1999

2009Creepypasta / internet horror fictionclassic

Also known as: Mr. Bear's Cellar · Caledon Local 21

1999 is a 2009 creepypasta about a disturbing public access TV channel called Caledon Local 21, hosted by the unsettling character Mr. Bear.

1999 is a creepypasta story about a fictional public access TV channel called "Caledon Local 21" that aired disturbing children's programming hosted by a man in a bear costume known as Mr. Bear1. First posted in November 2009 on the Slack & LaLane blog, the story is told from the perspective of a young man recalling his childhood memories of watching the channel as a five-year-old in 19992. It became one of the most well-known creepypastas for its slow-burn horror and unsettling cliffhanger ending.

creepypasta memeshorror memeslost episode creepypastapublic access tv memescollaborative fiction memes

Overview

1999 is a long-form creepypasta written as a first-person memoir. The narrator describes how, as a kindergartener in Ontario, Canada, he discovered a low-budget public access channel on an old TV his father bought him1. The channel, Caledon Local 21, broadcast between 4:00 PM and 9:00 PM and featured a handful of poorly produced shows, most notably *Mr. Bear's Cellar*, a program where a man in a ratty bear mascot costume invited children into his basement2.

What makes the story effective is its gradual reveal. The narrator starts by describing what seemed like harmless, if weird, kids' TV. But as he recounts later episodes and revisits his memories as an adult, the true nature of Mr. Bear and his show becomes clear: Mr. Bear was luring children through the broadcast, and later episodes depicted increasingly disturbing content, including what appeared to be children being harmed1.

The story first appeared in November 2009 on the Slack & LaLane blog, a site that typically posted comedy content1. The post was introduced with a note acknowledging the site's usual comedic tone: "Since the last story like this was so well-received, we had to do another one. Remember, this is all fiction"1. The author's identity was never publicly confirmed, with only a Gmail address (slacklalane@gmail.com) provided for contact1.

The narrative is set in the late 1990s in the area around Caledon, Ontario. The narrator explains that he was five years old and obsessed with Pokémon, which his father watched the news over. To stop the complaints, his dad bought a second TV for the boy's room, a small set with rabbit ears that only received about 20 channels1. Channel 21 turned out to be broadcasting Caledon Local 21, a station the narrator would come to deeply regret discovering2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Slack & LaLane blog (slack-lalane.blogspot.com)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2009

The story first appeared in November 2009 on the Slack & LaLane blog, a site that typically posted comedy content. The post was introduced with a note acknowledging the site's usual comedic tone: "Since the last story like this was so well-received, we had to do another one. Remember, this is all fiction". The author's identity was never publicly confirmed, with only a Gmail address (slacklalane@gmail.com) provided for contact.

The narrative is set in the late 1990s in the area around Caledon, Ontario. The narrator explains that he was five years old and obsessed with Pokémon, which his father watched the news over. To stop the complaints, his dad bought a second TV for the boy's room, a small set with rabbit ears that only received about 20 channels. Channel 21 turned out to be broadcasting Caledon Local 21, a station the narrator would come to deeply regret discovering.

How It Spread

After its initial posting on the Slack & LaLane blog, the story was picked up and reposted across major creepypasta repositories. Creepypasta.com hosted a full version of the story along with an editorial introduction that praised its slow-building dread and compared Mr. Bear to characters like Barney the Dinosaur and Bear in the Big Blue House, but with sinister undertones.

The story gained traction in creepypasta communities during the early 2010s as readers shared it across forums, Reddit, and YouTube narration channels. Its structure, a seemingly innocent childhood memory that unravels into something horrifying, fit perfectly into the creepypasta tradition of corrupting nostalgia. The cliffhanger ending, where the narrator discovers an email address supposedly belonging to Mr. Bear and considers making contact, kept readers speculating and discussing the story long after reading it.

1999 earned a place among highly regarded creepypastas alongside stories like Jeff the Killer, BEN Drowned, and The Russian Sleep Experiment. Its reputation rested on the believability of its premise: a small-town public access channel with barely any viewers, operating just below the radar of anyone who might intervene.

