dream about a ship. I didn’t pay much attention. I remember I even faked having to make a phone call so I could leave the room and stop listening to him talk about it. Isn’t that terrible? But at the time, hearing about his dreams upset me very much.”
“Let’s move on: Have there been any other incidents lately that have upset you? Anything unusual that’s disrupted your regular routine?”
“I’m not sure what’s important.”
“Anything might be important. We won’t know for sure unless we talk about it.”
“Well, a few weeks ago—this was before the panic attack—I was at a toy store, trying to find something for Dylan. He was turning five that week. And I found this…thing. It was a doll, you know, but not a normal one. It was like a little pirate, but its head was one from a porcelain baby doll, the old kind? It looked like something a serial killer would make in their basement.”
“And that bothered you?”
“Well it was horribly ugly. I asked the owner and she said she’d found it when she was cleaning out the storeroom. She had no idea where it came from. She wasn’t sure whether she should sell it or not. I told her to throw it away. It scared me. I guess it sounds silly now. Why would something like that get to me so much?”
“To grind your skin.”
“…what?!”
“I said, things get under your skin.”
“I thought you said…never mind.
“There was something else too: As I was cleaning my son’s room the next day I thought I saw that same doll in there.”
“Thought you did?”
“As I was cleaning under his bed something caught my eye: It was that red bandana. And I saw that doll’s little face staring at me, with those cracked, painted eyes, and I swear I just about screamed. But when I looked under the bed again it wasn’t there. And I told myself I just imagined it, but…are all these things really important?”
“Oh yes, Mrs. Chelsea. I’d say we’re making great progress. With these sorts of things, you have. To go. Inside.”
“…what did you say?”
“You have to go inside. Of your mindset, you know, inside of your issues.”
“But why did you say it that way the first time?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Doctor, I—”
“Let’s move on. It seems that your anxiety is being triggered by some very specific imagery. Tell me when else it’s come up.”
“I…”
“Tell me, Mrs. Chelsea. Please.”
“…my neighbor, she had Halloween decorations up on her house for weeks. And there was one that was a kind of skeleton that hung in her window, the sort of thing you’d buy at a drugstore this time of year. It startled me when I looked out my window and saw it. It was like it was looking right into my house. It had big glass eyes that were too large for its skull…that bothered me.
“I had such a strange feeling when I saw it. The first time I thought to myself, ‘He’s found me.’ It just popped into my head, and a second later I couldn’t have told you what it means. But that’s not what scared me.”
“What did?”
“My neighbor took all the other decorations off her house after Halloween, but she kept that one. Every morning I’d see that thing staring into my window. And finally one day I mentioned to her, very casually, you know, that it was almost Thanksgiving and she really ought to take that last Halloween decoration down. And she said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about? It’s been gone for weeks.’”
“Was it there when you looked out the window again?’
“No.”
“Do you think it was ever really there to begin with?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“What else has been on your mind?”
“Dylan. He’s a very bright child, like his brother. And they look a like. But he’s not a musician; instead he draws.”
“Has he been making strange pictures?”
“How did you know?”
“A lucky guess. Do go on, Mrs. Chelsea.”
“I feel sick. I feel like…the room is moving?”
“It’s your imagination. Tell me about Dylan’s pictures.”
“They’re of…a sailing ship. But not a normal one. It has a, you know, a figurehead at the front of it that’s too big. And it talks.”
“The figurehead talks?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know that, if it’s just a picture?”
“I just know. And he’s been drawing it for weeks and weeks, over and over. And sometimes he draws other things too…strange things…terrible things…”
“But things you recognize.”
“…yes.”
“Where have you seen these things before, Mrs. Chelsea?”
“In my dreams. And…on the television. When I was five years old. The show came on everyday. And I was scared of it, but I watched it anyway. And when I tried to get my parents to watch it with me they said…they said…”
“What did they say?”
