Dread Family

The Dread Family is a group of characters from the Walt Disney World version of the Haunted Mansion attraction.
==Background==
The Dread family consisted of a family of six members who owned the Haunted Mansion estate prior to their deaths. All six members of the Dread family died respectively each to gain family fortune through inheritance. The family members who died in order were:
*Uncle Jacob Dread: An aristocrat who was the first to die. Poisoned by Bertie.
*Bertie Dread: An animal hunter who served as an expert marksman. Killed by Florence with a pistol as revenge for killing Jacob.
*Aunt Florence McGriffin Dread: Jacob's honorable wife. Died after being suffocated in birdseed (specifically canary seed) by the twins Wellington and Forsythia.
*Wellington and Forsythia Dread: The two twins. Died when Maude killed them with a mallet when they were in their sleep.
*Cousin Maude: The last living member of the Dread family. Died after being burned to death when she was sleeping, due to the fact that she used matches as hairpins.
==Appearances==
===The Haunted Mansion===
Added on March 14, 2011, the interactive queue was installed with the Dread family in the Magic Kingdom version of the attraction. Each of the family members have six individual busts done in the style of a mystery game where guests use clues on the busts and epitaphs to find the mystery of which member became the first to die. Each bust has its own epitaph often said in rhymes to give guests clues about which one became first.
In the ride itself, a portrait of Cousin Maude is located next to Phineas who has an open case containing a said portrait of Maude who held a lit match with fire raging behind her, hinting that it alludes to the Maude's epitaph in the queue, likely to make this fate canon ending for a clue to figure out the mystery of the Dread family members on their own.
====Unused====
When the queue was in development, the Dread family was to include Whitfield Tarkington Dread and Ruben Dread, both members of the Dread family who were not featured as busts for unknown reasons. The epitaphs consisted different epitaphs for many members of the Dread family who appeared in the final version of the attraction, minus Whitfield and Ruben, compared to the queue used in the final version of the attraction.
The family members who died in order were:
*Jacob Dread: The tomb read on Jacob's epitaph stated that it gave more backstory on Jacob's fortune as the final version of the queue did not mention this. Additionally, his tomb did not mention his cause of death.
*Aunt Florence McGriffin Dread: The epitaph on Florence's grave states that she died having a "taste of her own medicine", implying that she died via poison rather than suffocation, suggesting that she is the one who poisoned herself to death.
*Wellington Dread: A member of the Dread family who would receive his own individual bust, unlike in the finalized version of the queue where the epitaph would have read "He was reigned in". Wellington's illustration depicts him holding a slingshot.
*Forsithia Dread: Unlike in the finalized version of the queue where her name was spelled with a "Y" instead of an "I", Forsythia's name was spelled differently. The epitaph states that she died in a fire in the unused version.
*Governess Maude Sweeny: This version of Maude would have been the governess to the children rather than being a direct member of the Dread family. The epitaph stated that she "found a snake in the grass", where a snake is seen wrapped around her head. 
*Ruben Dread: A large member of the Dread family who resembles the late Boris Karloff who held an axe and a candle. The epitaph would have said that Ruben just "got his desserts", implying that he died after eating desserts.
*Whitfield Tarkington Dread: A member of the Dread family who resembles Peter Cushing who worked as an apothecary, scientist, or physician. The epitaph on Whitfield's tomb would have stated that Wellington was the one who killed him with a slingshot as evidenced via picture.
==References==
==External links==
*Dread Family on Haunted Mansion Wiki.
Category:The Haunted Mansion characters
Category:Males
Category:Females
Category:Villains
Category:Deceased characters
Category:Theme park characters
Category:Disney characters
Category:Twins and Triplets
Category:Families