killer bride haunted mansion

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The Bride is a ghost figure seen in the Haunted Mansion and Haunted Mansion adaptations. This page is about the general appearances of the figure seen on the attractions.

• 1.1 Unused Concepts
• 1.2 The Haunted Mansion
• 2.1 Disneyland
• 2.2 Walt Disney World
• 2.3 Disneyland Paris
• 2.4 Tokyo Disneyland
• 3.1.1 2003 film
• 3.2.1 Let's go to Disneyland Paris
• 3.3.1 House of Mouse
• 3.4.1 The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion
• 3.4.2 The Ghost Gallery
• 3.4.3 The Haunted Mansion (comics)
• 3.4.4 Haunted Happenings
• 3.4.5 Enter if You Dare!: Scary Tales from the Haunted Mansion
• 3.4.6 Disney Kingdoms
• 3.5.1 2003 video game
• 3.5.2.1 Tales from the Wasteland
• 3.6.1 Spooky "Boo!" Parade
• 4.1 Constance Hatchaway
• 4.2 "Emily"
• 4.3 Multiple Brides Theory

Development History [ ]

Unused concepts [ ].

In the Gore Mansion incarnation of the Haunted Mansion developed by Ken Anderson , the Bride was a recurring character. The most famous incarnation of her in these stages of development was Priscilla , the bride of a sea-captain named Gideon Gorelieu who she lived with in a manor in New Orleans . Priscilla would come to find out that her husband was formerly a notorious pirate (sometimes even the historic pirate Bartholomew Roberts ) resulting in her becoming deeply frightened of him. In retaliation, the captain murdered Priscilla and depending on the story incarnation would either done so by stuffing her in a corpse and dumping her down a well, or by putting her in a chest and walling her up behind the chimney of their bedroom. Regardless, Priscilla's ghost would haunt the captain along with the ghosts of those who he had murdered, driving the captain to suicide via hanging. In death, Priscilla's ghost would torment the captain for eternity.

This story was clearly inspired by the French fairy-tale of Le Barbe Bleu or Bluebeard by Charles Perrault but many alternate versions were proposed by imagineers. One would have had the bride be a Voodoo Queen who was found practicing magic by her groom in the bayou , causing him to commit suicide in a fit of terror; it might have been implied that she used a love spell to have him marry her. Another version had Priscilla as a captive of the sea-captain who was accidentally murdered by his manservant Tor via strangling when she tried to escape. One particularly unique story had a bride in the form of one Mlle. Vampire who lived in the Haunted Mansion with her fiancee Monsieur Bogeyman with guests attending their wedding. However, the bride would lose her head and leave her groom at the alter, causing their star-studded wedding guests to throw a riot which the guests would need to escape from.

Multiple concept-art iterations went through of the bride as-well. Of note, one was based on the real-life ghost known as the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall . Another portrayal of her gave her a black cat in-hand which was later used for the Sinister 11 portrait of the Seer .

The Haunted Mansion [ ]

In the climax of the Attic scene, in all versions of the ride, the guests are faced with the ominous figure of a ghost bride. In the Disneyland 's original Haunted Mansion , she was placed near the entrance of the attic. When the original Hatbox Ghost was removed from the scene, the bride figure was moved to his place in the attic. The Doom Buggies are still programmed to face her empty space in the attic, and subsequent versions in WDW and later Tokyo had her in the new spot where Hatbox Ghost was supposed to be installed, but never was.

The character has greatly varied over the years; the first incarnation was corpse-like, had a beating heart and held a candle and a bouquet; she was originally described as the Hatbox Ghost's love interest, and was possibly his murderer (or possibly the motivation of her murderer). This bride design was removed and replaced by a version who, instead of having a corpse face, had no face at all, and instead only had glowing yellow eyes in a shadow-like face. This bride became the classical model, but was replaced with a new version that was fully-fleshed and had a visible face. The fully-fleshed version first appeared first in Florida wherein she had greenish skin and a wild, flowing hairstyle. The same version later appeared in Disneyland in 1990, with a different hairstyle and glowing eyes applied from the faceless incarnation. When the character's face was obscured by a thick wedding veil, the glowing eyes were activated.

In 2006, the "Beating Heart" element was removed to make way for a refurbished version of the Bride character known as Constance Hatchaway . This incarnation had an elaborated upon backstory with her being a black widow bride and serial-killer who was a composite character with the black widow seen in the Stretching Room . The audio of the bride's beating heart would remain however and it was originally planned for Constance to have carried on the effect. Additionally, in 2015 the Hatbox Ghost would be reintegrated into Disneyland's mansion.

