Previously: “I Listened To A Podcast From An Alternate Universe.”
This week, a return to one of my favorite topics: Disney-centric creepypastas. In the Disney creepypasta “The Man With The Cane,” written by David King publishing under the name CrackedMack and posted to the Creepypasta Wikia in 2017, we return to the classic Disney Parks ride the Haunted Mansion… although this time, we’re at Walt Disney World in Florida, rather than at Walt Disneyland in California, and we’re looking not at the Hatbox Ghost, but at the titular specter that gives the story its title.
I say “this time” because this tale is actually the second in a series — the first being “Grad Night At The Haunted Mansion,” which, I would argue, is one of the greats in the pantheon of Disney creepypastas. We took a look at that one back at the beginning of 2019 — a little more than five a half years ago — although the story itself was already a few years old, having first hit the internet in 2014. Now, “Grad Night” is a full decade old… and the world introduced in it has only grown more interesting as time has passed.
[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]
Something worth noting: Some real-life tragedies that occurred at the Disney Parks come into play in both of these stories. I bring this up both to serve as a content warning and to make an observation about the stories’ effectiveness:
What I think the tales do so well — and what I think prevents them from becoming overly ghoulish or insensitive — is that they don’t turn these real-life tragedies themselves into the hauntings at the centers of each story. Rather, the incidents function as the backdrop for what actually does happen in each tale — that is, the stories work within the existing, not-always-quite-so-magical reality of these places that bill themselves to us as the Most Magical Places On Earth.
The real-life incidents are expressly not turned into fictional entertainment. And that matters. A lot.
Although “The Man With The Cane” isn’t quite what I would call a direct sequel to “Grad Night” — you could conceivably read it independently and still enjoy it — it is in direct dialogue with its predecessor; for that reason, I highly suggest reading “Grad Night At The Haunted Mansion” first if you’re not already familiar with it (or just brushing up on it, if it’s been a while since you’ve visited it).
There’s a third story in this series, too, by the way… but perhaps that’s something we should save for another day.
In the meantime, find an excerpt of “The Man With The Cane” below, and check out the full story over at the Creepypasta Wikia.
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Recently I read a story posted on a Disney forum I frequent, an account of three friends who tried to spend a night in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion back in the ‘80s. Since I don’t know the author’s name or gender, or even if said author is reading this, I’m not sure how to address him or her. Hopefully whoever put the story out there in the first place will see this.
I tried tracking the author down, and apparently the story had been posted on several forums and sites under different usernames. I’m not sure when it was reposted or where it originated, nor how long it’s been circulating. There’s even been a few versions where some sections differ, making me wonder what’s been tweaked over time.
But regardless, I read it at first thinking nothing of it but a half-assed ghost story. It was well-researched, sure, but there were certain details that were off and raised doubts. I almost dismissed it entirely when there were utilidors mentioned — because only Walt Disney World has those — but that was before the Prop Rooms got brought up.
My own story has lot of similarities, and I doubt its coincidental. I’m not sure how much this will clear things up, but that realization has prompted me to share my knowledge, maybe get a few things off my chest.
I grew up in Orlando, and have pretty much lived my whole life in close proximity to Walt Disney World. My mother met my father while working as a Cast Member at the Magic Kingdom, and now I work there myself (though I’d rather not say where). For as long as I can remember, I’ve listened to all kinds of urban myths and rumors circulated among cast members at the parks, mainly through my parents; Mom got her start there back in the ‘70s, not long after the Magic Kingdom first opened, and in ‘77 she moved from retail to attractions, which she had hoped for since she’d been hired. Her first role was a hostess at the Haunted Mansion, a position she thoroughly enjoyed until one August night that same year, when she encountered the Man with the Cane.
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Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Bluesky @GhostMachine13.bsky.social, Twitter @GhostMachine13, and Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And for more games, don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!
[Photo via Wikimedia Commons, available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED Creative Commons license]
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