
Candle Cove is a fictional children's television show that exists within the narrative of an online horror story, or creepypasta, written by Kris Straub. The story takes the form of a forum discussion, in which users reminisce about the unusual and disturbing content of the show, including a character known as the Skin-Taker. The story of Candle Cove was adapted into a season of the Syfy series Channel Zero, which further contributed to the perception of Candle Cove as a real television show. Despite this, Candle Cove never existed outside of Straub's creepypasta.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Nature of Candle Cove | A fictional children's television series |
| Type of content | Horror |
| Format | Puppet show |
| Year of announcement | 1970 |
| Channel | Local Channel 58 |
| Production house | HeyKids Studio, Ironton, Ohio |
| Original name | Pirate Place |
| Basis | The Nickerbocker's Tale, a short story from 1767 |
| Characters | The Earl of Wax, Horace Horrible, The Skin-Taker, Janice, Milo |
| Nature of The Skin-Taker | A skeleton pirate who wears clothing made out of children's skin |
| Nature of the show | Disturbing, with an episode featuring puppets flailing and screaming |
| Author | Kris Straub |
| Year of publishing | 2009 |
| Platform | ichorfalls.com |
| Genre | Creepypasta |
| Inspiration | An article in The Onion |
| Adaptation | Channel Zero |
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What You'll Learn

Candle Cove is a Creepypasta story by Kris Straub
Candle Cove is a fictional children's television series that is the subject of an online creepypasta horror story written by web cartoonist and author Kris Straub. The story is told in the format of a thread on the fictional "NetNostalgia Forums", where a group of users discuss an unusual low-budget children's television show, Candle Cove, that they all remember watching as children. The show featured a terrifying pirate ship called the Laughingstock and an evil marionette named the Skin-Taker, a skeleton pirate who wore clothing made out of children's skin.
The story of Candle Cove first appeared on Straub's website ichorfalls.com in 2009 under a Creative Commons license. The website hosted Straub's horror stories about the fictional town of Ichor Falls. In a 2011 interview, Straub revealed that he was inspired to write the story by a satirical Onion article titled "Area 36-Year-Old Still Has Occasional Lidsville Nightmare".
The creepypasta story of Candle Cove quickly gained popularity, inspiring numerous YouTube videos and fan fictions. In 2015, Straub self-published Candle Cove in a collection of short stories entitled "Candle Cove and Other Stories". The story differs from other creepypastas in that it has a known source and author, as most creepypastas have an "anonymous folkloric quality".
The story of Candle Cove is told through a series of forum posts, with users sharing their memories of the show and recalling increasingly disturbing details. One user recalls an episode where the puppets flailed and screamed while a character named Janice cried. Another user shares that they asked their elderly mother about the show, and she responded that every time the user claimed Candle Cove was on, there was only static on the screen.
The popularity of the creepypasta story led to the creation of a wiki for Candle Cove, which lists the episodes and describes their content. The wiki also includes analysis of the novel 'The Knickerbocker's Tale', a short story written in 1767 that the wiki claims is the inspiration for the series. The story's evolution came full circle when Candle Cove was selected as one of the stories for the Syfy Channel Zero series, with the fictional show being developed as part of an actual television show.
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Candle Cove was a puppet TV show aimed at children
The first season followed the adventures of the Laughingstock crew as they sailed through the land of Candle Cove. The crew was introduced to many friends and foes throughout the season, with three main antagonists: The Earl of Wax, Horace Horrible and his Rubber Fishes crew, and lastly, the Skin-Taker, who was summoned by Horace and wanted to capture Janice for her skin. The second season of Candle Cove consisted of an additional 15 episodes and introduced a new main character, Milo.
However, despite the seemingly concrete details of the show, Candle Cove does not exist and never existed. It is a creepypasta, a neologism for horror stories circulated around the internet. The story of Candle Cove was written by Kris Straub and posted on creepypasta.com and the Creepypasta Wiki, as well as other sites such as 4chan, Reddit, YouTube, and horror.com. The story is told in the format of a thread on a fictional forum, where users discuss an unusual low-budget children's television show that they all remember watching. Despite being fiction, the story is described in vivid detail, and fans have produced videos and music claiming to be footage of the show. The story's growth into a fan-powered urban legend has been described as a flattering evolution by Straub, who holds the copyright for the story.
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Candle Cove was inspired by a satirical Onion article
Candle Cove is a fictional children's television series that features in an online horror story by Kris Straub, called "Candle Cove". The story is written in the format of a discussion thread on a fictional forum, in which a group of users reminisce about the unusual and disturbing low-budget children's television show, Candle Cove, that they remember watching as children.
