The Tale of Old Man Corcoran

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Intro: In one of the more fun openings to the show, we get the Midnight Society playing a bit of Hide 'n Seek in the dark. As everyone rushes to "home," David (Nathaniel Moreau) loses out, and speaks up about skipping to the story. Kristen (Rachel Blanchard) agrees in her way, asking why they're playing a "stupid kid's game." Said "kid's game," however, happened to be the inspiration for Kiki's (Jodie Resther) story that night. She then sets the mood by talking about the game, how those moments alone can be spooky, and begins her story.

Story: Jack (Adam Bonneau) and his brother, Kenny (Michael Alexander Jackson) are new to town, and haven't socialized much yet. They are one day met by a group of kids, led by a boy named Marshall (Jonathan Cameron), who invites them to play Hide 'n Seek in the local cemetery that night. They meet them, and are told the story of "Old Man Corcoran," a spooky groundskeeper who allegedly did violent things. But while trying to prove themselves to this new group of kids, they discover Corcoran isn't the creepiest thing about this graveyard.

Review: On the whole, I really enjoy this one, but it's far from perfect. I enjoy the story, it's another great one for the Halloween season, and the fake-out at the end, although it's fairly easy to see coming, is still a cool twist. I can really appreciate something that misdirects you, but only sort of. I mean, Corcoran (David Francis), himself, is still a creepy character. On the other hand, Jack is a bit of a cocky jerk, and one of the kids, Cissy Vernon (Tamar Kozlov) is almost too easy to hate. If these character could just be cooled down, this would have the potential to be awesome, but they take you out of it just that little bit.

Closing/Moral: Kiki ends and asks if anyone still thinks Hide 'n Seek is still just a kid's game. The rest of them start calling "not it," until Frank (Jason Alisharan) is left. I guess there's a bit of a lesson about not messing with strangers just to prove something, and being careful of the company you keep. But this is another one that could just be seen as a fun ghost story.

4/5

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