Creepy Short Stories

Candle Cove Experiences: Tales of the Laughingstock

Candle Cove Experiences: Tales of the Laughingstock

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."