Appearances [ ]

Disneyland [ ].

In the New Orleans Square Mansion there is a little known travelling light effect where at night you can see an orange flickering candlelights pass by the windows on the inside of the mansion on the second story. The Bride herself is encountered in the attic a la Constance Hatchaway.

Walt Disney World [ ]

An engagement ring which is commonly believed to have been hers is stuck in the pavement outside of Liberty Square 's Haunted Mansion . Originally it was only the last remnant of a removed turnstile which used to be present at the mansion but it developed such a following that when they refurbished the outdoor queue they replaced it with a much more delicate and elegant looking ring. According to former-imagineer Jason Surrell , Constance can be seen from the window watching guests as they enter. However this has yet to be proven in the attraction itself.

Disneyland Paris [ ]

Phantom Manor created an original bride character known as Mélanie Ravenswood who died wandering the halls of her manor after her wedding was called off due to her groom-to-be having been killed by the murderous phantom of her late-father . She is the protagonist of the attraction, being found throughout the ride as a much more tragic counterpart than most of the other brides found in the Haunted Mansion.

Tokyo Disneyland [ ]

The bride used in the Tokyo Disneyland  Haunted Mansion is not a Black Widow, but still a Beating Heart model; she has a visible face and glowing eyes and is light purple rather than bluish. In 2023, she was retconned into being Constance as part of the Disney Story Beyond campaign. This would be implemented into the attraction itself through the simple addition of small versions of the wedding photographs surrounding her while otherwise leaving the figure alone.

Other appearances [ ]

2003 film [ ].

The Bride serves as an inspiration for the character of Elizabeth Henshaw , who is identified as Master Gracey 's lover of mixed-race. She was murdered by Gracey's racist butler Ramsley who faked the death as a suicide. Years later she materializes as an orb for unclear reasons and guides the Evers family to solving her murder which apparently she couldn't do with the other 998 ghosts of the Haunted Mansion as for unexplained reasons she can't properly materialize. She has an unexplained reincarnation in the form of Sara Evers who Gracey attempts to murder and who is later used as an avatar for Elizabeth.

2023 film [ ]

The character appears as a malevolent ghost in this version wherein she is given the name of Constance Hatchaway , although her name is not mentioned. One of 66 souls to have died in Gracey Manor after the Hatbox Ghost took over, the character has a much more ghoulish appearance in death and serves as an obstacle in the mortals attempts to solve the mystery of the Mansion. She makes her first appearance when Ben Matthias searches the Attic for a trunk containing Madame Leota's crystal ball, wherein he encounters her and she gives chase, locking up the room's trapdoor that also acts as a stairway. With the trunk in hand, Ben escapes her by using the same trapdoor. Later in the film's climax, she leads a group of ghosts in chasing Father Kent through the house until he reveals their corruption by the Hatbox Ghost and convinces them to join him in the battle. She and the ghosts give Kent a lift to the graveyard wherein they work together with the other protagonists and spirts to defeat the Hatbox Ghost. With the battle over, she later joins the rests of the ghosts in celebration and is also seen with them in the ballroom when the mortals reunite on Halloween.

Let's go to Disneyland Paris [ ]

The Bride appears in the " Grim Grinning Ghosts " segment of Let's Go to Disneyland Paris . While the segment takes place at Phantom Manor, the bride character more resembles the original beating heart bride, rather than Melanie Ravenswood . She is carried into the manor by the Phantom and comes out alongside him, when he addresses the Disney Villains. When Donald Duck comes out of the house, she runs back inside, along with the Phantom.

Television [ ]

House of mouse [ ].

The Bride makes a cameo in an episode of House of Mouse , " House Ghosts ". When Pete runs into a crypt, she is standing there, with her hand extended. He runs up to her and kisses her hand, before it disintegrates off of her arm. When he looks back up, she has become a corpse.

Printed Materials [ ]

The story and song from the haunted mansion [ ].

The Bride appears in the record The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion . Mike and Karen run into the attic, where they come face to face with the bride. Her groom stood on the other side of the room, holding a hatbox. Every time her heart beat, his head disappeared from his shoulders and reappeared in his hatbox. In the illustrated story-book, she is shown in her hooded incarnation with a chest nearby containing a corpse with a hand sticking out.