“…that there was no show. And I didn’t understand what they meant. And that’s when the nightmare began. And I remember now, that’s where I first heard that song, the strange one that Jonah played. That’s why I was upset when I heard it, because it reminded me of that show. And I though maybe that’s why the man at the church was upset by it, too. I guess as I grew up I kind of forgot about the whole thing, but…”
“But you didn’t forget, did you? You never forget the things that are really important in childhood.”
“I guess you don’t.”
“And we didn’t forget about you either.”
“What?”
“I said, they didn’t forget—”
“No you didn’t. You said ‘we.’ ‘We didn’t forget about you?’”
“…well, it’s true. We didn’t forget. We’ve been waiting for you, Janice. All this time.”
“Dr. Horace, why are you laughing like that? Dr. Horace?”
“I’m not a doctor. And you see this isn’t a doctor’s office at all, is it? It’s the cabin of a ship, that’s why it’s moving, that’s why you started to feel seasick.”
“What’s going on?!”
“You’re off on an adventure on the high seas, Janice, just like the ones on television when you were a little girl. The ones we made just for you.”
“Stop talking like that. And stop calling me that too, my name isn’t Janice.”
“But it could be! You’d make as good of a Janice as anyone. And think how much better life would be if you were? Janice never had a murdered son. Janice never had to worry that she was losing her mind. Janice only had adventures all the time.”
“But they were so awful, so frightening…”
“Well, being a child is always a little frightening, isn’t it? But you won’t be alone here; all of your old friends are onboard. And we have some news ones too. Even Jonah is here…”
“Jonah…?”
“Oh yes. He’s been just the best little crewmember for us. And he’s been waiting for you. Just think about how wonderful it will be to see him again, and to see everyone else too. All one big happy crew together.”
“But what about Dylan?”
“Your other boy? Oh, don’t worry about him. We’ll get around to him, in due time. But do you hear that, Janice?”
“I…I hear a voice…”
“And what is it telling you?”
“I don’t want to listen to it! I don’t want to be here, I want to go home!”
“This is home, Janice. This is the home we made for you, the home that’s been waiting for you, the home that you’ll be in forever and ever. The voice that you hear, why, that’s the voice of your new home. And what is it saying?”
“I…”
“What’s it saying, Janice?”
“It’s saying that…
“I have. To go. Inside.”
I present to you, Candle Cove - Day of the Dead.
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Candle Cove - Day of the Dead by Tam Lin
“Most of the laugh tracks on television were recorded in the early 1950s. These days, the people you hear laughing are dead.”
-Chuck Palahniuk, “Lullaby”
***
“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, of course.”
“I thought that’s what your job was about: talking?”
“Actually Mrs. Chelsea, I would say that my job is about trust. I can’t expect people who don’t trust me to talk about sensitive things with me. So this session is entirely in your hands.”
“I’ll talk about it. Therapy was my idea, after all. They said that since there was just the one incident it wasn’t really necessary but…I thought it was a good idea.”
“All right then. Tell me what happened.”
“It was just a drawing on the sidewalk. A stencil, you know? Artists leave them around the city, sometimes, and I was out shopping with my family when my son pointed it out. It was a skeleton wearing a top hat, and it had the word ‘Saturday’ underneath it. What do you think that means?”
“It sounds like Baron Samedi.”
“Who?”
“He’s a loa; a voodoo spirit. He watches over the dead and he’s usually represented by a top hat and a skull. ‘Samedi’ means ‘Saturday.’ So this drawing frightened you?”
“I had a kind of fit when I saw it. They called it an anxiety attack. They even took me to the hospital.”
“And what did they find out?”
“They said there’s nothing wrong with me physically. They talked about stress and lack of sleep. And they said I should take it easy but not to worry unless it happened again. But I’m worried anyway.”
“Has anything like this ever happened before?”
“Once. The same day…that my son died.”
“You said your son was the one who noticed the stencil?”
