History Recap / AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason2TheTaleOfOldManCorcoran

* RewatchBonus: Cissy's aggressive behavior towards Jack and Kenny makes her seem like a jerk at first, but come [[TheReveal the reveal]] that the group of kids are all ghosts, it puts her in a whole new light. She was the last of the group to join, and was most likely tricked and killed by Marshall. Cissy was purposefully being mean and also fed lies about Old Man Corcoran to Jack and Kenny to try and scare them off so they wouldn't die too. As a matter of fact, the above mentioned hiding place incident was her last ditch effort to save their necks.

* MysteriousMist: During the second game, the brother spot the yellow-wearing girl hide behind a gravestone, then a mist appears in the air, and the girl has vanished.

As they pass a gravestone, Mary Alice leaps out with a yell, and runs off. They prepare to follow...and are blocked by a grey-haired, ashen man, dressed in overalls and holding an axe. He glowers sternly at the two, who scream in terror, and run.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Cissy hides her face in disbelief when Jack and Kenny arrive for the second game, but not out of personal disgust. It's more like she's agitated that her efforts to keep them away will be for naught
When Kenny and Jack fall into a grave that Sissi is hiding in, she gets awfully snippy and orders them to get out this instant. Jack snaps that he didn't see her name on this hiding place. Ominously, Sissi growls "Well look a little closer next time..."

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Marshall. He was the kindest of the group to Jack and Kenny, but then it turns out that they were actually all ghosts. It's more than likely that this behavior was most likely an act to lure the boys into an early grave and becoming ghosts along with them.

** Welcoming Marshall and territorial Cissy.[[spoiler: Though it's implied that Marshall isn't anywhere near as sweet-natured as first thought, while Cissy's aggressive nature had [[JerkJustifications altruistic reasons behind it]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Marshall. He was the kindest of the group to Jack and Kenny, but then it turns out that they were actually all ghosts. It's implied that this behavior was most likely an act to lure the boys into an early grave and becoming ghosts along with them.

* BuriedAlive: Said to have happened by accident to Old Man Corcoran. It didn’t.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Kenny and Jack fall into a grave that Sissi is hiding in, she gets awfully snippy and orders them to get out this instant. Jack snaps that he didn't see her name on this hiding place. Ominously, Sissi growls "Well look a little closer next time..."

** Welcoming Marshall and territorial Cissy.

* RewatchBonus: Cissy's aggressive behavior towards Jack and Kenny makes her seem like a jerk at first, but come [[TheReveal the reveal]] that the group of kids are all ghosts, it puts her in a whole new light. She was the last of the group to join, and was most likely tricked and killed by Marshall. Cissy was purposefully being mean and also fed lies about Old Man Corcoran to Jack and Kenny to try and scare them off so they wouldn't die too. As a matter of fact, the above mentioned hiding place incident was her last ditch effort two save their necks.

* RewatchBonus: Cissy's aggressive behavior towards Jack and Kenny makes her seem like a jerk at first, but come [[TheReveal the reveal]] that the group of kids are all ghosts, it puts her in a whole new light. She was the last of the group to join, and was most likely tricked and killed by Marshall. She was purposefully being mean and also fed lies about Old Man Corcoran to Jack and Kenny to try and scare them off so they wouldn't die too.

* DarkIsNotEvil: While forebodingly stern, Old Man Corcoran means no harm.

* WouldHurtAChild: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] with Old Man Corcoran, said to have cut off the hand of a thieving kid. It’s likely a lie.

[[caption-width-right:350:""Some say he still walks the graveyard at night, looking for trespassers. And if it's real quiet, you might even hear him playing his harmonica."]]

Tonight’s story is forwarded, at Kiki’s prescription, by a game of hide and seek. Why bother with such childish fare? wonders Kristen. Kiki, up tonight, hints the game to be a uniquely scary pursuit: venture into isolation, and in silence, evade detection, which could be at any moment. In her story, this is cranked up a notch: what if you didn’t know precisely who or what might catch you? Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, she calls her story “The Tale of Old Man Corcoran”.

Jack and Kenny Harris, having just moved into a new neighbourhood, are keen to fit in. Around the outside of the house, the two stalk each other with water guns, until Kenny ambushes Jack with a discharge from his water rifle. Jack gives chase, and squirts Kenny with his water pistol, until Kenny alerts him to a visitor to the front lawn: a young boy, Marshall [=McClain=], parked on a bike. Across the street stand five others, all on bikes.

Jack aloofly confronts the visitor. Kenny protests his brother’s surliness, and introduces them. Having moved from East Side, toughest neighbourhood in the city, they haven’t yet made any friends. Marshall invites them to tonight’s game of hide and seek. At Jack’s scepticism, Marshall airily says they’d probably be too afraid to play where he and his friends do: in the graveyard. Jack and Kenny rise to the challenge.

That sunset, the two climb the locked gates into the neglected graveyard. The two wade through the tall grass, in search of Marshall and co. Suddenly, Marshall sneaks up on them with a loud “boo!”