The Ghost Gallery [ ]

In the Ghost Gallery storyline created unofficially by WDW cast-members, the bride was named Emily Cavenaugh . Emily was the 15 year old bride of Master Gracey (who in this version of the story is also the Ghost Host ) and she died before her wedding when she was playing hide-and-seek in the attic and was locked in the chest she was hiding in by Gracey's jealous mistress Madame Leota where Emily suffocated to death. In this story, Master Gracey's mother Mary Gracey is the story's counterpart to Constance Hatchaway.

The Haunted Mansion (comics) [ ]

In this story, the bride is named Emile de Claire and is largely inspired by Priscilla from Ken Anderson's unused scripts, as-well as by the Ghost Gallery. Here she was the bride of former pirate William Gracey but died when she was encountered by his former captain turned victim, Randall Pace (The Hatbox Ghost) who was summoned by a jealous Madame Leota. Constance also appears early on into these comics but is never truly elaborated on.

Haunted Happenings [ ]

The Bride appears in the illustrated coloring book, Haunted Happenings. Mickey and his friends run into the attic, and come across her, staring out the window with a blank expression.

Enter if You Dare!: Scary Tales from the Haunted Mansion [ ]

This story features a ghostly bride in the form of Sally Little , a woman who died of a broken heart when her lover John O'Hannon was absent for their wedding. The two finally eloped when John was an elderly man and Sally a skeletal corpse, finally being together.

Disney Kingdoms [ ]

The Bride is a supporting antagonist in these comics, terrorizing the ghosts of the mansion, the protagonist Danny Crowe , and the main antagonist, a bloodthirsty Captain . This incarnation is identified as Constance Hatchaway and is a mashup of the original beating heart bride and, distinctly, the black widow. She also resides in the attic.

Obsessed with material riches, the Captain believes the attic to hold more treasures but avoids the place out of fear of the character, forcing Danny to do his bidding. Despite the bride being an antagonist, she indirectly saves Danny and the other resident ghosts by beheading both the horseback rider and the Captain in the first and final books, respectively.

Video-Games [ ]

2003 video game [ ].

The Bride appears in the 2003 video game as a friendly ghost encountered in the Maids' Room level after its completion. Similar to Melanie Ravenswood, she waits for her groom. Her appearance is based on the original Beating Heart Bride on account of her holding a bouquet and a candle but the Beating Heart element is eliminated.

Epic Mickey [ ]

A statue of the bride can be found in Epic Mickey: The Power of Two outside of Lonesome Manor in Bog Easy . Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit have to rearrange statues of her and the Hitchhiking Ghosts in Bog Easy to find a gear that one of the Lonesome Ghosts stole.

Tales from the Wasteland [ ]

The Bride appears in the Epic Mickey comic Tales of Wasteland , as a resident of Lonesome Manor. In the story "One Scary Night", Oswald, Animatronic Goofy , and Animatronic Donald spend a night at the manor because of a dare from Pete. They go into the ballroom , and the bride chases them around the manor, begging Oswald to marry her. They outsmart her by hiding by the singing busts .

Disney Parks [ ]

Spooky "boo" parade [ ].

The Bride appeared in the Spooky "Boo!" Parade at Tokyo Disneyland , during the 2019 Halloween season. She walked down the parade route, accompanied by five suitors. Her dress was more stylized, and a patch of her dress featured a cartoony rib cage and heart.

Character Identification [ ]

There is some discourse regarding the nature the different bride incarnations, namely in the canonicity of their different incarnations and discourse regarding if they are intended to be the same character or different characters.

Constance Hatchaway [ ]

All versions of the Bride are often seen as being different forms of the same character (who would become known as Constance Hatchaway). As evidenced by:

• The original Beating Heart version of the scene and the Tokyo Version of the scene both show the Bride having the decapitated heads of grooms stored in Hatboxes around the attic who would pop out and say "I Do". In the Modern Disney World version of the scene there are five Hatboxes piled up across from Constance nearby a coatrack holding the hats associated with each of Constance's husbands implying that the hatboxes contain their decapitated heads similarly to the original scene.
• When the Hatbox Ghost originally appeared in the attraction he was implied to have been decapitated by the Bride and to have been associated with her in life, most likely as a suitor. In the modern Disneyland scene the Hatbox Ghost once again appears in the attic only this time alongside the Black Widow model who is famously known for having decapitated at least five different men (all of whom were her suitors) and was implied to have stored them in hatboxes which appears to have been the exact nature of the Hatbox Ghost's death.
• The Modern iteration of the Hatbox Ghost is shown alongside five hatboxes which appear to be nearly identical to those found in the Liberty Square Mansion which were implied to contain the decapitated heads of Constance's husbands, showing that the Hatbox Ghost was most likely associated with Constance in life similarly to how he was associated with the Beating Heart Bride.
• From a story standpoint it would make little-to-no sense how the attic would be filled with the belongings and spirit of a completely different woman in the year 2006 while in Mansion canon Constance would have taken up residence in the attic in 1877 and as shown in her portrait would have died roughly around 1910-1930 as an old woman
• Concept art of Constance depicted her with a beating red heart in her chest
• Imagineers always intended for the Beating Heart Bride to be interpreted as a villainous figure but they always left her past ambiguous enough it could be taken otherwise, Constance could have been an intentional choice by imagineers to cement the Bride's past as being villainous
• Official merchandise and depictions in other media almost always depicts Constance with a beating red heart in her chest
• The Beating Heart Bride was never given an official name or definitive backstory. Affiliations with her being a tragic character or, "Emily" in general were purely subjective readings that were fabricated by cast-members and fans. Constance was the only objective incarnation of the bride within the text of the attraction.
• In the last surviving Beating Heart version of the attic scene in Tokyo, the Bride is heavily alluded to have been evil shown in part be her expression.
• Both bride figures are portrayed as women who murdered their husbands by decapitation and hid their heads in hatboxes.
• In the attic sequence the Beating Heart noise is still heard in the background, implying the original bride is at-least present in Constance's attic.
• The Bride appeared in the Spooky "Boo!" Parade at Tokyo Disneyland , accompanied by five suitors, which is reminiscent of Constance's husbands . Tokyo's Mansion still has the original bride, so this could be connecting the dots between the two brides.
• Tokyo's Disney Story Beyond event identifies their Bride as Constance, with her character profile noting her series of pearls.

"Emily" [ ]

Many Fans see the Beating Heart version of the Bride (often nicknamed Emily) as being a completely separate character from the Black Widow version of the Bride as evidenced by:

• The Beating Heart version of the Bride was never given a definitive backstory or official name, all that is known is that she had several husbands who died, a suitor who was decapitated and had his head stored in a hatbox, and that she herself eventually died.
• Although the Beating Heart Bride was intended by imagineers to be a villainous figure they left her past ambiguous enough that she could be interpreted as a tragic figure and as such, different than the villainous Constance.
• In a miniature model layout of the attic, the April-December portrait can be seen in the background possibly implying the two women were intended to be the same. However the portrait was never put in the actual attic scene.
• Constance's lack of a heart could be seen as a distinction between the two women implying that Constance could never love but Emily could.
• Phantom Manor's bride Melanie Ravenswood is canonically a tragic character and serves as the counterpart to the Bride from a time before the Black Widow model was implemented in any park, possibly hinting that the role of the bride is intended to be one of tragedy to counter the Ghost Host's role as a villain and Madame Leota's role as a neutral figure.

Multiple Brides Theory [ ]

One theory is that every different model of the Bride is intended to be a completely different character. There is little evidence for this outside of them having different AA figures and subjectively different characterizations (something common for characters found in Disney Parks) and the Mansion's large, mostly unseen, population count allowing for such a possibility.

• Priscilla from the Captain Gore story's being walled up behind a chimney was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat where the narrator murders his wife with a hatchet and hides her carcass in a similar fashion.
• Official merchandise tends to depict Constance with a visible beating heart like the earlier models implying that they are in fact the same character; she was supposed to have it in concept art, but it was scrapped due to it not working well with the light projection effects used to animate Constance.  
• The "Beating Heart" version of the character was called that on the blueprints, though most fans referred to her as " The Beating Heart Bride " instead. By contrast, Constance 's model is nicknamed the " The Black Widow Bride ".
• If all "Beating Heart" versions are taken as a single character, the tragic Bride character that results is often referred to as "Emily". This name has first been used in the  Ghost Gallery  (as "Emily Cavanaugh"); adopted in countless fanfictions, it also made its way into the non-canon SLG comics, where she is Emily de Claire. However, the two other official names given to the Bride do not include "Emily" (namely  Sally Little  and Elizabeth Henshaw).

See also [ ]

• Constance Hatchaway
• Beating Heart Bride
• Mélanie Ravenswood
• Bluebeard's Wives
• Elizabeth Henshaw
• Emily de Claire
• Sally Little
• Priscilla Gorelieu
• Mlle. Vampire
• Voodoo Queen

Gallery [ ]

• 1 Alistair Crump
• 2 Hatbox Ghost
• 3 Madame Leota

Constance Hatchaway: The history of the Haunted Mansion's Black Widow Bride

By matthew liebl | jul 15, 2023.