How to Use This Meme

1999 isn't a meme template in the traditional sense. It's typically shared as a reading recommendation or referenced in discussions about the best creepypastas. Common ways people engage with it include:

- Reading and sharing the full story on creepypasta sites or blogs - YouTube narrations where creators perform dramatic readings of the text - Fan art and fan fiction depicting Mr. Bear, his cellar set, or scenes from the described episodes - Discussion threads debating the story's ending or speculating about what happened to the narrator - "Iceberg" charts where 1999 often appears in mid-to-deep tiers of creepypasta knowledge

The story is often brought up when someone asks for creepypasta recommendations, particularly for stories that don't rely on jump scares or graphic violence but instead build unease through implication.

Cultural Impact

1999 helped establish a specific subgenre of creepypasta focused on corrupted children's media. The premise of a seemingly normal kids' show hiding something sinister inspired numerous other stories and eventually fed into broader trends like the "lost episode" creepypasta format. Stories like Squidward's Suicide and Candle Cove followed similar territory, presenting fictional accounts of disturbing television content.

The story's setting in a real Ontario town (Caledon) and its references to real cultural touchpoints like Pokémon and TVO Kids gave it a grounding that many creepypastas lacked. Readers in the Greater Toronto Area found the specificity especially unsettling, since Caledon is a real municipality and public access channels of that era did operate with minimal oversight.

Creepypasta.com's editorial introduction noted the story's effectiveness at exploiting childhood innocence: "As a child there are some things you just don't see. You don't see the man beneath the bear suit, or that bears have teeth and claws".

Fun Facts

The narrator mentions that police questioned him specifically about *Mr. Bear's Cellar*, suggesting that authorities eventually investigated the channel.

The blog post included a disclaimer that the story was fiction, but the first-person memoir style led some early readers to believe it was real.

The story describes multiple shows on Caledon Local 21, including *Soup and Spoon*, a bizarre half-hour program filmed in what appeared to be the same basement as Mr. Bear's set.

The Slack & LaLane blog noted that a previous horror story had been "well-received," suggesting 1999 was written in response to reader demand for more scary content.

Frequently Asked Questions

1999

2009Creepypasta / internet horror fictionclassic

Also known as: Mr. Bear's Cellar · Caledon Local 21

1999 is a 2009 creepypasta about a disturbing public access TV channel called Caledon Local 21, hosted by the unsettling character Mr. Bear.

1999 is a creepypasta story about a fictional public access TV channel called "Caledon Local 21" that aired disturbing children's programming hosted by a man in a bear costume known as Mr. Bear. First posted in November 2009 on the Slack & LaLane blog, the story is told from the perspective of a young man recalling his childhood memories of watching the channel as a five-year-old in 1999. It became one of the most well-known creepypastas for its slow-burn horror and unsettling cliffhanger ending.

creepypasta memes horror memes lost episode creepypasta public access tv memes collaborative fiction memes

Overview

1999 is a long-form creepypasta written as a first-person memoir. The narrator describes how, as a kindergartener in Ontario, Canada, he discovered a low-budget public access channel on an old TV his father bought him. The channel, Caledon Local 21, broadcast between 4:00 PM and 9:00 PM and featured a handful of poorly produced shows, most notably *Mr. Bear's Cellar*, a program where a man in a ratty bear mascot costume invited children into his basement.

What makes the story effective is its gradual reveal. The narrator starts by describing what seemed like harmless, if weird, kids' TV. But as he recounts later episodes and revisits his memories as an adult, the true nature of Mr. Bear and his show becomes clear: Mr. Bear was luring children through the broadcast, and later episodes depicted increasingly disturbing content, including what appeared to be children being harmed.

The story first appeared in November 2009 on the Slack & LaLane blog, a site that typically posted comedy content. The post was introduced with a note acknowledging the site's usual comedic tone: "Since the last story like this was so well-received, we had to do another one. Remember, this is all fiction". The author's identity was never publicly confirmed, with only a Gmail address (slacklalane@gmail.com) provided for contact.

