Candle Cove is one of the most famous subjects for Creepypasta stories on the internet. Originating from a story written by cartoonist Kris Straub, the story has sparked a webwide phenomena, leading many to search for some proof of the shows existence. For those who are unaware, I have provided the story below.
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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 marionette 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.”
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Searching google turned up nothing for several months. That was until I found some photos from somebody named Eric14 (http://eric14.deviantart.com/). I will provide his posts on Candle Cove.
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Back in the early 1970's, when my uncle, Andre Albright was a kid,
he had appeared in two episodes of the second season of Candle Cove.
A show that lives in infamy on the internet.
Many say it never existed, I didn't believe it existed at first
but I mentioned it to my uncle during a discussion of modern horror stories.
When I described the show, his jaw dropped as if nostalgia had blown up in his face.
He was surprised when he found out the show had
a huge cult following on the internet and gave me this photo from the set to scan and upload to the internet.
He told me everything.
He said that this was the lookout platform on the Laughingstock.
He says he has some other photos but they are packed away and says he'll get them for me when he can
so expect more real soon.
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Alright. Sorry it’s been awhile but I’ve been busy with the holidays and all.
This is another photo that was apparently on the set of an episode of Candle Cove.
It’s a wooden stand. My uncle said it was supposed to be a giant sea serpent used in an episode.
He said its eyes lit up and its huge gaping mouth had fog machines inside.
The mouth was big enough for two grown men to get inside.
Not only was my uncle in a few episodes but he was also friends with the girl who played Janice.
The
studio wanted to make him one of the leads of the show but my uncle
left the set, claiming that things started to get “too weird.”
Most of the actors were local stage talents who got paid 200 dollars a day to be on the show.
Despite Janice being around 9 years old, she was played by a 13 year old.
Percy
was apparently a live actor and not a puppet like many people say
online and he was like an overprotective father to Janice.
There's only one more photo left.
Yeah, I'm sorry. My uncle hasn't been able to find the others anywhere.
So be sure to check out the last one.
Nearly everything will be explained.
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And now we finally have the final photo. This one shows parts of an
unfinished puppet on the show. No, it’s not the Skin-Taker. It’s one of
the puppets from the birthday episode.
I’ve written down everything my uncle remembers about the show.
It really contradicts the info found on the internet.
A lot of people say the show was “haunted” and that it was canceled for some disturbing reasons.
The creator going missing/suicide or some stupid crap. Barely any of that information is true.
Most of it is just made up by people on the internet trying to be scary.
Yes, there was once a kids show called Candle Cove,
Yes, the plot was the same as described on the internet,
No, there was nothing haunted about it and it wasn't canceled for any (nonexistent) haunts.
The show was canceled for two main reasons.
1. The show wasn't getting the intended audience, children. Most fans of the show were teenagers.
2.
The studio received angry letters and even death threats from angry
parents who hated the reference to child abuse and cannibalism.
Anyone heard of an old TV show called Land of the Lost?
It was similar but with a lower budget and pirates.
So now you know my uncle's story.
Perhaps it explained a few things.
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So, here you have it. The truth behind the show. Its not haunted, but it did exist. If you can provide any information in the comments, it would be much appreciated. But, unless someone manages to label this as fictitious, it shall stand.
Classification : True