CreepyPasta: Modern Tales Of Horror

Candle Cove

The following is a post I placed into a forum on the Internet:

Me:
Does anyone remember the old television show Candle Cove? You'd probably only know it if you grew up around what's known as the Huntington-Ashland-Ironton metropolitan area of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. It must have aired on a public access channel or something, because there doesn't seem to be much information about it floating around. In 2009, though, a post appeared on the NetNostalgia forums for local television shows around the H-A-I area; the post's writer, Skyshale033, was looking for some information about this seemingly forgotten children's show:

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.

At first, no one responded. Eventually, though, another poster who went by the handle of mike_painter65 stepped forward with some vague memories of his own. Mike noted that it seemed familiar to him- he grew up outside of Ashland and was nine years old in 1972- but he couldn't remember much: "was it about pirates? i remember a pirate marionete at the mouth of a cave talking to a little girl." Skyshale was thrilled that someone else- ANYONE else- also had a few scattered recollections about Candle Cove. She recalled that the pirate marionette's name was Pirate Percy, and that she was always a little frightened of him. "He looked like he was built from parts of other dolls," she wrote, "real low-budget. His head was an old porcelain baby doll, looked like an antique that didn't belong on the body." She couldn't remember what station Candle Cove aired on though; apparently neither did Mike, because he didn't respond. The thread, like the show, faded into obscurity.

Some time later, though, another user dug up the thread and added his own contribution, bringing Candle Cove back into focus. His name was Jaren_2005, and he seemed to have more information than either Skyshale or Mike:

Jaren_2005
Subject: Re: Candle Cove local kid's show?
Sorry to resurrect 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.

It's possible that his recollections are clearer because he was older at the time- twelve, as opposed to seven or nine. Jaren's post jogged Skyshale's memory, though, and she wrote back, "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 jumped in as well, asking, "do you remember this part skyshale: "you have...to go...INSIDE." Apparently every time Pirate Percy was required to go into somewhere dark and spooky, the ship, Laughingstock, would tell Percy, "YOU HAVE... TO GO... INSIDE." Skyshale remembered that the camera would push in closer on Laughingstock's face with each pause. Then she changed the subject: "You guys remember the villain? He had a face that was just a handlebar mustache above really tall, narrow teeth." A new poster appeared in response to this inquiry; he called himself kevin_hart:

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.

As they all pooled their memories together, though, they realized (thanks to Jaren) that the villain wasn't the guy with the handlebar mustache- that was merely the sidekick, Horace Horrible- but rather another marionette called the Skin-Taker.

Wait a minute: The Skin-Taker? What the hell kind of kid's show are we talking about here?

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Kevin remembered that he couldn't look at the screen whenever 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." Skyshale thought that the Skin-Taker's hat and cloak were meant to be sewn out of the skin of children, which Mike confirmed. He went on to describe the Skin-Taker further: "remember his mouth didn't open and close, his jaw just slid back and forth. 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.'"

Disturbing.

But then it got even stranger as Skyshale posted the following:

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.

It's not uncommon for television programming to inspire nightmares in young children; I can remember having had quite a few myself. But at least I knew they were always just that: Nightmares. Not reality. But Kevin's next response took that safety net away: "i don't think that was a dream. i remember that. i remember that was an episode."

Skyshale protested. But Jaren also remembered this episode: "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." And finally, Mike weight in:

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."