Mickey looked up towards the hulking manor, puzzling his mind. He was thankful that some of the other heroes who joined them decided to stay behind at Halloween Town. The world was remote enough from the rest of Disney, so it would take a while for the Horned King's forces to arrive. They could set up a temporary base of operations until they found a better place to set up camp. Even still, Elsa, Anna and Rapunzel were all capable of handling themselves, but they felt it was best to stay and watch after their homes for now. The same was for Belle, who thought that Prince Adam would be much more suited to the danger that lay ahead. Mickey sincerely hoped that they would continue to help the group, maybe even rejoin them later on in their quest. Only time would tell, but Mickey was confident that whatever they decided to do, they did it because they knew it was the right choice for them. His thoughts were interrupted suddenly by Jack's triumphant call, followed by him stretching out his limbs to form a bridge. That was the Pumpkin King for you. Always full of surprises. "Good work, Jack. Come on everyone, the rain'll wash away the mud." Mickey called out over the thunder and rain as he marched up Jack's bone-bridge. When the group reached the top of the hill, the size of the mansion became apparent to them. It was massive, at least 13 stories (despite most buildings skipping that floor, the ghosts felt that it was a required addition to their hauntingly nice abode).
Mickey raised the lantern and approached the large front door. Grabbing the demonic knockers, he began to slam them against the cold black iron door. No answer. He tried once again. Nobody came to the door. It didn't budge, not one bit. Shifting uncomfortably where he stood, Mickey looked at the group and pointed a finger to his left. "Its no use, the ghosts won't let us in for some reason. We're gonna have to go through the Phantom Canyon, then cross to the Endless Graveyard. From there, we can enter the the back garden. I know a few ghosts who'll help us get into the mansion from there." explained Mickey as he crossed over from the doorway and started to head off towards the giant chasm in the hill. As they trudged on towards the chasm, Mickey looked around curiously, almost as if he was trying to find something. With a flash of lightning, Mickey looked up towards the roof of the mansion and narrowed his eyes in displeasure. Atop the old and decaying roof, was the silhouette of a man with a cape and top hat. His hands were boney and carrying something large, like some kind of circular box. Suddenly, the skies echoed with a horrible cackle, which even for the brave of heart, would have instilled a tremendous sense of fear in them. Just as soon as the lightning stuck, it vanished. By the next strike, the silhouette was gone, having either jumped off the roof or vanished from its spot.
Before anyone could speak, Mickey chimed in again. "He knows we're here. The Phantom... Or, better known as the "Hat Box Ghost" to most people who've heard of the mansion. He's the reason the mansion is haunted in the first place and its famously known he despises mortals." explained Mickey as the walked along, keeping his eyes open for any signs of the Phantom. Knowing that very grew of the group would understand what he was talking about, Mickey cleared his throat and started to tell the dreaded tale of the Haunted Mansion. "Long ago, there was a mining town known as Thunder Mesa. The human settlers here found wealth and riches far beyond any that the land of Disney had seen before. But, it was all stored deep within the abandoned mine inside Big Thunder Mountain, hence why the town was built around the mountain. At the head of this team of miners, was Henry Ravenswood. He was the one who founded the Thunder Mesa Mining Company and eventually, Thunder Mesa. Ravenswood got rich from the mine and eventually built a Victorian Manor atop Boot Hill: which we now call the Haunted Mansion. Henry built that manor along with his best friend and partner, Edward Gracey, and the two of them shared the home. Master Gracey married a woman named Constance Hatchaway, while Master Ravenswood married Amelia Leota, otherwise known as Madame Leota. The Gracey's never had children, but the Ravenswood's had a baby girl named Melanie.
As time passed and Melanie grew from a little girl into a beautiful woman. In this time, the gold inside Big Thunder Mountain ran out and Ravenswood was getting nervous about losing his wealth. Commanding his men to dig deeper into the mountain forced the Natives to act. They demanded that his operations cease or he would anger the Thunder Bird, a powerful spirit they believed dwelled in Thunder Mountain that protected a legendary treasure. It was said that whoever disturbed the spirit would incur its wrath. Ravenswood wouldn't believe any of this, so his men only dug deeper. While the miners continued mining, Melanie met and fell in love with a local train conductor. They planned to run away together and build a home of their own once they were married. While Ravenswood didn't approve of his daughter's choice, he only wished for her happiness. However, Master Gracey had different plans. Gracey had secretly followed the conductor and discovered he was actually a bandit who wished to murder the family and take their wealth. As he returned to the Mansion to warn Henry, Gracey discovered that Constance was actually married to the train conductor and worked with him. She was known as "the Black Widow", with a record of "marrying" rich men and murdering them. Before he could have a chance to escape, Constance promptly decapitated Gracey. The marriage was to go as planned and both Constance and the train conductor-bandit would be rich. However, they hadn't planned on Leota being a psychic. She sensed that Gracey still roamed the earth, but was unable to make contact.
The marriage was to be held within days of his death, but Gracey would not have it that way. In the days that passed, Gracey did all he could to try and frighten off his murderess and her love before they could get away with their wicked scheme. When nothing worked, he decided to contact Madame Leota via her crystal ball. She allowed him to properly materialize and brought in Ravenswood to discuss the deception. Just as all was revealed about Constance and her bandit-lover, the Miner's had dug through the deepest part of the mountain. You could say that they dug their own graves, so to speak, because there was an Earthquake. The Thunder Bird had been awoken, and it was enraged. The Earthquake was so powerful, it swallowed Thunder Mesa entirely and killed all within, including Madame Leota and Henry Ravenswood.