The narrative is set in the late 1990s in the area around Caledon, Ontario. The narrator explains that he was five years old and obsessed with Pokémon, which his father watched the news over. To stop the complaints, his dad bought a second TV for the boy's room, a small set with rabbit ears that only received about 20 channels. Channel 21 turned out to be broadcasting Caledon Local 21, a station the narrator would come to deeply regret discovering.

Origin & Background

Platform
Slack & LaLane blog (slack-lalane.blogspot.com)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2009

The story first appeared in November 2009 on the Slack & LaLane blog, a site that typically posted comedy content. The post was introduced with a note acknowledging the site's usual comedic tone: "Since the last story like this was so well-received, we had to do another one. Remember, this is all fiction". The author's identity was never publicly confirmed, with only a Gmail address (slacklalane@gmail.com) provided for contact.

The narrative is set in the late 1990s in the area around Caledon, Ontario. The narrator explains that he was five years old and obsessed with Pokémon, which his father watched the news over. To stop the complaints, his dad bought a second TV for the boy's room, a small set with rabbit ears that only received about 20 channels. Channel 21 turned out to be broadcasting Caledon Local 21, a station the narrator would come to deeply regret discovering.

How It Spread

After its initial posting on the Slack & LaLane blog, the story was picked up and reposted across major creepypasta repositories. Creepypasta.com hosted a full version of the story along with an editorial introduction that praised its slow-building dread and compared Mr. Bear to characters like Barney the Dinosaur and Bear in the Big Blue House, but with sinister undertones.

The story gained traction in creepypasta communities during the early 2010s as readers shared it across forums, Reddit, and YouTube narration channels. Its structure, a seemingly innocent childhood memory that unravels into something horrifying, fit perfectly into the creepypasta tradition of corrupting nostalgia. The cliffhanger ending, where the narrator discovers an email address supposedly belonging to Mr. Bear and considers making contact, kept readers speculating and discussing the story long after reading it.

1999 earned a place among highly regarded creepypastas alongside stories like Jeff the Killer, BEN Drowned, and The Russian Sleep Experiment. Its reputation rested on the believability of its premise: a small-town public access channel with barely any viewers, operating just below the radar of anyone who might intervene.

How to Use This Meme

1999 isn't a meme template in the traditional sense. It's typically shared as a reading recommendation or referenced in discussions about the best creepypastas. Common ways people engage with it include:

- Reading and sharing the full story on creepypasta sites or blogs - YouTube narrations where creators perform dramatic readings of the text - Fan art and fan fiction depicting Mr. Bear, his cellar set, or scenes from the described episodes - Discussion threads debating the story's ending or speculating about what happened to the narrator - "Iceberg" charts where 1999 often appears in mid-to-deep tiers of creepypasta knowledge

The story is often brought up when someone asks for creepypasta recommendations, particularly for stories that don't rely on jump scares or graphic violence but instead build unease through implication.

Cultural Impact

1999 helped establish a specific subgenre of creepypasta focused on corrupted children's media. The premise of a seemingly normal kids' show hiding something sinister inspired numerous other stories and eventually fed into broader trends like the "lost episode" creepypasta format. Stories like Squidward's Suicide and Candle Cove followed similar territory, presenting fictional accounts of disturbing television content.

The story's setting in a real Ontario town (Caledon) and its references to real cultural touchpoints like Pokémon and TVO Kids gave it a grounding that many creepypastas lacked. Readers in the Greater Toronto Area found the specificity especially unsettling, since Caledon is a real municipality and public access channels of that era did operate with minimal oversight.

Creepypasta.com's editorial introduction noted the story's effectiveness at exploiting childhood innocence: "As a child there are some things you just don't see. You don't see the man beneath the bear suit, or that bears have teeth and claws".

Fun Facts

The narrator mentions that police questioned him specifically about *Mr. Bear's Cellar*, suggesting that authorities eventually investigated the channel.

The blog post included a disclaimer that the story was fiction, but the first-person memoir style led some early readers to believe it was real.

The story describes multiple shows on Caledon Local 21, including *Soup and Spoon*, a bizarre half-hour program filmed in what appeared to be the same basement as Mr. Bear's set.

The Slack & LaLane blog noted that a previous horror story had been "well-received," suggesting 1999 was written in response to reader demand for more scary content.

Frequently Asked Questions