“That’s my youngest son, Dylan. I had an older son, Jonah. But he’s not with us anymore. He was murdered five years ago.”
“I’m very sorry, Mrs. Chelsea. Can I ask if you received any psychological counseling afterwards?”
“No. I was busy with Dylan, you see. Isn’t it strange? The day Jonah died was the same day I found out I was pregnant again. And I guess I just….poured everything into managing the pregnancy. So that I wouldn’t think about anything else. And for years, I didn’t. Not until this week. Should I talk about the murder?”
“As I said, you don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to.”
“I…I’ll talk about it.
“Jonah was fifteen; I had him when I was still in high school. He was very gifted. He played the cello, and the piano, and they made him the organist at our church. That was what got him into trouble.
“The minister was friends with my husband, Jonah’s stepfather, and he loved to hear Jonah play, so he put him at the organ. Everyone loved him. It wasn’t just that Jonah was talented, he was…I guess you could say he had a performer’s charisma. I…I’m sorry, it’s hard to talk about…”
“It’s all right, Mrs. Chelsea. Should we change the subject?”
“No, I’ve already said this much. Something people liked about Jonah, he would always play the hymns but he’d play some of his own music too, before and after the service. He composed his own material; it was very strange sounding, but everyone liked it. Well, almost everyone: One day a man came to us after church and told him to stop.”
“Told him to stop playing?”
“Told him to stop playing his own music. He was very upset. He looked like he hadn’t had much sleep; he might have been drunk. He told us that the song Jonah played that day was…wrong, somehow. That it was driving him crazy. He was screaming at us in the parking lot, telling us that we didn’t realize what we were doing, that he’d spent his whole life trying to get away from that music. It didn’t make any sense.”
“Tell me about the song?”
“It was very odd, now that you mention it. It was…bouncy. It made me think of the circus, for some reason. It made sense if you knew Jonah, though; he was always playing for laughs. I heard him practicing it in his room. It made me feel…unsettled, the first time I heard it.”
“Hmm. And what about this man?”
“Well, that day in the parking lot he just ran off, after scaring the daylights out of us. But the next week, he came back. …with a gun.”
“Mrs. Chelsea—”
“It was the Day of the Dead. November 1st. I remember that. Someone had left something on the organ for Jonah, as a joke. You know those Day of the Dead decorations, the little statuettes of skeletons doing everyday things? Skeleton housewives cooking or a skeleton barber with scissors and a razor or—”
“A therapist.”
“Huh?”
“I have one that’s a skeleton therapist, with a skeleton patient on his couch. A client gave it to me. It’s actually quite funny.”
“Oh. Well, this one was a skeleton playing the piano. Jonah thought it was hilarious. He showed it to everyone. Nobody would admit to leaving it. Then he started playing. Everyone was enjoying it. He was coming to the end of the song, and then that man from the week before stood up. And then…”
“…where is that man now, Mrs. Chelsea?”
“In a mental hospital. I’ve visited him a few times. He cries a lot and tells me he’s sorry, but he says, ‘You must understand why. You of all people must understand why I did it.’ I don’t know why he says that. …but the thing I remember about that day now that I never remembered before is that little Day of the Dead statue. The skeleton was wearing a top hat, you see.”
“Ah. So the stencil drawing reminded you of it.”
“No, that wasn’t it. I mean, I suppose it did, but…doctor, I’ve never told anyone this before, but the day that Jonah was murdered, everyone assumed I was hysterical because of what happened, and I was, but it started before that. It started when I saw that little statuette on the church organ.
“Something about that figure, the skeleton and the hat, it terrified me. It scared me so bad that I wanted to stand up and shout to Jonah to run away from it, but I was too frightened to even move. And by the time I could, the man with the gun had already…he’d…”
“It’s all right, Mrs. Chelsea. …but you’re sure that your fear response started before the shooting? Not after?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m sure.”
“Hmm. So the skeleton and the hat: That image upsets you. Do you know why?”