Through the evenings before the night of the wedding, Melanie had been noticing that strange events occurred around the manor. Candlelights flickered, the air was deathly still, and she could hear hushed voices echoing through the halls. While Madame Leota tried materialized herself and Ravenswood, Gracey took matters into his own hands. He eventually found Constance, plotting to kill the bandit after Melanie was gone. With rage in his no-longer beating heart, Gracey appeared and tortured Constance until her heart exploded, ending her horrid cycle of murder once and for all. With one thief down, Madame Leota managed to materialize herself, Ravenswood, and all the deceased inhabitants of Thunder Mesa, including Constance. With all these spirits inhabiting the house, something seriously wrong was about to happen. Most of them demanded a peaceful rest, while some wished to remain in the world due to unfinished business. Before things got out of hand, Master Gracey and Master Ravenswood rounded up all the ghosts and began to decide wether they would stay or return. Ravenswood wanted to save his daughter, but because it took quite some time before even Master Gracey could materialize enough to interact with mortals, knew he wouldn't be able to make it. But, there was a change of plans before he could act.
Before the earthquake, there was an old man who lived in Thunder Mesa. He was a hermit of sorts, always looking through the garbage for food and clothes. Eventually, he discovered Master Gracey's body, which had been dumped into the lake after his death. The hermit took Gracey's clothes, figuring that the deceased man no longer required them. When the earthquake hit, the hermit fell into the deepest hole, but managed to survive the plummet. As he recovered from the fall, the ghosts of Thunder Mesa began to rise and eventually drove the hermit mad. Taking his own life by decapitating himself, the hermit found he was now a ghost like all the others. But he was different. He had taken his own life and as a result, was a much different type of ghost. He was vengeful, angry, and sinister. He could do things that no other ghost could such as teleport, he was permanently materialized and could interact with mortals, and perform almost any act with his ghost body. He was a Phantom, just as wicked and sinister as they came. His madness carried over from his mortal body and into the afterlife, making him unstable. He couldn't remember anything about himself except the fact he wore fancy clothes and had unique powers. He assumed that because he wore such clothes and had special abilities, he was the master of the Manor.
On the night of the wedding, Melanie sat in her room adorned in her wedding down. She had called guests from across the globe to the manor so that they could celebrate the newly wed couple. Despite their warnings and attempts to halt the bandit's plan, the ghosts of the Manor could only watch as the wedding began to unfold. However, at the ceremony, the groom never showed up. Heartbroken by this, Melanie waited in the dining hall until the conductor arrived. Master Gracey soon went to investigate the disappearance of the thief, only to discover the body of the man in the Attic. He had been hung by the neck, but he was not dropped: he was strangled by the rope, painfully, until he died. Holding the rope, was the Phantom, who demanded that "his house" be inhabited only by ghosts. In one quick action, the Phantom (and the ghosts who followed his views on mortals) released a barrage of death traps upon the party guests as they tried to exit the mansion. The bodies were buried, burned, or tossed into the chasm left behind from the earthquake, which is now Phantom Canyon.
The other ghosts managed to force him from the manor, but his spirit still lingers. Its the memory that keeps him alive, the fact that people know who he is and what he's done. But Melanie... Ah, poor girl. She never got to marry her "Prince charming", despite him being a dirty no-good thief. She spent years waiting for her future husband to return, never removing her wedding dress or dropping her bouquet in hopes that her beloved would come back. The sad thing is, her bandit husband actually never materialized as a ghost. He was laid to rest, content with his fate and how his life ended. At least in the end, he showed signs of remorse and guilt for his actions. But Melanie never got closure, and so she waited. Eventually, the mansion rotted and grew older as time went on and nobody was making sure it got proper upkeep. By now, all the ghosts had learned how to materialize and began allowing more creepy creeps from crypts all across the globe to come and live in the Mansion. Melanie passed away at the age of 98, but she didn't die of old age. She died of a broken heart, never finding her beloved. As a result, she still wanders the Mansion, hoping that her beloved lays within the rotting and decrepit walls, waiting for her. While she has learned the truth of what happened so long ago, she still seeks her beloved groom. The Phantom, finding this act of literately "undying" love quite humorous, allowed Melanie to live an isolated life without friends or family to console her while she withered away. Sickening, if you ask me. But they say that if you listen closely when you enter the grounds of the Mansion, you can still hear poor Melanie singing bittersweet songs of love once lost to the metronomic beating of her broken heart."
As Mickey finished his speech, the group had already passed through the abandoned old western town of Thunder Mesa, which was home to only rotting skeletons and corpses that were tossed from the Mansion. Mickey knew that the backstory of the mansion was long and most likely boring, but he felt that the group should've known the entire story. After all, if the Phantom knew they were here, he would definitely try to throw a few tricks and traps at them. The Mansion was always looking for a thousandth member, and any of them would be enough to fill the position. Up ahead, was the endless graveyard, where the faint sound of music could be heard. The ghosts were gathering for a "swinging wake" and making the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake. Mickey almost smiled at the sight of the ghostly ball and turned back to the group. "Everybody stay close. Most of these ghosts are frightfully sensitive to bright lights, so we should be able to clear a path right through the graveyard. Jack, they won't think twice about you because you're already dead, so perhaps you should be the one to join their chorus. After all, these Grim Grinning Ghosts came out to socialize, so they'll give us an easier time if we present ourselves as friends. I'll try to locate our Ghost Host once we're there."