Doubtful the two would come, they now have to start the game over. Marshall calls into the night, and from behind gravestones emerge the others, who fall in to stand before a tree: Ron Jacobson, Scott Whaldon, Laura Ayers, Mary Alice Reardon, and Cissy Vernon.

At the last name, Jack raises his eyebrows. Cissy steps forward, tells Jack simply to call her Vernon, and hopes the new members don’t scare easily. Jack wonders what’s to be scared of. Cissy introduces the legend of Old Man Corcoran.

Jack maintains East Side to be scarier than such fancy. Laura is impatient to start. Marshall tells Ron to get counting, and the game starts.

Jack and Kenny wander through the graveyard. Jack finds a freshly dug grave. He mischievously pretends to push Kenny in, and suggests it as a hiding place. Just then, he alerts Kenny to the distant sound of a soft, shrill note: a harmonica.

Through the open door, Cissy mocks their effort. Marshall invites them to return for tonight’s game. Convinced of having seen Old Man Corcoran, they initially decline Marshall argues them to have imagined it. Goaded by a chicken impression from Cissy, Jack agrees to return tonight.

In the graveyard, Cissy questions Marshall’s recruitment of new members: he’d believed that after her, no one else would join. Marshall feels they need new blood. When Jack and Kenny arrive, Mary Alice taunts them about Old Man Corcoran. Marshall dismisses the legend. Since Jack and Kenny left early, they’re now both “it.”

Kenny wants to summon the others. Jack is determined to steal the harmonica. While Kenny retreats, Jack approaches the shack. He sneaks into the darkened living room. The door creaks shut behind him. He tries to open it, but it’s stuck.

He steps back, and accidentally switches on a phonograph cylinder. As a grainy record merrily twangs, he backs into someone: Kenny, who has the harmonica. Jack takes the instrument, and hands over his flashlight...but not, as he supposes, to Kenny. When he asks for it back, the two realise it to be held by someone unseen. The holder illuminates himself: it’s Old Man Corcoran, and he wants his harmonica.

Jack confesses to have been playing hide and seek. Kenny lists the names of their friends. As he speaks, they back away from the “ghost,” who sternly explains those kids to be long dead and buried, in graves he dug himself. The two fall backwards, and see, behind the now full grave, a headstone, engraved with the name of Marshall [=McClain=] - and a photo of the dead boy’s face. In horror, Jack and Kenny stare across the misty graveyard.

Kiki closes with a dare to another round of the “dumb kid’s game.” Frank, on failure to disclaim the role of “it,” begins to count…

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: During appearance of [[spoiler: the ghostly kids, their]] graves appear freshly dug. When [[spoiler: Old Man Corcoran]] arrives, the graves are filled in and set with headstones.
* BuriedAlive: Said to have happened by accident to Old Man Corcoran. [[spoiler: It didn’t.]]

* DarkIsNotEvil: While forebodingly stern, [[spoiler: Old Man Corcoran means no harm]].
* DeadAllAlong: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in the case of [[spoiler: Old Man Corcoran, accused of spectrality by Cissie, who herself turns out to be a ghost]].
** [[spoiler: The hide and seekers]], in the graveyard where their bodies are buried, routinely jump in and out of their graves to play.
* DudeNotFunny: When Jack and Kenny frantically explain themselves to [[spoiler: Old Man Corcoran]], they say they've been playing hide and seek. But when they tell him all the names of their new friends, [[spoiler: Old Man Corcoran scolds them that whatever joke they're playing, it's not funny. Because those kids have been dead for years, and he should know: he dug the graves himself.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Kenny and Jack fall into a grave that Sissi is hiding in, she gets awfully snippy and orders them to get out this instant. Jack snaps that he didn't see her name on this hiding place. [[spoiler: Ominously, Sissi growls "Well look a little closer next time..."]]
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: The hide and seekers]] haunt [[spoiler: their graves]], which, throughout, revert to freshly dug holes.
* RedOniBlueOni: Aloof, competitive Jack and friendly, outgoing Kenny.

* WouldHurtAChild: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] with Old Man Corcoran, said to have cut off the hand of a thieving kid. [[spoiler: It’s likely a lie]].

Jack and Kenny Harris, having just moved into a new neighbourhood, are keen to fit in. Around the outside of the house, the two stalk each other with water guns, until Kenny ambushes Jack with a discharge from his water rifle. Jack gives chase, and squirts Kenny with his water pistol, until Kenny alerts him to a visitor to the front lawn: a young boy, Marshall McClain, parked on a bike. Across the street stand five others, all on bikes.

Jack confesses to have been playing hide and seek. Kenny lists the names of their friends. As he speaks, they back away from the “ghost,” who sternly explains those kids to be long dead and buried, in graves he dug himself. The two fall backwards, and see, behind the now full grave, a headstone, engraved with the name of Marshall McClain - and a photo of the dead boy’s face. In horror, Jack and Kenny stare across the misty graveyard.

From them, Old Man Corcoran deftly snatches the harmonica from Jack’s pocket. He asks what they’re doing here.

* {{Bizarrechitecture}}: During appearance of [[spoiler: the ghostly kids, their]] graves appear freshly dug. When [[spoiler: Old Man Corcoran]] arrives, the graves are filled in and set with headstones.