Disney's Haunted Mansion movie is set to release later this month in theaters. Based on the famed Disney attraction , the upcoming film features all sorts of nods and references, including one seen that appears to show The Black Widow Bride.

In the previously released teaser trailer for the movie, we see the bride appear multiple times within the first minute. We see her briefly in human form at the (0:09) timestamp and then again in her ghostly form at (0:15). She then scares the poop out of us again at (0:29). So who is this bride and does she have a name?

Of the 999 haunts that populate the Haunted Mansion, this killer bride is one of the most iconic and memorable. She's found in the attic portion of the attraction which we see all of her late husbands whom she presumably axed to death.

Does the Black Widow Bride have a name?

As it turns out, this killer bride has a name, and it's Constance Hatchaway. Get it? Because she sends her husbands away (six feet under) with a hatchet.

As the story goes, Constance Hatchaway was a beautiful young woman who sought wealth and luxury. In order to obtain this lifestyle, she married several rich men and proceeded to murder them the night of their wedding so that she could claim their inheritance. Although she was never punished for her crimes, she was labeled by the general public as "The Black Widow Bride."

No one knows exactly how Constance herself passed away, though it's assumed old age. Upon death, she became a permanent resident in the mansion's attic.

Anyway, Constance Hatchaway appears in both the Disneyland and Disney World versions of Haunted Mansion. In 2006, she received a glow-up alongside the attic area itself. The redesign is more representative of her dark history.

You'll be able to catch a glimpse of Constance Hatchaway in the upcoming Haunted Mansion movie, which hits theaters July 28.

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Haunted Mansion does right by the Disney ride’s scariest ghost

And no, we don’t mean the infamous Hatbox Ghost

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Share All sharing options for: Haunted Mansion does right by the Disney ride’s scariest ghost

Disney’s 2023 movie Haunted Mansion is packed to the brim with ghosts lifted directly from the theme park ride. The notorious Hatbox Ghost , played by Jared Leto in the film, has a huge role, as does psychic-in-a-crystal-ball Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis). But other, subtler ride appearances include the portraits on the walls and the ghosts dangling from the dining room’s chandelier. Some of the ghosts are allies for protagonists Ben (LaKeith Stanfield) and Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and their friends. Others are genuine threats. Most, though, are just there for the #vibes.

But while the Hatbox Ghost gets a central role out of proportion to his historical appearance on the ride (though certainly in accordance with his huge fandom), the actual scariest ghost — and the one who has always been the scariest part of the ride, in my opinion — gets her time to shine in what’s definitely the spookiest moment in an often not very spooky movie.

[ Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for Haunted Mansion , both the 2023 movie and the Disney Parks attraction.]

Haunted Mansion gives the Bride — aka Constance Hatchaway, a serial killer who murdered all of her husbands with an ax, and who now haunts the mansion’s attic — her time to shine. She doesn’t have a critical role in the movie, but her scenes are some of the most memorable parts, which is fitting for the character.

When I was a kid, I was terrified by the Haunted Mansion , but it intrigued me, too. After a traumatic experience with a haunted house attraction when I was very young, I resisted the Haunted Mansion ride during my first few Disney trips , even though I always had a fascination with Halloween and all things spooky. Finally, armed with internet access, I looked up the Wikipedia page for the ride , hoping that studying and memorizing it would prepare me for the horrors within.

The only part of that description that genuinely scared me was the description of the attic, where the Bride resides. (The current Wikipedia description is pretty bland, but I swear it was terrifying reading when I was a kid.) I braced myself for intense jump scares in that particular scene when I finally built up the courage to go on the ride, but it was actually pretty light in that regard. I enjoyed the whole experience thoroughly — and the attic scene stuck with me as the attraction’s most haunting moment.

While the Haunted Mansion is pretty creepy visually, the ghosts at the beginning of the ride are entirely benign. They’re just chilling in their home, moving books around in the library or dancing in a ballroom. It’s just a tour of a pedestrian day in the (un)life of a ghost.

That all changes once the ride reaches the attic. With the thump-thump of a beating heart and the swing of an ax as you pass each portrait of Constance and her latest husband, each new man loses his head in turn. You know this ghost isn’t friendly. The anxiety is heightened by the disappearance of the Ghost Host, the narrator who’s been extolling the virtues of the mansion to you from the moment you enter the attraction. He basically drops out at this point in the ride. Instead, you hear a discordant version of the Bridal March with Constance reciting her vows and really emphasizing that “till death do us part” bit.

