Master Gracey

**Master Gracey** is a character from the Haunted Mansion.

## History

### Background

   Master Gracey was the presumed owner of the Haunted Mansion, a stately antebellum mansion in the French quarters of New Orleans that was built at some point in the latter-18th or 19th century. Master Gracey presumably held a high rank amongst the family that held the mansion though the patriarch of this family was one, "Grandpa Marc" until his demise. Master Gracey was a handsome man though is believed to have harboured a horrendously dark side which would be posthumously reflected in a portrait of him hung within the mansion.

He would come to be laid to rest but seemingly by his own acceptance, leaving his epitaph as,"*Master Gracey laid to rest No mourning please at his request Farewell*". The manor he owned would come to be an infamously haunted location, inhabited by 999 spirits from all over the world.

#### Alternate versions

##### Ghost Gallery

In the non-cannon but influential *Ghost Gallery*, Master Gracey was combined with the character of the Ghost Host under the name of **George Gracey, Jr.**. Here he was the son of George Sr. and Mary Gracey and inherited the Gracey estate after his mother fled the country. He was obsessed with the occult and ultimately died of suicide to avoid the curse of his lover Madame Leota.

##### SLG Comics

In these comics, Master Gracey was again made a composite character with the Ghost Host but also Captain Gore. In these comics he was a sailor named **William Gracey** who mutinied against his cruel merchant captain Randall Pace who he decapitated. He subsequently became a pirate-captain under the moniker of **Captain Blood** who acquired a fortune in blood-money that he used to retire in New Orleans where he built the manor. He would fall in-love with a woman named Emily DeClaire who he became engaged to only for her to die on her wedding-night when Madame Leota summoned the spirit of Randall Pace. Following this doomed wedding, Master Gracey commit suicide in the manor's cupola by hanging himself. He subsequently had his soul trapped in the Haunted Mansion with it only being able to be freed when 1000 spirits would inhabit the manor.

##### 2003 film

In the critically and commercially panned film cannon, **Edward Gracey** was the only surviving son of George and Abigail and story's analogue to Master Gracey (with elements of the Ghost Host). He fell in love with a woman named Elizabeth Henshaw who he intended to marry only for her to supposedly die of suicide by drinking poisoned wine. In reality she was victim of a racially motivated murder by Edward's butler and guardian Ramsley. This lead to Edward committing suicide in the manor by hanging himself in the cupola.

For unclear reasons this resulted in Gracey (and 998 other souls) becoming trapped in the mansion until Gracey married Elizabeth. Elizabeth's ghost resided in the mansion's attic although apparently after a century of being stuck in the mansion and desperately needing to find one another, the spirits never reunited for unclear reasons. Eventually Edward became aware of Elizabeth's reincarnation(?) Sara Evers who inexplicably looked identical to Sara while apparently not being related to her nor being a vessel for her soul. Ramsley and Edward subsequently kidnapped Sara to marry until she was rescued by her husband Jim who exposed Ramsley's crimes before Ramsley was (once again inexplicably) dragged to hell by a fire-dragon.

After this Sara and Edward reunited and made off for heaven along with the other ghosts; except for Madame Leota and the Singing Busts who stayed on Earth (again, without reason or explanation).

### Development History

The name and position of Master Gracey came from a miscommunication between imagineers and Disney Parks goers regarding a tombstone which read, "*Master Gracey laid to rest No mourning please at his request Farewell*". This tombstone was a tribute to late-imagineer Yale Gracey with the term, "Master" being used to imply that the fictitious character was too young to be referred to as, "Mister". The importance of the tomb was emphasized by cast-members leaving roses on Master Gracey's tombstone to honour Yale Gracey who was murdered alongside his wife. Despite this, ride-goers and cast-members read the tombstone as implying that Gracey was the master of the Haunted Mansion itself and that he was head of the family. Though not the original intention, this came to be incorporated into cannon, semi-official sources, official details and a large number of stories.

Master Gracey became intrinsically linked to a portrait hung in the foyer of the Haunted Mansion which portrays a young man aging and decaying into a monstrous undead skeleton. This portrait was originally intended to represent the literary character of **Dorian Gray** from Oscar Wilde's gothic supernatural novel *The Picture of Dorian Gray*. In said novel, Dorian Gray was a vain, young, hedonistic aristocrat who made a faustian bargain to have all of his internal evils be reflected on a portrait while his mortal form stayed young and handsome for eternity. This subsequently resulting in Dorian severing his ties with other people and committing atrocious crimes such as murder before destroying the painting, causing all the evils to be reflected on his physical form before dying.

Master Gracey is also frequently misidentified as being, "The Ghost Host" who is a prominent character in the Haunted Mansion separate from Master Gracey. Noticeable differences between the two including how Master Gracey and the Ghost Host have portraits showing them as being clearly different people (Master Gracey is brunette while Ghost Host is blonde, Master Gracey had blue eyes while the Ghost Host had heterochromia, etc.) and how the Ghost Host's corpse remains in the Haunted Mansion's cupola while Master Gracey's corpse is in the manor's family-plot.

## Appearances and allusions

### The Haunted Mansion

   In the exterior queue for Walt Disney World and Disneyland's Haunted Mansions contain tombstones dedicated to Master Gracey amongst the other tombstone's for the mansion's late-family. A rose is placed upon Master Gracey's tombstone every morning by the manor's servants and in Disney World it holds its own separate plot in the cemetery.

In the foyer for Walt Disney World's mansion, Master Gracey's tombstone is hung over a fireplace where it slowly ages and rots into a skeleton with glowing green eyes before the tours proceed. In Disneyland, the portrait is situated in the portrait corridor where it replaced the portrait of one, "April-December" and turns into a skeleton when lightning flashes.

### Disney Kingdoms

Master Gracey's portrait makes a minor appearance in the portrait corridor in these comics.

## Connections

### Skipper Canteen

In the *Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen* is a book titled *Tales of the Supernatural* by, "Gracey" in reference to Master Gracey's surname and its affiliation with the Haunted Mansion. It is unknown if this is written by Master Gracey himself or a member of his clan.

### Tower of Terror

Master Gracey's mansion would go on to become property of George Hightower and his bride Constance Hatchaway, both members of the Hightower family which included Harrison Hightower III of Hotel Hightower.

## Trivia

* The portrait of Henry Ravenswood in Phantom Manor is inspired by Master Gracey's portrait in the Haunted Mansion.