“I can’t imagine.”
“Can you think of the first time you ever saw it?”
“Well… when I was a child I used to have a nightmare. There was a little girl in a room—”
“Was it you?”
“It might have been, but it was hard to tell. Whoever she was, she was in a dark room, and she was crying, and all around her there were these…I guess puppets, or dolls? And they were screaming.”
“The puppets were screaming?”
“Yes, all of them, screaming and screaming, and the little girl was crying.”
“Did you have this nightmare a lot?”
“All the time, when I was five.”
“What does this have to do with the skeleton in the top hat?”
“That was one of the puppets. That’s the first time I can remember seeing that image. Well, not seeing exactly, but that’s my earliest memory.”
“I see. What did your parents do when you told them about this dream?”
“They took the TV away.”
“Why?”
“They said that I had the dream because of something I saw on TV.”
“Do you remember that?”
“No. And I didn’t at the time either. But they insisted. It was…actually very strange, now that I think about it. It seemed to scare them, somehow. Of course, it’s hard to remember. I was so young, you know?”
“Of course. Do you still have this dream?”
“No. That is…not until very recently.”
“But you’ve had it again?”
“Yes, just after the stencil drawing, and the anxiety attack. That same night, actually. But only that once. And that was the first time in, oh, forty years, I guess. It’s normal, right, to have that dream again, after seeing something that reminded me of it?”
“We don’t really deal in words like normal or abnormal here, Mrs. Chelsea. I would say that it is noteworthy that you had the same dream after so long. But I don’t think it’s something you have to worry about. Can I ask, was anything different about the dream this time?”
“…yes.”
“And what was that?”
“One of the puppets. It looked like…it looked like Jonah…”
“It’s all right to cry, Mrs. Chelsea. Here, dry your eyes. I can imagine it was very upsetting, but it’s important to remember that dreams are your mind’s way of trying to tell us something. Can you remember any other strange dreams about your oldest son?”
“For a while right after he died I would have one where I was standing on the shore, watching him sail away on a big ship.”
“That’s a very common image.”
“No, not like this; there was something wrong with that ship. Something terrible. And the people on it with him…they weren’t people. Not normal people. I had the feeling they were, you know, kidnapping him. Carrying him away, like they were—”
“Pirates?”
“Yes, that’s it. And I heard music too: strange, jumbled circus music. It sounded a little like the song that Jonah played in church. And you know, come to think of it, he told me that the song came to him in a dream first. It might even have been a dream about a ship. I didn’t pay much attention. I remember I even faked having to make a phone call so I could leave the room and stop listening to him talk about it. Isn’t that terrible? But at the time, hearing about his dreams upset me very much.”
“Let’s move on: Have there been any other incidents lately that have upset you? Anything unusual that’s disrupted your regular routine?”
“I’m not sure what’s important.”
“Anything might be important. We won’t know for sure unless we talk about it.”
“Well, a few weeks ago—this was before the panic attack—I was at a toy store, trying to find something for Dylan. He was turning five that week. And I found this…thing. It was a doll, you know, but not a normal one. It was like a little pirate, but its head was one from a porcelain baby doll, the old kind? It looked like something a serial killer would make in their basement.”
“And that bothered you?”
“Well it was horribly ugly. I asked the owner and she said she’d found it when she was cleaning out the storeroom. She had no idea where it came from. She wasn’t sure whether she should sell it or not. I told her to throw it away. It scared me. I guess it sounds silly now. Why would something like that get to me so much?”
“To grind your skin.”
“…what?!”
“I said, things get under your skin.”
“I thought you said…never mind.
“There was something else too: As I was cleaning my son’s room the next day I thought I saw that same doll in there.”
“Thought you did?”
“As I was cleaning under his bed something caught my eye: It was that red bandana. And I saw that doll’s little face staring at me, with those cracked, painted eyes, and I swear I just about screamed. But when I looked under the bed again it wasn’t there. And I told myself I just imagined it, but…are all these things really important?”