The moment the characters in 2023’s Haunted Mansion spotted the attic, I knew the Bride was coming. I braced myself as Ben climbed the stairs, and even though I figured the door would shut behind him before the others joined, it still startled me. I knew what lay in the attic, but director Justin Simien slowly builds up to it.

As Ben explores the attic, we see portraits of Constance and her husbands, and just like in the ride, they lose their heads one by one. It’s clear that there’s someone watching Ben, building up to a jump scare. But Ben immediately tries to dissuade the ghost from chopping his head off by telling her that he’s an ally to women, and her husbands probably deserved to die. That moment is genuinely funny — and a testament to just how well Simien pulls off a haunted house movie that older kids can still enjoy.

The attic scene isn’t Constance’s only appearance. She’s one of the biggest threats in the movie, aside from the villain. She leads ghostly mobs after the protagonists. We know she’s not simply a lost soul looking for something, like some of the other ghosts wandering the mansion — she’s a bloodthirsty murderer. When she snarls and raises her ax, it’s delightfully threatening. This isn’t a ghost that can be talked to, like Master Gracely, the owner of the house. She’s out for blood.

Haunted Mansion is scary, but not too scary. The jump scares are mostly punctuated by jokes, and much like the ride itself, the creepiness comes more from the dread in the atmosphere than any shocking scenes. Sure, the Hatbox Ghost reveal is kinda scary, but the attic scene gets the movie’s best buildup by far. Personally, I’m just glad Simien did right by Constance and her attic.

Haunted Mansion is out in theaters now.

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Disney’s Haunted Mansion: The Bride

in Disneyland Resort , Walt Disney World

“Here comes the bride…” — The famous words spoken by the one and only, Constance Hatchaway, who is also known as The Black Widow Bride.

Constance is one of the 999 Happy Haunts within Haunted Mansion , which is located in both Disneyland in California, and in Walt Disney World in Florida. But do you know her backstory? In this article, we are diving into everything we know about Constance Hatachway, including who she was, who she married, how she died, and more!

The Haunted Mansion’s ghost bride

Constance Hatchaway, who is also known as The Black Widow Bride, is one of the 999 Happy Haunts within Haunted Mansion , which is located in both Disneyland in California, and in Walt Disney World in Florida.

According to Haunted Mansion Fandom , she is “arguably the most villainous and/or most dangerous presence on the ride, being the ghost of a bride with a murderous past life”.

Constance Hatchaway’s appearance

Constance is actually a revamped version of the original bride character, who was introduced in 2006. Along with the revamped look of her character, the attic scene that she is located in was also redesigned to reflect not only the new look of Constance, but to showcase a much darker tone.

Constance Hatchaway is modeled after Julia Lee and she is voiced by Kat Cressida.

Related: Daughter Of Original Madame Leota to Appear in ‘Muppets Haunted Mansion’

In regards to what she looked like prior to becoming a ghost, in the photos lying around the attic, you can see she was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and pale skin. As she grew older, you can see her hair turn gray and her posture became poor.

When Constance became a ghost, she gained a blue and opaque look as she wears her wedding dress and holds a hatchet.

Where can you find Constance Hatchaway?

Constance Hatchaway is one of the 999 Happy Haunts within Haunted Mansion and can be found within the attic scene of the attraction located in both Disneyland in California and in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida.

But that’s not the only reference to Constance at Haunted Mansion. In fact, in the Walt Disney World version, as Guests enter the queue, they may notice a realistic-looking engagement ring embedded into the ground. This was put there by Disney Imagineers into the new queue after Guests noticed cut-off stanchion that resembled a diamond ring in the cement outside the Mansion. Many believed it belonged to the original Attic Bride, now known as Constance Hatchaway.

Additionally, according to many , Constance also appears as a portrait in the stretching room — the portrait that showcases an old woman sitting on a tombstone holding a red rose. As the stretching room , well, stretches, it is revealed that the old woman is sitting on top of the tombstone of her late husband George, whose bust she had plunged a hatchet into. Many speculate this to be Constance simply because of the variety of similarities, including the fact that George died from a hatchet.

For those of you wondering if Constance Hatchaway appears in Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris, the answer is no. Instead, this version of Haunted Mansion has a bride named Melanie Ravenswood and, according to reports , “serves as the counterpart to the Bride from a time before the Black Widow model was implemented in any park, possibly hinting that the role of the bride is intended to be one of tragedy to counter the Ghost Host’s role as a villain and Madame Leota’s role as a neutral figure”.

