Long-forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect?

[HBG2]

Originally Posted by GRD999

I wouldn't go as far as saying that he is the owner there HBG2.

That's why I said, "arguably." It's not a slam dunk, but it is at least plausible. He carries a sense of authority, and some of his lines suggest something close to ownership ("All our ghosts have been dying to meet you...," "They'll be expecting me..."). On the other hand, a line like "We find it delightfully livable here in this ghostly retreat" might suggest that he, too, is a tenant rather than owner.

aashee, there is something to make the figure sway (either a fan blows him, or the rope is motorized up above the ceiling), and it is possible that this has been adjusted for more or less movement over the life of the HM, but that's about it. No dramatic drops or other big changes in the show there.

Chappie, that's it:


http://www.betterhaunts.com/ourgraveyards.html

As for the Hatchetman's portrait, again, I wouldn't get too literal. Remember the conventions of old-school portraiture, which allow the artist to violate chronology and to try to display in one picture the essence of someone's entire life and personality. If such a painting gets possessed, who knows where it can go from its original point of departure?

[GRD999]

The rope is swayed by a small pneumatic arm above the beam that holds the body. When the show programming starts, he starts to sway. It pushes the top of the assembly holding the rope back and forth which causes him to sway a bit.

[HBG2]

Hmm. Someone don't like us. We've dropped a star.

[fo'c's'le swab]

Originally Posted by HBG2

Hmm. Someone don't like us. We've dropped a star.

Holding Steady at Five again, Cap'n.

[RobotWolf]

The GH refers to himself as "Lord and Master of this Haunted Mansion" in one of the early versions of the spiel. I can't imagine a guest ghost or employee having that title. It would require too much backstory with no good purpose.

[GRD999]

Ah.... but that spiel isn't in the mansion... its unused... so therefore, doesn't really apply... WOO!

[HBG2]

...which brings up a good point. One of the fun things about pawing through concept art and unused materials is not just what made it in, but what got left behind. Some of the stuff that didn't go in was pretty awful, IMO. Paul Frees doing his Peter Lorre and Bela Legosi schtick. Worse, Eleanor Audley's raven stuff is really cringeworthy, "a disgrace to the forces of evil" (to cop an Eleanor line taken from a different context). Hardcore HM fans know that they were planning to have a talking raven helping out with the dialogue, until very late in the game. You can hear what it would have sounded like by listening to the "Story and Song" LP and to various audio outtakes on HM CD's. GRD did a blog about the raven planned for the foyer (http://ghostrelationsdept.blogspot.c.../caw-caw.html).

Dunno. Maybe they would have pulled it off...but frankly, I'm SO GLAD this idea got scrapped.

[GRD999]

The raven was supposed to be everywhere in the mansion. In the foyer, stretch room, load area on one of the newell posts and so forth. He was everywhere! lol

[HBG2]

GRD, while I've got you here, do you know who did this concept art? I guessed Coates in an earlier post, but no one confirmed or denied. Whoever he was, he may deserve the credit for creating the organ banshee/blast-up face:

[Walt Jr.]

This discussion is really interesting! The Ghost Host is the corpse who was hung, yet the photo shows him (Or his spirit) chopping it. Does that mean shortly after Constance got him or should the corpse and photo be completely separate? The clothes are very similar in color and texture, but it still doesn't make sense if the ghost host a husband!

[GRD999]

Well, there is always the idea that once it was dark he could have chopped himself down... dunno... its all up in the air.

As for that concept art, its a piece from the 80's I believe, around the time when they came out with the wandering knight in the Corridor. The organ banshee face in it was just reusing other props in the mansion already. So, sadly, its not something that was created from the art.

[Chapter13]

Hmmm...we're holding a 4.64% average, which isn't "5" in my book

[HBG2]

Originally Posted by Walt Jr.

This discussion is really interesting! The Ghost Host is the corpse who was hung, yet the photo shows him (Or his spirit) chopping it. Does that mean shortly after Constance got him or should the corpse and photo be completely separate? The clothes are very similar in color and texture, but it still doesn't make sense if the ghost host a husband!

What's clear is that (1) Hatchetman and GH are the same, and that (2) GH hung himself and rotted into a skeleton. The picture of him cut down and apparently healthy should therefore be taken as yet another eerie, transformed portrait, which symbolically depicts his liberation and "new life" after death. That's what I make of it. Whether or not he's the HM's owner, and whether or not he's another of Connie's husbands, are much more speculative points.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

77 pages on this thread? Obviously whatever you're talking about is not long forgotten.

[hollywood1939]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaAdventurer

77 pages on this thread? Obviously whatever you're talking about is not long forgotten.

I'm on page 37!

And really, I've learned loads from this thread, keep it up!