| Type | Resort and Comedy Club |
| Location | Lake Yew Dont |
| Owner(s) | Larry Douglas |
| Featured in | Tales from the Crypt (1950) |
- “Ingles: How's the food in this place, huh?”
“Morty: Don't ask.” - ―Ingles & Morty on the Nautical Club
The Nautical Club Resort is a lakeside resort best known for its attractive comedy club and unforgettable ventriloquist acts. It is featured in the 1950 horror anthology comic book series Tales from the Crypt by EC Comics, having first appeared in the story "The Ventriloquist's Dummy" from issue #28, as well as its 1990 television adaptation of the same name.
Overview[]
The Nautical Club's own comedy club, the Nautical Room
The Nautical Club Resort was a lakeside retreat offering a serene escape and a barrel of laughs. The resort boasted over 34 cozy cabins, providing comfortable accommodations for guests. For those seeking adventure on the water, the resort's boat house offered rentals for fishing, or simply exploring the lake.
The Nautical Club's manager, Larry Douglas
The heart of the resort was the Nautical Room, a vibrant comedy club and dining hall. Guests could savor decent meals while enjoying the talents of stand-up comedians and showgirls. The Nautical Room also featured Amateur Nights, giving aspiring entertainers a chance to showcase their skills, although amateur nights wouldn't exactly be crowd pleasers, prompting the resort's staff to always bring up showgirls with large breasts to keep customers from protesting too much. And for a nightcap or a pre-show drink, the second-floor bar offered a fully stocked selection of spirits and an opportunity for a night of dangerous romance.
Behind the curtain of laughs and glamour at the resort though lay a dark secret, mainly concerning the Nautical Club's most famous performers, Morty the Dummy and his Ventriloquists.
History[]
The Nautical Club's former stars, Charles J. Ingles & Morty during their glory days
When or how the Nautical Club Resort was first established is not known, what is known is that during its early years, the famed ventriloquist Charles Jerome Ingles got his start here thanks to his manager Larry Douglas, and Ingles quickly became the resort's biggest attraction alongside his 'partner' Morty the Dummy, with both always drawing in large crowds eager to hear their witty banter and deprecating humor.
Under unknown circumstances, the first Nautical Club was burned down
During one ominous night, one of their more famous performances drew the attention of a bright-eyed young boy who became amazed by their performance, the lad being known as Billy Goldman who after witnessing the act swore to become a ventriloquist himself. Sadly, that very same night would be the last time Ingles and Morty would perform together as the resort would burn down under mysterious circumstances that led to the death of one of the resort's showgirls who was last seen asking Ingles out on a date before her passing. The incident also supposedly burned Ingles' right hand beyond repair, the hand which he used for Morty, leading to the end his career.
Despite these grim circumstances, the resort would eventually be rebuilt fifteen years later and Larry Douglas would assume ownership of the resort. Larry Douglas made several futile attempts to contact his old friend Charles, knowing that the legendary ventriloquist's skill was too great to leave forgotten, but the retired ventriloquist refused to go back on stage again due to the loss of his prized hand.
On one fateful day, Billy Goldman, the young man who had once been inspired by Ingles, sought out his childhood hero to invite him to his big debut at the resort, as Goldman had followed in Ingles' footsteps in the hopes of becoming a great ventriloquist as well. However, Ingles was less than enthusiastic about being reminded of his past, and cruelly told Billy to get lost, but at the last minute had a change of heart as Billy told him of how much of an impact he had on the boy's life, prompting Ingles to reconsider Billy's offer.
On the night of Billy's big debut though, his ventriloquist act proved to be disastrous, as everyone present in the Nautical Room openly heckled Billy's pitiful performance, an experience that was made all the more worse for Billy as Mr. Ingles witnessed the whole thing. However, Ingles sympathized with Billy and the failures he experienced, even offering him some constructive criticism, but Billy, having lost his confidence, decided to quit from showbiz for good as he left the resort utterly dejected. Unknown to Billy, shortly after leaving the Nautical Club, Ingles was approached and flirted with by one of the club's showgirls, much like the one who had approached him 15 years ago, and while he was initially hesitant to approach her, a sudden urge came over him as his right hand began to twitch, compelling him to ask her out, leading to a night that would unfortunately be remembered.