Haunted Mansion’s Constance Hatchaway’s dead husbands

Constance Hatchaway is one of the most intriguing characters within the Haunted Mansion. Though many of the details of her backstory remain a mystery, what we do know is that she was a beautiful woman who sought out wealth and luxary. She married several rich men, including bankers and businessmen, and immediately murdered them after their wedding. (Til death do us part).

According to Haunted Mansion Fandom :

Constance Hatchaway was a beautiful woman who sought to obtain wealth and luxury. She accomplished this by marrying several rich men, including bankers, businessmen, farmers, and barons. However, each was murdered after the wedding by the deadly bride, decapitated with a hatchet so that she could claim their inheritance. Despite her crimes, she was never punished (likely due to lack of evidence), though the public did dub her “The Black Widow Bride”.

So who exactly were her husbands and what were their stories? Well, we know of the following characters, courtesy of Haunted Mansion Fandom :

• Ambrose Harper : The naive but good intentioned son of successful farmers (married in 1869)
• Frank Banks : An eastern banker and community pillar (married in 1872)
• The Marquis de Doome: A foreign diplomat with a military past (married in 1874)
• Reginald Caine: A celebrated railroad baron, gambler and world renowned gourmand (married in 1875)
• George Hightower: A (possible) relative of the wealthy hotel owner/explorer Harrison Hightower III (married in 1877)
• Final Husband : It was her final husband who was one of the many owners of the titular mansion. After murdering Hightower, Constance decided that she was satisfied with the wealth she had accumulated and settled down in her newly inherited mansion.

Constance died of unknown causes, though many Haunted Mansion fans speculate it was of old age. After Constance passed away, her spirit became a permanent resident of the Haunted Mansion and she resides in the attic, where she can be seen standing next to her past wedding gifts, portraits of her dead husbands, and admitting to her crimes as Guests pass by.

Constance says many wedding-related lines including “Here comes the bride”, “As long as we both shall live”, “For better or for… worse”, “I do. I did”,  “In sickness and in… wealth”, “You may now kiss the bride, “We’ll live happily ever… after”, and, of course, “Till death… do us part…”.

More on Haunted Mansion at Disney Parks

The spirited Haunted Mansion adventure is guided by the “disembodied voice of the Ghost Host” as he is your private tour guide “through the cadaverous realm of an eerie haunted estate, home to ghosts, ghouls and supernatural surprises.”  Beware of hitchhiking ghosts!

Disney World describes this attraction  as:

The disembodied voice of the Ghost Host is your private guide through the cadaverous realm of an eerie haunted estate, home to ghosts, ghouls and supernatural surprises. Glide past a casket-filled conservatory, Madame Leota’s chilling séance room and a ghostly graveyard of singing specters as you attempt to find your way out. Beware of hitchhikers—these phantom pranksters may follow you home. Happy haunting!

Related: Halloween is Here! Madame Leota Sipper Materializes at WDW

The  official description of the Disneyland ride reads:

Dearly depart into a foreboding estate, drag your body to the dead center of the Portrait Chamber and watch as the walls begin to stretch before your eyes. Climb into your waiting Doom Buggy and embark on a shivering journey into an unearthly realm. The disembodied voice of the Ghost Host is your private guide through the cadaverous dwelling—home to grinning ghosts and other spectral surprises. Glide past a rattling casket in the conservatory. Head off to Madame Leota’s spooky séance room. Float by the Grand Ballroom and its waltzing apparitions. Take a spin through a cemetery where the spirited residents regale you with song. Beware of lurking hitchhikers—these phantom pranksters may try to follow you home!

Ready to visit the Disney Parks and see Constance Hatchaway?

If you need help planning your next Walt Disney World or Disneyland vacation to see Constance Hatchaway at Haunted Mansion, the Authorized Planners at Academy Travel have you covered! Academy Travel has earned the highest designation that Disney can bestow upon a travel agency, EarMarked Diamond.

As long as you book your trip with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner you can rest assured that you will be working with an agency that Disney has vetted and is willing to associate their brand with that agency due to the knowledge and service level you will find at that particular agency.

Ready to find out what your dream vacation will cost?  Click here to get a free no-obligation quote .

The Haunted Mansion: Constance Hatchaway

During her lifetime, Constance married and murdered at least 5 wealthy men. She beheaded her suitors with a hatchet and claimed their wealth as a widow, before moving on to the next husband.

Her husbands (in order) are as follows:

Ambrose Harper (married in 1869)

Frank Banks (married in 1872)

The Marquis de Doom (married in 1874)

Reginald Caine (married in 1875)

George Hightower (married in 1877)

It was through her last husband, one of the multitude of owners of the Haunted Mansion, that she came to live in the house, where she grew old and died unpunished. Her ghost, as well as those of her husbands, now haunt the Attic of the Haunted Mansion.

