The History of Spirit Photography and Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

When hinges creak in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls. Whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still — that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight! Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion. [1]

The Ghost Host's introduction to guests visiting Disneyland almost needs no introduction. In fact, the words are so well known that chances are, if you visit, you will hear at least one person reciting it in real-time at the attraction.

There is so much to say about the Haunted Mansion and its history, or in my case, its direct connections to art history. For now, let's focus on the Haunted Mansion's connections to early photography and Spiritualism.

Ghost portraits inside the Haunted Mansion. Photo. © Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank

Ghosts caught on camera… or just a clever trick?

As you ride along in your Doom Buggy in the Haunted Mansion, you will pass by framed portraits of ghostly individuals who look frozen in a scream. Or are they still alive? We aren't sure, but the sports have been captured on film. These ghostly portraits in the Haunted Mansion are indebted to a popular genre of photography invented in 1862: Spirit Photography.

William. H. Mumler, [Unidentified elderly woman seated, three "spirits" in the background], 1869–1878, Albumen silver print. Image: 9.9 × 5.8 cm (3 7/8 × 2 5/16 in.), Mount: 10.5 × 6 cm (4 1/8 × 2 3/8 in.)The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 84.XD.760.1.19

This new kind of photography claimed to capture spirits from beyond the grave. It used double exposure and trickery to convince believers of ghostly presences. Known as spirit photography, these eerie images fascinated believers in the supernatural and shocked skeptics. But were they real or just photographic illusions?

Elderly couple with a young female spirit, c. 1920. William Hope, Science Museum Group collection.

Some photographers claimed to capture spirits. You could say that believers, among them followers of the Spiritualism movement, felt photographers could actually summon ghosts.

Photography was still pretty new, and so mysterious. With the devastation wrought by the Civil War, among other things, the idea that there were spirits with unfinished business present made sense to people. The processes of photography promised to reveal them to our eyes.

William Mumler, [Bronson Murray in a Trance with the Spirit of Ella Bonner], 1872, albumen silver print from glass negative, Image: 9.5 x 5.7 cm (3 3/4 x 2 1/4 in.), Frame: 36.2 x 48.9 cm (14 1/4 x 19 1/4 in.) (Framed with FI.13.7, .9, .10, .11, .12). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Photographers manipulated photographs to create the ghostly apparitions. They used double exposure techniques and composite photography to overlay multiple images. They also used glass negatives to superimpose faint, ethereal images. William H. Mumler pioneered the commercial use of spirit photography, producing "ghostly" images. Later, though, he was accused of fraud.

A ghost party occurs in the Haunted Mansion. While not a photographic portrait, I would make the case that the illusion used here is directly inspired by spirit photographs. Photo. © Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank

The History of Spirit Photography and Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

Generally, there were believers and skeptics of spirit photographs. One thing seems certain to me: they influenced our 999 happy haunts! On the Haunted Mansion attraction, there are multiple moments when the idea of "capturing" ghosts within an image is explored, similar to the concept of spirit photography. Even the transparent ghosts in the ballroom scene, achieved through the Pepper’s Ghost illusion, are indebted to 19th-century spirit photography.

What do you think of my argument that spirit photography and Disneyland's Haunted Mansion are connected?

Notes

[1] Haunted Mansion (Disneyland) script: https://www.disneyparkscripts.com/haunted-mansion-disneyland/

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Learn More

• Kaplan, Louis. The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer. University of Minnesota Press, 2008.

• Gunning, Tom. "Phantom Images and Modern Manifestations: Spirit Photography, Magic Theater, Trick Films, and Photography’s Uncanny." Film Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 3, 2000, pp. 3–22.

• The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2005

Want more art history-inspired Disney fun? Stick around—there’s a whole world of fascinating connections waiting to be uncovered. Whether you’re a Disney fan, an art history nerd, or just here for the humor, I’ve got you covered.

Get more exciting Disney art history!

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