Haunted Castle: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

''This is the article for the trope Haunted Castle. For the [[Castlevania]] game of the same name, click [[Haunted Castle (video game)|here]].''

 

 

 

 

It will also typically be [[Always Night]], with the sun never rising until the evil is vanquished. Expect [[Dramatic Thunder]], [[Grave Clouds]] with a [[Hostile Weather|Chance of Rain]], [[Ominous Fog]], [[Cobweb of Disuse]], and your typical [[It Was a Dark and Stormy Night|Dark And Stormy Night]].

== Comics ==

* Castle McDuck in Disney's ''[[Donald Duck]]'' and ''Uncle Scrooge'' comics—When first introduced in [[Carl Barks]]' "The Old Castle's Secret," it was purportedly haunted by the ghost of Sir Quackly McDuck, who sealed himself in its walls along with a chest full of treasure. In [[Don Rosa]]'s comics, it's apparently haunted by every member of the McDuck clan, who watch over their descendants and help scare off enemies; Sir Quackly is the one who shows himself the most often. There was also a [[Scooby-Doo Hoax]] launched by their rival clan the Whiskervilles involving a ghostly hound.

* Doctor Doom's castle in Latvaria. The only monster is the human monster of Doctor Doom.

 

 

== Film ==

* Played straight in the ''[[Underworld (film)|Underworld]]'' movies with Kate Beckinsale. A gothic mansion and a haunted castle both make appearances.

* ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' is an [[Affectionate Parody]] of this trope, among others.

* Walpole's ''[[The Castle of Otranto]]'' initially gave rise to this trope in popular culture, not to mention to [[Gothic Fiction]] in general.

* Bram Stoker's ''Dracula,'' of course. Dracula greets Jonathan Harker: "Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!"

** And it worked. People would come in for MILES just so they could Notgonearthe castle. And when, every few decades, the vampire there rose again {{spoiler|([[Genre Savvy|and was quickly quelled, of course]])}}, it just added to the interest...and the local economy. It helps even more that there's something with the roads that causes all traveling coaches to break a wheel as they near it...

* Present in Christopher Stasheff's novel ''The Warlock's Companion''; it's the location where half the story takes place. The other half is flashbacks, including one that plays with the trope by referring to an ancestor a few centuries ago who, seeing that haunted houses were becoming all the rage, but owning only a fairly recent mansion, instructed the house butler/majordomo to go out and ''buy'' an ancestral ghost from somewhere.

* In [[James Thurber]]'s ''[[The 13 Clocks]]'', the Duke finds his castle haunted by the children he locked in the tower: that is, he hears their laughter, and children's balls come bouncing down the stairs. Cold as he is, he finds this more horrifying than the ordinary sort of ghosts.

* [[Harry Potter (novel)|Hogwarts Castle]] is a unique form of this trope: the castle is indeed haunted by several ghosts, but most are perfectly nice (well, except Peeves, but he's a pest rather than an actual threat), and the castle is, of course, also a [[Wizarding School|school]]. Most of the ghosts just hang around and give advice when asked, but one of them is actually teaching classes, and no-one's sure if he's even noticed he died.

 

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

 

 

== Video Game ==

* Fighting your way through such castles is the very premise of the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series. In fact, ''[[Haunted Castle (video game)|Haunted Castle]]'' is the actual title of one of the arcade games in the series.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has two haunted castles, Shadowfang Keep and Karazhan. Groups can assault these castles to kill their [[Evil Overlord]]. Also, the Forsaken hometown of the Undercity is the dungeon of a Haunted Castle.

** Only because the Undead killed everyone there, razed the surface, and moved into the basement, of course...

**** To be fair, the city was razed by the faction that made them rather than the splinter group that lives there now.

* Foe Mansion in ''[[La Tale]]'', complete with Frankenstein-esque monsters and ghosts.

* The gothic Castle in ''[[Amnesia: The Dark Descent|Amnesia the Dark Descent]]'' is located in thick Prussian forests which the locals are afraid to enter as it is supposedly haunted by the deserters of wars.

* Warden's Keep from [[Dragon Age]]: Origins is an abandoned fortress inhabited by roaming undead, demons, ghosts and a centuries-old [[Blood Magic|blood mage]] trying desperately to hold back a [[Hell on Earth|demonic invasion]] from the Fade.

 

== Webcomics ==

* The upcoming ''Grave Academy'', while not a comic per se, it is a Forum/RPG, that centers around a school for monsters which is located in such a castle.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Ghosts always seemed to love that old haunted castle on the outskirts of town, in ''The Ghost Busters''.

* Bender's uncle Vlad's castle in the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "The Honking". Near the village of Thermostadt, it was "haunted" by holograms of his dead ancestors.

* And of course many adventures of [[Scooby Doo]] and friends.