“Oh yes, Mrs. Chelsea. I’d say we’re making great progress. With these sorts of things, you have. To go. Inside.”
“…what did you say?”
“You have to go inside. Of your mindset, you know, inside of your issues.”
“But why did you say it that way the first time?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Doctor, I—”
“Let’s move on. It seems that your anxiety is being triggered by some very specific imagery. Tell me when else it’s come up.”
“I…”
“Tell me, Mrs. Chelsea. Please.”
“…my neighbor, she had Halloween decorations up on her house for weeks. And there was one that was a kind of skeleton that hung in her window, the sort of thing you’d buy at a drugstore this time of year. It startled me when I looked out my window and saw it. It was like it was looking right into my house. It had big glass eyes that were too large for its skull…that bothered me.
“I had such a strange feeling when I saw it. The first time I thought to myself, ‘He’s found me.’ It just popped into my head, and a second later I couldn’t have told you what it means. But that’s not what scared me.”
“What did?”
“My neighbor took all the other decorations off her house after Halloween, but she kept that one. Every morning I’d see that thing staring into my window. And finally one day I mentioned to her, very casually, you know, that it was almost Thanksgiving and she really ought to take that last Halloween decoration down. And she said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about? It’s been gone for weeks.’”
“Was it there when you looked out the window again?’
“No.”
“Do you think it was ever really there to begin with?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“What else has been on your mind?”
“Dylan. He’s a very bright child, like his brother. And they look a like. But he’s not a musician; instead he draws.”
“Has he been making strange pictures?”
“How did you know?”
“A lucky guess. Do go on, Mrs. Chelsea.”
“I feel sick. I feel like…the room is moving?”
“It’s your imagination. Tell me about Dylan’s pictures.”
“They’re of…a sailing ship. But not a normal one. It has a, you know, a figurehead at the front of it that’s too big. And it talks.”
“The figurehead talks?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know that, if it’s just a picture?”
“I just know. And he’s been drawing it for weeks and weeks, over and over. And sometimes he draws other things too…strange things…terrible things…”
“But things you recognize.”
“…yes.”
“Where have you seen these things before, Mrs. Chelsea?”
“In my dreams. And…on the television. When I was five years old. The show came on everyday. And I was scared of it, but I watched it anyway. And when I tried to get my parents to watch it with me they said…they said…”
“What did they say?”
“…that there was no show. And I didn’t understand what they meant. And that’s when the nightmare began. And I remember now, that’s where I first heard that song, the strange one that Jonah played. That’s why I was upset when I heard it, because it reminded me of that show. And I though maybe that’s why the man at the church was upset by it, too. I guess as I grew up I kind of forgot about the whole thing, but…”
“But you didn’t forget, did you? You never forget the things that are really important in childhood.”
“I guess you don’t.”
“And we didn’t forget about you either.”
“What?”
“I said, they didn’t forget—”
“No you didn’t. You said ‘we.’ ‘We didn’t forget about you?’”
“…well, it’s true. We didn’t forget. We’ve been waiting for you, Janice. All this time.”
“Dr. Horace, why are you laughing like that? Dr. Horace?”
“I’m not a doctor. And you see this isn’t a doctor’s office at all, is it? It’s the cabin of a ship, that’s why it’s moving, that’s why you started to feel seasick.”
“What’s going on?!”
“You’re off on an adventure on the high seas, Janice, just like the ones on television when you were a little girl. The ones we made just for you.”
“Stop talking like that. And stop calling me that too, my name isn’t Janice.”
“But it could be! You’d make as good of a Janice as anyone. And think how much better life would be if you were? Janice never had a murdered son. Janice never had to worry that she was losing her mind. Janice only had adventures all the time.”
“But they were so awful, so frightening…”
“Well, being a child is always a little frightening, isn’t it? But you won’t be alone here; all of your old friends are onboard. And we have some news ones too. Even Jonah is here…”
“Jonah…?”