Appearances

In The Haunted Mansion

Originally, Constance's only appearance in the ride was as one of the Stretching Portraits. When the guests enter the room, only the top of the portrait is visible; it depicts her as an old woman, holding a rose with a romantic smile on her face. As the room stretches down, the lower part of the painting becomes visible, revealing that Constance is actually sitting on the tombstone of her former husband George Hightower, whose bust shows that she brutally murdered him with a hatchet.

However, in 2006, the Attic scene of the Disneyland mansion was updated, and the Beating Heart Bride was replaced by Constance, whose ghost appears in young form, dressed as a bride (the Walt Disney World version of the ride would soon receive the same addition). The Attic is now filled by numerous dusty items she received as wedding gifts from her five husbands. No longer fearing the law since she's dead, she makes no secret of her crimes and recites twisted wedding vows while wielding her dreaded hatchet as the guests move past her, giggling at her own jokes.

Disney Kingdoms

Constance is a major antagonist in the Disney Kingdoms storyline. As one of the few ghosts of the mansion who actually died on the property, she has some measure of influence over the spectral powers of the house; this allows her to permanently chop the head off a ghost's ethereal body, a fate the Captain is eager to avoid. For that purpose, he sends Danny Crowe in the Attic to find his treasure instead of going himself. There, Danny comes face-to-face with Constance, who asks him to be her new groom, revealing that her five crimes were actually neither about the money or the men -- she just liked weddings. Ultimately, it is Constance who defeats the Captain by decapitating his ghost with her hatchet.

When introducing Constance to Danny, Captain Gore reveals some details (told to the reader in the form of a flashback), notably that Constance lived with her mother, who never knew about Constance's crimes. The Captain also states that his personal theory is that Constance was killed by her sixth husband, not long after the murder of George Hightower. This is, however, unlikely, given that Constance was shown much older in her Stretching Portrait.

Merchandise

A wave of Constance merchandise has come out (a plush, a t-shirt, and many pins) although, understandably less products are made for her than for The Hitchhiking Ghosts or the Hatbox Ghost.

Video Games

"The Black Widow Bride"

She appears in the online game where she has a noticeable beating heart like the previous brides (probably an error of the developers, or possibly a deliberate will to retcon all the Beating Heart Brides into having been Constance all along). Her skeleton can be faintly seen through her body in the title screen.

"Epic Mickey"

In "Epic Mickey", Horace Horsecollar asks Mickey to help him solve a mystery by searching for evidence in Lonesome Manor. The item is hidden in a chest in the attic, and turns out to be Constance's hatchet. When he gets it, Horace is excited as this is the definite proof that Constance, who used to be the Lady of the manor, did kill all of her husbands.

:hocho: Constance replaced the "Beating Heart" Bride in 2006 in Anaheim, CA and in 2007 in Orlando, Florida.

:hocho: It is heavily implied that the old woman seen in a portrait in the Stretching Room is actually Constance which was painted later in her life, though an early script for the attraction named this character "Abigale Patecleaver;" it has been suggested that this was an alias chosen by Constance to marry one (or several) of her husbands to avoid him/them finding out that she'd already been married before.

:hocho: The character was portrayed by Julia Lee, both in the photographs and the projection, and voiced by an American voice actress, Kat Cressida.

:hocho: Though Constance never makes a direct appearance in the Ghost Post interactive game, her presence is felt in the greater story, as evidenced by a conversation heard between the Hitchhiking Ghosts over the Phantom Radio about her (with Gus wildly swinging around a hatchet as they do). It is also very heavily implied that Constance is behind the "Aunt Agony" advice section of the Grim Gazette, since the author makes frequent allusions to having had multiple husbands who died under unusual circumstances.

:hocho: Constance appears in a short stage show at the Disney Parks that was held as a hard ticket event for the Haunted Mansion's 40th anniversary. The show was about her demise and shed some light upon the subject, but was gleefully inconsistent with the Stretching Portrait, since it featured her dying pretty young. It is generally considered non-canonical due to this.

Related Pages

My Disney Park Attractionistas Doll Collection!

My Disney Tsum Tsum Plush Collection (Part 2 of 2)

Comments (1).

Every time you see her on the haunted mansion at DL, I dunno if it's at the other parks too, but she gains a pearl to her necklace. Showing that every time she remarries she gets wealthier.

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