Tragically, the showgirl's dead body was soon found not too far from the club in an abandoned car by Billy Goldman and two other witnesses, with the showgirl having had her throat torn out while the air around the car reeked of flammable gas. Based on what the witnesses described, Billy quickly realized that it had been Ingles who was responsible for the deed and sought out his idol to confront him.
Finding Ingles injecting himself with morphine, the disillusioned Billy knocked the needled from his hand and grabbed him, accusing him of the showgirl's death and of burning down the resort fifteen years ago. Ingles though denied having killed the girl but admitted to the fires, with Ingles explaining that it had in fact been none other than his own dummy Morty who committed the deed due to his intense lust towards women and his hatred for not being able to have normal relationships with them. A skeptical Billy assumed that Ingles had gone insane, and believing he needed medical help, Ingles flew into a rage and began attacking Billy and coaxed him into looking inside the chest where he supposedly kept the Morty dummy, but once Morty opened the chest, he soon realized that the dummy had no head, prompting Ingles to reveal that Morty was in fact his conjoined brother attached to his right arm, horrifying Billy as Ingles unwrapped his bandaged hand to reveal Morty's hideous visage, with the duo having taken up showbiz as a ventriloquist team so as to avoid being labeled freaks, with Ingles acting as the puppeteer while Morty wrote the jokes.
- “Ingles: Look! Look! Look at it! That's right, a mask! Morty's like me. He's real! He's flesh and blood! In fact, morty is my brother! Ha ha ha! My brother!”
“Morty: Here's morty!”
“Ingles: We were born like this. I guess we were meant to be twins, but nature can work in a cruel way sometimes. But rather than going through life as freaks, we decided on a career in show business!”
“Morty: Yeah. We decided to put our heads together. That's a joke, son. I don't see you laughing!” - ―Ingles & Morty on their cruel fate
Ingles and Morty reveal their true nature
Morty naturally had a strong influence over Ingles' body, which is what led to the use of morphine to keep Morty sedated, but without the morphine to calm him down, Morty tried to have his brother murder the helpless Billy. Fortunately, Billy's words of encouragement were able to reach Ingles, allowing him to overpower Morty's influence and giving him the chance to cut him off from his arm, seemingly killing Morty, a horrific sight that was witnessed by Billy (and a concerned Douglas from afar who went for help), finally freeing Ingles of the torment. Sadly for both, the severed Morty was still very much alive as a heinous parasite who swiftly killed his own brother by tearing out his throat and attempted to do the same to Billy.
Fortunately, Billy was able to overpower the 'inbred cabbage patch kid' and almost had him torn to bits in a meat grinder, but Morty was able to convince Billy to spare him, promising that he would give Billy all the material he would need to make him famous. Billy's temptation got the best of him and he agreed to the mutant parasite's deal. Larry Douglas would later discover Charles' dead body and knew the parasitic brother had been responsible, going on to take care of his old partner's remains.
Billy & Morty's new partnership soon goes horribly wrong as Morty merges with Billy
Some time after Ingles' death, Billy and Morty became the new stars of the Nautical Club, even having a prosperous career in Vegas for a time, with Morty having seemingly kept his deal and giving Billy the jokes and fame he had promised. However, during a return show at the club, their new partnership soon went south once Morty's lust got the better of him, causing the two to violently argue once more, with Billy threatening to put Morty back in the meat grinder, but Billy soon realized that would no longer be possible as the parasitic Morty had now fused with Billy's right-hand, causing the audience to scream in horror at the gruesome sight as they fled the club, likely ruining any future they might've had in showbiz, or at least the Nautical Club.
Following the ghastly incident at the Nautical Club, the tale of Morty would be one of many gruesome stories preserved by the fiendish storytellers, the Old Witch and the Crypt Keeper.
Trivia[]
- There are several differences between the comic and TV adaptations of the events surrounding the resort.
- Originally within the comic, the story was a part of the collection of tales belonging to the Old Witch, one of the Crypt Keeper's fellow 'GhouLunatics'.
- The ventriloquist is named Charles Jerome in the comic and Mr. Ingles in the TV adaptation.
- In the comic, it is Larry Douglas (the owner of the resort) who tries to get Jerome/Ingles out of retirement and who sees Morty's true nature, while in the TV adaptation it is Jerome/Ingles' fan Billy Goldman who carries out Douglas's role.
- In the comic, Jerome and Morty "split up the act" outdoors, while in the TV adaptation they "split up" at Mr. Ingles' private bungalow.