Haunted Mansion Stories- Tale of the Ghoulish Wallpaper

In olden days the walls of a house were most often covered in wallpaper or sometimes tapestries. Gracey Manor was no exception. However, one summer a most unusual thing happened...

Tale of the Ghoulish of the Wallpaper [1]

            Master Gracey was an impulsive man. His temper could rage one instant and all would be “Hail fellow, well met” the next. He was known to bestow large sums on complete strangers, laugh during court proceedings and once pushed a bishop into the river because he leaned out too far. Most took him to be a jovial spark and loved him all the more.

            As his fifth wedding anniversary approached, George took a notion to remodel the house. “This is just the thing to put a smile back on Lilian’s face”, he thought. She had always loathed the plain painted walls so he planned to have the whole place wallpapered. Scouring the city, he lit upon a local artist, Claude Edourd Morisot. They contracted for the painter to create a vibrant and joyful motif.

            Claude had never been a renowned talent and gave no impression that he was related to some of France’s greatest. Yet he could draw cherubs. His were some of the most incredible, life-like creations you could imagine. Just gazing upon them one would swear he was being watched over and the sense of joy they inspired was wondrous. Claude proposed that he paint five separate panels to be forwarded to a printer. Each panel was to have 100 unique angels. No two of the same panel would abut and so you could look at an entire wall and not see the same angel twice. George was delighted. He struck the deal at once and paid the commission up-front.

            Morisot began with a will and produced the 500 miniatures in an amazing three months. The paper was printed and hung during the Graceys’ South American vacation.

            When George and Lilian returned in late June, the house and its residents were hardly recognizable. The antiques seemed new, there was laughter and merriment from family and staff alike, even the surly Gus had become tolerable. Lilian instantly fell in love with each of the little angels and in the dark year that followed she began naming and talking to those in her chambers.

            The only rooms in which no hint of wing or halo were to be found were those belonging to Madam Leota. Within hours of being mounted, her paper displayed not beautiful and loving seraphim, but hideous, twisted ghouls with leering faces and hungry eyes.

            In the ensuing years this transformation spread like a disease, consuming the bright and cheerful pictures throughout the house. By Halloween 1869 Leota was at the height of her powers and the paper was one endless collection of nightmares.

---

[1] Wallpaper by Gene Brownsword, “Kumakumasan” on Flickr.com