“Oh yes. He’s been just the best little crewmember for us. And he’s been waiting for you. Just think about how wonderful it will be to see him again, and to see everyone else too. All one big happy crew together.”
“But what about Dylan?”
“Your other boy? Oh, don’t worry about him. We’ll get around to him, in due time. But do you hear that, Janice?”
“I…I hear a voice…”
“And what is it telling you?”
“I don’t want to listen to it! I don’t want to be here, I want to go home!”
“This is home, Janice. This is the home we made for you, the home that’s been waiting for you, the home that you’ll be in forever and ever. The voice that you hear, why, that’s the voice of your new home. And what is it saying?”
“I…”
“What’s it saying, Janice?”
“It’s saying that…
“I have. To go. Inside.”
9/25/13 - Possible Photos from Candle Cove
I have found what may be a possible photo-set from Candle Cove. I cannot say for certain, but I believe that maybe some of you can shed some light on this.
9/25/13 - A Backstory To Candle Cove
I was first alerted of Candle Cove when I was browsing the website Creepypasta. For those who have not already read the tale, here it is:
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Candle Cove by Kris Straub
NetNostalgia Forum – Television (local)
Skyshale033
Subject: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Does anyone remember this kid’s show? It was called Candle Cove and I must have been 6 or 7. I never found reference to it anywhere so I think it was on a local station around 1971 or 1972. I lived in Ironton at the time. I don’t remember which station, but I do remember it was on at a weird time, like 4:00 PM.
mike_painter65
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
it seems really familiar to me…..i grew up outside of ashland and was 9 yrs old in 72. candle cove…was it about pirates? i remember a pirate marionete at the mouth of a cave talking to a little girl
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
YES! Okay I’m not crazy! I remember Pirate Percy. I was always kind of scared of him. He looked like he was built from parts of other dolls, real low-budget. His head was an old porcelain baby doll, looked like an antique that didn’t belong on the body. I don’t remember what station this was! I don’t think it was WTSF though.
Jaren_2005
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Sorry to ressurect this old thread but I know exactly what show you mean, Skyshale. I think Candle Cove ran for only a couple months in ‘71, not ‘72. I was 12 and I watched it a few times with my brother. It was channel 58, whatever station that was. My mom would let me switch to it after the news. Let me see what I remember.
It took place in Candle cove, and it was about a little girl who imagined herself to be friends with pirates. The pirate ship was called the Laughingstock, and Pirate Percy wasn’t a very good pirate because he got scared too easily. And there was calliope music constantly playing. Don’t remember the girl’s name. Janice or Jade or something. Think it was Janice.
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Thank you Jaren!!! Memories flooded back when you mentioned the Laughingstock and channel 58. I remember the bow of the ship was a wooden smiling face, with the lower jaw submerged. It looked like it was swallowing the sea and it had that awful Ed Wynn voice and laugh. I especially remember how jarring it was when they switched from the wooden/plastic model, to the foam puppet version of the head that talked.
mike_painter65
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
ha ha i remember now too.
do you remember this part skyshale: “you have…to go…INSIDE.”
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Ugh mike, I got a chill reading that. Yes I remember. That’s what the ship always told Percy when there was a spooky place he had to go in, like a cave or a dark room where the treasure was. And the camera would push in on Laughingstock’s face with each pause. YOU HAVE… TO GO… INSIDE. With his two eyes askew and that flopping foam jaw and the fishing line that opened and closed it. Ugh. It just looked so cheap and awful.
You guys remember the villain? He had a face that was just a handlebar mustache above really tall, narrow teeth.
kevin_hart
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
i honestly, honestly thought the villain was pirate percy. i was about 5 when this show was on. nightmare fuel.
Jaren_2005
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
That wasn’t the villain, the puppet with the mustache. That was the villain’s sidekick, Horace Horrible. He had a monocle too, but it was on top of the mustache. I used to think that meant he had only one eye.