The story by Straub is an example of "creepypasta", a term for horror stories circulated around the internet. Candle Cove is not based on a true story, but Straub has stated that he was inspired to write it after reading a satirical Onion article titled "Area 36-Year-Old Still Has Occasional Lidsville Nightmare".
The story of Candle Cove centres on a fictional children's television show of the same name, which is described in vivid detail by the forum users in Straub's story. The show is said to have aired in the early 1970s on local channels in certain areas of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. It is described as an experimental puppet show, with puppetry created by students at the University of Ohio. The first episode was called "Welcome to Our Happy Ship" and was accompanied by a live audience.
The forum users in Straub's story recall disturbing details about the show, including a character known as the Skin-Taker, a skeleton pirate who wears clothing made out of children's skin, and an episode in which the puppets spent the entire time flailing and screaming while a character named Janice cried. One forum user even claims to have visited his mother in a nursing home and received confirmation that the show was real and had terrified him as a child.
The story of Candle Cove has inspired numerous fan-created videos, music, and fan fiction, as well as a wiki for the fictional show, which lists and describes the content of its episodes. The story was also adapted into a season of the Syfy Channel series, Channel Zero, which premiered in 2016.
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Candle Cove fans produced videos and music claiming to be footage of the show
Candle Cove is a fictional children's television series that is the subject of an online creepypasta horror story written by web cartoonist and author Kris Straub. The story is told in the format of a thread on the fictional "NetNostalgia Forums", where a group of users discuss an unusual low-budget children's television show that they all remember watching as children. The show is described as featuring a sinister talking boat and a skeleton character called the "Skin-Taker", who wears clothing made out of children's skin.
As the users continue to reminisce, they begin to recall more disturbing details about the show, including an episode consisting entirely of the puppets flailing and screaming while a character named Janice cries. Some users even claim to have vague memories of the show, with one user recalling that their mother remembered the show and that it had terrified them as a child.
The story of Candle Cove quickly gained popularity, inspiring numerous fan-made videos and music claiming to be footage of the fictional show. These videos often include readings of the original creepypasta story, as well as mashups with other popular series. The popularity of the story and its fan-made content has led to the creation of a wiki for Candle Cove, which lists and describes the content of the fictional show's episodes.
While the show itself is fictional, the fan-powered evolution of the story into an urban legend has been embraced by Straub, who sees it as a flattering development. The story has also inspired a SyFy Channel series, Channel Zero, which adapts the Candle Cove story and expands upon it, centering on a child psychologist investigating the disappearance of his brother and other children in the 1980s.
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Candle Cove was adapted into a season of the Syfy series Channel Zero
Candle Cove is a fictional children's television series that is central to an online horror story called "Candle Cove", written by Kris Straub. The story is in the form of a discussion thread on a fictional forum, in which a group of users recall watching the show as children. The show is described as featuring a sinister talking boat and a skeleton pirate called the "Skin-Taker", who wears clothing made out of children's skin.
The story of Candle Cove is an example of a "creepypasta", a term for horror stories that are circulated on the internet. "Candle Cove" was first published by Straub in 2009 on his website, and it quickly gained popularity, inspiring numerous fan videos, music, and fan fiction. The story's evolution was unusual in that it was treated by fans as if it were real, with some even creating videos claiming to be footage of the show.
In 2015, the Syfy Channel announced that they would be adapting the "Candle Cove" story as the first season of a new series, Channel Zero. The season, named after the creepypasta, expands on the story and centres on a child psychologist who returns home to investigate the disappearance of his brother and other children in the 1980s. The series stars Paul Schneider and Fiona Shaw and premiered on 11 October 2016.
The choice to adapt "Candle Cove" for television was met with a positive response from fans of the story, who were intrigued to see how the show would interpret the disturbing material.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Candle Cove is not real. It is a fictional children's television series that features in an online horror story called "Creepypasta", written by Kris Straub.
Creepypasta is a short piece of horror fiction. The term is a play on the word "copypasta", an internet slang term meaning a block of text that gets copied and pasted across the internet.
The story of Candle Cove is told in the format of a thread on a fictional forum, where a group of users discuss their memories of watching the show as children. The story's evolution has been described as "unsanctioned", with fans copying and pasting it across numerous internet forums and websites, even recreating the story's exchange as if it actually occurred.

































