TheFalloutseries has some pretty terrifying set pieces, andFallout 4is no exception. In the game’s Nuka-World DLC, the player can take a break from fraternizing with raiders to visit the Grandchester Mystery Mansion — a lesser-known but unique attraction in the Nuka-Cola theme park.
InFallout 4, the Grandchester Mystery Mansion can be found on the outskirts of Nuka-World. It’s west of the Hubologist’s Camp and south of the Dunmore Homestead.
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The Grandchester Family Before the Bombs Fell
LongbeforeFallout’s Great War, the Grandchester Mansion was the home of Hannibal and Morticia. At the time, Morticia had given birth to a little girl — Lucy — but nearly died from it. As a result, her husband, who never wanted a child, resented their daughter. It would turn out that Hannibal was right to distance himself from Lucy as she would grow up a violent and disruptive child.
Morticia tried her best to be a good mother, providing for Lucy and reading her books. However, the young girl grew up with no friends so, instead,she captured small animalsand played with them. Morticia and Hannibal would then find animal skins nailed beneath their furniture. Aside from this, Lucy also played cruel pranks on her parents. One time, she threw mice in the family’s stew, and in another instance, she even tried to kill her parents by poisoning their dessert.
Because of these deeds, Morticia started to believe that her child was possessed. She had fireplaces built in strange locations and staircases leading to nowhere — all within the mansion — because she believed that this would confuse the spirits tormenting them. Morticia also called on a spirit medium named Madam Scarlotta to conduct seances that would help drive the evil spirits out. At some point, the medium said that Lucy had tried to push her down the stairs. Unfortunately, none of Morticia’s attempts to get rid of the evil spirits worked.
One day, Hannibal impaled his foot on a rusty spike that was “mysteriously driven into his shoe,” and he immediately punished Lucy for it. He tried to beat her, but Lucy killed him by thrusting a pair of scissors into his eye socket, hitting his brain. She also cut off all his fingers. Lucy claimed that it was self-defense. Morticia was also killed, with rope burns on her wrists and a cloth doll shoved into her mouth. After the murders, Lucy was put in an asylum, but she escaped on her eighteenth birthday and took her own life.
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From the Site of a Murder to A Tourist Attraction in Fallout 4’s Nuka-World
Years after the events that transpired in the mansion,the Nuka-Cola Corporation ofFalloutbought the Grandchesters’ old mansion and converted it into an attraction in Nuka-World. They retained the house’s strange architecture, setting up informational plaques and a sound system that would narrate the grisly events that took place in the home. Their goal was to make more money, taking advantage of the high volume of people who were already going to the main Nuka-World attractions.
In the events ofFallout 4, the mansion is still standing, and the player can visit it to see what it was like. The first time they arrive at the house, the Sole Survivor will notice a peculiar little girl wandering the grounds. This girl is the ghost of Lucy Grandchester, and there are multiple scripted sightings of her as the player explores the place.
The Sole Survivor can also find a working terminal in the Grandchester Mystery Mansion. Originally belonging to the admin in charge of the attraction, it now contained entries from a man named Zachariah. Zachariah was once part of the Gunners (one of themost prominent factions inFallout) who traveled to Nuka-World from the Mass Pike Interchange. He set up shop at the mansion to try and live on his own, but his last entry contains a chilling reminder of the place’s haunted nature. He writes that the robots in the attraction keep malfunctioning and that one of them keeps laughing like a little girl.
References to the Winchester Mystery House
ThiscreepyFallout 4locationis actually based on the Winchester Mystery House located in California. It was the home of Sarah Winchester, who moved in after her husband’s death and had it renovated multiple times. These renovations included the addition of stairs and doors that led to nowhere, new rooms, and plenty of secret passages.
It’s unclear why Sarah had her house renovated in such a strange manner. However, the most popular theory is that she was being haunted by vengeful spirits. When her husband, William, was alive, he worked at the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, a firearms manufacturing business founded by his grandfather. Thus, some people theorize that Sarah feared the ghosts of those who were killed with the guns manufactured by the Winchesters.
Like Morticia Grandchester, Sarah was said to have consulted a spirit medium to ask for help. The medium then instructed her to build and renovate nonstop to confuse the spirits that were out to get her. Thus, by constructing a home with winding hallways, confusing paths, and doors leading to nowhere, the tormented spirits would never find Sarah. Even as an earthquake destroyed three stories of Sarah’s home, shecontinued building the settlement, perhaps believing that it would keep her safe.
To this day, the Winchester Mystery House is still standing and has been converted into a tourist destination. Given how similar Grandchester and Winchester are, plus noting that both houses contain lopsided architecture, it’s clear thatFallout 4’s haunted housetook inspiration from the Winchester home. No doubt both make for terrifying set pieces that give off uncanny valley vibes. That said, it’d probably be a good idea to stick to the Grandchester Mystery Mansion, as its real-life counterpart is said to be haunted.
The Grandchester home is yet another horror-focused set piece in theFalloutuniverse. It would seem that Bethesda is leaning more and more into theterrifying in their recent titles likeFallout 76. Given this, fans should expect more areas like this in the company’s upcoming games.
Fallout 4is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