But yeah, the villain was another marionette. The Skin-Taker. I can’t believe what they let us watch back then.
kevin_hart
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
jesus h. christ, the skin taker. what kind of a kids show were we watching? i seriously could not look at the screen when the skin taker showed up. he just descended out of nowhere on his strings, just a dirty skeleton wearing that brown top hat and cape. and his glass eyes that were too big for his skull. christ almighty.
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Wasn’t his top hat and cloak all sewn up crazily? Was that supposed to be children’s skin??
mike_painter65
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
yeah i think so. rememer his mouth didn’t open and close, his jaw just slid back and foth. i remember the little girl said “why does your mouth move like that” and the skin-taker didn’t look at the girl but at the camera and said “TO GRIND YOUR SKIN”
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
I’m so relieved that other people remember this terrible show!
I used to have this awful memory, a bad dream I had where the opening jingle ended, the show faded in from black, and all the characters were there, but the camera was just cutting to each of their faces, and they were just screaming, and the puppets and marionettes were flailing spastically, and just all screaming, screaming. The girl was just moaning and crying like she had been through hours of this. I woke up many times from that nightmare. I used to wet the bed when I had it.
kevin_hart
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
i don’t think that was a dream. i remember that. i remember that was an episode.
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
No no no, not possible. There was no plot or anything, I mean literally just standing in place crying and screaming for the whole show.
kevin_hart
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
maybe i’m manufacturing the memory because you said that, but i swear to god i remember seeing what you described. they just screamed.
Jaren_2005
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Oh God. Yes. The little girl, Janice, I remember seeing her shake. And the Skin-Taker screaming through his gnashing teeth, his jaw careening so wildly I thought it would come off its wire hinges. I turned it off and it was the last time I watched. I ran to tell my brother and we didn’t have the courage to turn it back on.
mike_painter65
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
i visited my mom today at the nursing home. i asked her about when i was littel in the early 70s, when i was 8 or 9 and if she remebered a kid’s show, candle cove. she said she was suprised i could remember that and i asked why, and she said “because i used to think it was so strange that you said ‘i’m gona go watch candle cove now mom’ and then you would tune the tv to static and juts watch dead air for 30 minutes. you had a big imagination with your little pirate show.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
However, many believe this to be more than just a fictitious tale. Several people claim this to have been an actual show, having seen it as a child.
I hope to uncover the truth through this blog. I will update whenever I'm able.
- Julian Colwell
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Candle Cove by Kris Straub
NetNostalgia Forum – Television (local)
Skyshale033
Subject: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Does anyone remember this kid’s show? It was called Candle Cove and I must have been 6 or 7. I never found reference to it anywhere so I think it was on a local station around 1971 or 1972. I lived in Ironton at the time. I don’t remember which station, but I do remember it was on at a weird time, like 4:00 PM.
mike_painter65
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
it seems really familiar to me…..i grew up outside of ashland and was 9 yrs old in 72. candle cove…was it about pirates? i remember a pirate marionete at the mouth of a cave talking to a little girl
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
YES! Okay I’m not crazy! I remember Pirate Percy. I was always kind of scared of him. He looked like he was built from parts of other dolls, real low-budget. His head was an old porcelain baby doll, looked like an antique that didn’t belong on the body. I don’t remember what station this was! I don’t think it was WTSF though.
Jaren_2005
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Sorry to ressurect this old thread but I know exactly what show you mean, Skyshale. I think Candle Cove ran for only a couple months in ‘71, not ‘72. I was 12 and I watched it a few times with my brother. It was channel 58, whatever station that was. My mom would let me switch to it after the news. Let me see what I remember.
It took place in Candle cove, and it was about a little girl who imagined herself to be friends with pirates. The pirate ship was called the Laughingstock, and Pirate Percy wasn’t a very good pirate because he got scared too easily. And there was calliope music constantly playing. Don’t remember the girl’s name. Janice or Jade or something. Think it was Janice.
