Secrets of Cartoons [Transferred from Facebook]

Courage- Massacare Matt

· · Courage the Cowardly Dog: Massacre Matt

You are probably all familiar with the animated television series on Cartoon Network, "Courage the Cowardly Dog", created by John Dilworth. It was about a pink dog named Courage, who lived with his two owners Muriel and Eustace. They lived in "the middle of nowhere", in a small cottage. The show's plot usually consisted of monsters or other creepy things kidnapping or disturbing the small family, and it was up to Courage to save everyone.

I absolutely LOVED that show when I was younger. It made up a huge chunk of my childhood. Although the show was funny and clever, there were many moments that actually deeply scared me. I can name at least three episodes that have given me nightmares. It ran for four seasons, and each season contained 13 episodes. It had been cancelled, for reasons you will conclude while reading. However, it still airs in re-runs. Nevertheless, Courage the Cowardly Dog was my favorite show, and it stayed that way. Well, up until about a month ago.

I was at a local thrift store up in Traverse City, Michigan, about thirty minutes away from my house. My little cousin was going to visit in a few days, so I was looking through their VCR tapes. I was hoping to find the old Disney movie "Aladdin", so we could watch it together. While nosing through the tape collection, struggling to find the movie I desired, I came across an old, dusty VCR tape without a case. On the front, it had a piece of tape and the words "CtCD S4 E14" scribbled on it rather hastily with black sharpie marker.

I immediately presumed that "CTCD" meant "Courage the Cowardly Dog", having heard it being abbreviated like that various times. Of what I knew, there were only 13 episodes in each season, so I thought that I might have missed this episode. Eager to watch it, I bought the tape for $2.99 and quickly left, forgetting to purchase the Disney movie that I had came there for.

Once I arrived at my small apartment, I quickly popped the tape into my VCR and sat in front of the television, just like I had when I was a kid. The screen jumped around for a second, then cut to the familiar intro like always. You know, with the nagging voice of the news reporter on the old-fashioned wooden television, and so forth.

Nostalgia hit me like a brick to the face, and I smiled. Memories of the old show flooded into my brain. Even so, something seemed... wrong. The tape's tint appeared to be darker than usual, the visual was choppy and bulky, and the sound was a little disoriented. I assumed that it was from the poor condition the tape was kept in, and shrugged it off. Once the intro ended, the title card appeared. Only, it seemed strange...disturbing... morbid. Even more than usual.

There was a poor quality oil-painting of what seemed to be Jason Voorhees, with his hockey-mask and chainsaw. On the chainsaw and his dark plaid shirt were spashes of blood. In what seemed to be in scarlet red handwritten crayon, were the words "Massacre Matt". This dumbfounded me. I knew that the show had a dark setting, but not this dark or gruesome. I wondered why I had not seen this episodes before, when I recalled factually that I had watched every episode in the series. I continued on watching, even though the back of my mind told me not to.

The scene hastily cut to the inside of Courage's home. Static interrupted the screen for a few moments, but it quickly returned. It was very poor quality and darker than the usual episode... as if it was meant to be like that. Muriel had visible wrinkles and looked very depressed, slowly rocking back in forth in her wooden rocking chair. Eustice had his traditional scowl sewn onto his face, reading the newspaper. Courage was on the floor of the house, looking very sad. He was shaking with red eyes, as if he was crying earlier. He seemed thinner than usual; his ribs were easily seen through his pink fur, as if he had not been fed in a while. An eerie silence laid upon the scene for about thirty seconds. The only sound heard was Muriel's chair rocking.