Sam McKim concept art associated with this period in the Haunted Mansion's development.
The Gore Mansion was the name of the house in some of Ken Anderson's early concepts in the 1950s for a Disneyland haunted attraction.
History[]
Concept art by Ken Anderson of a portrait of Priscilla and Captain Gore
Concept art by Ken Anderson
Gore Mansion was once owned by Captain Gorelieu, a bloodthirsty pirate captain who retired in the city of New Orleans and obtained the manor through his mansion through a fortune in blood-money. In around 1810, the captain brought his young bride Priscilla to live with him in the mansion.
One night, Priscilla discovered an old sea-chest which detailed how her groom was actually a pirate. Captain Gore proceeded by killing Priscilla however how he did so depends on the draft of the story; In one version he bricked her up behind a cellar wall or fireplace. In another version he locked her up in the very chest she discovered and threw the key in a well while in other tellings he threw the chest itself down the well to drown her.
After the murder, Priscilla's spirit tormented the sea-captain every night and summoned the restless spirits of every victim he had ever stolen the life of. These hauntings tortured the Captain so much that he eventually commit suicide by hanging himself in the manor's rafters only to become a ghost himself.
Many, many years later the ghastly mansion was maintained by Beauregard the Butler. In the tellings where the captain drowned Priscilla in the well, the waters of the well would be blood red and located near a message saying "Ding dong dell, Priscilla's down the well. Who threw her in? The wicked cap-a-tain!".