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Thank you Jaren!!! Memories flooded back when you mentioned the Laughingstock and channel 58. I remember the bow of the ship was a wooden smiling face, with the lower jaw submerged. It looked like it was swallowing the sea and it had that awful Ed Wynn voice and laugh. I especially remember how jarring it was when they switched from the wooden/plastic model, to the foam puppet version of the head that talked.
mike_painter65
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
ha ha i remember now too.
do you remember this part skyshale: “you have…to go…INSIDE.”Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Ugh mike, I got a chill reading that. Yes I remember. That’s what the ship always told Percy when there was a spooky place he had to go in, like a cave or a dark room where the treasure was. And the camera would push in on Laughingstock’s face with each pause. YOU HAVE… TO GO… INSIDE. With his two eyes askew and that flopping foam jaw and the fishing line that opened and closed it. Ugh. It just looked so cheap and awful.
You guys remember the villain? He had a face that was just a handlebar mustache above really tall, narrow teeth.
kevin_hart
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
i honestly, honestly thought the villain was pirate percy. i was about 5 when this show was on. nightmare fuel.
Jaren_2005
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
That wasn’t the villain, the puppet with the mustache. That was the villain’s sidekick, Horace Horrible. He had a monocle too, but it was on top of the mustache. I used to think that meant he had only one eye.
But yeah, the villain was another marionette. The Skin-Taker. I can’t believe what they let us watch back then.
kevin_hart
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
jesus h. christ, the skin taker. what kind of a kids show were we watching? i seriously could not look at the screen when the skin taker showed up. he just descended out of nowhere on his strings, just a dirty skeleton wearing that brown top hat and cape. and his glass eyes that were too big for his skull. christ almighty.
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Wasn’t his top hat and cloak all sewn up crazily? Was that supposed to be children’s skin??
mike_painter65
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
yeah i think so. rememer his mouth didn’t open and close, his jaw just slid back and foth. i remember the little girl said “why does your mouth move like that” and the skin-taker didn’t look at the girl but at the camera and said “TO GRIND YOUR SKIN”
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
I’m so relieved that other people remember this terrible show!
I used to have this awful memory, a bad dream I had where the opening jingle ended, the show faded in from black, and all the characters were there, but the camera was just cutting to each of their faces, and they were just screaming, and the puppets and marionettes were flailing spastically, and just all screaming, screaming. The girl was just moaning and crying like she had been through hours of this. I woke up many times from that nightmare. I used to wet the bed when I had it.
kevin_hart
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
i don’t think that was a dream. i remember that. i remember that was an episode.
Skyshale033
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
No no no, not possible. There was no plot or anything, I mean literally just standing in place crying and screaming for the whole show.
kevin_hart
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
maybe i’m manufacturing the memory because you said that, but i swear to god i remember seeing what you described. they just screamed.
Jaren_2005
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
Oh God. Yes. The little girl, Janice, I remember seeing her shake. And the Skin-Taker screaming through his gnashing teeth, his jaw careening so wildly I thought it would come off its wire hinges. I turned it off and it was the last time I watched. I ran to tell my brother and we didn’t have the courage to turn it back on.
mike_painter65
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid’s show?
i visited my mom today at the nursing home. i asked her about when i was littel in the early 70s, when i was 8 or 9 and if she remebered a kid’s show, candle cove. she said she was suprised i could remember that and i asked why, and she said “because i used to think it was so strange that you said ‘i’m gona go watch candle cove now mom’ and then you would tune the tv to static and juts watch dead air for 30 minutes. you had a big imagination with your little pirate show.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
However, many believe this to be more than just a fictitious tale. Several people claim this to have been an actual show, having seen it as a child.
I hope to uncover the truth through this blog. I will update whenever I'm able.
- Julian Colwell
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