Rose Red in the early 1900s
Rose Red is the main antagonist in Stephen King's 2002 TV miniseries of the same name and the bestselling tie-in novel "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer", which was a detailed prequel to the miniseries. Rose Red was an enormous turn of the century Edwardian estate, designed in the Tudor-Gothic style and situated on 40 acres of woodland that stood in the very heart of Seattle, Washington. In the story, it was supposedly built by John Rimbauer as a wedding gift to his young and beautiful wife Ellen Rimbauer, who gave the home its name. Due to its long history of tragic deaths and unsolved disappearances, the legendary mansion gained worldwide recognition and notoriety as one of the most haunted establishments in America. Indeed, there was another world inside Rose Red, a dangerous and evil spirit world. And there was much more to this grand house than meets the eye.
Rose Red: A Fairytale[]
Rose Red in 2002
"Rose Red is a fairy tale for grown-ups. Not the Disney version of fairy tales, the other kind, where the story doesn't always have a happy ending. The kind in which the old woman in the forest just might put Hansel and Gretel in her pot or the shape under the covers greeting Little Red Riding Hood might gobble her up too. Think the brothers Grimm, who penned the story of Snow White and her sister, Rose Red, I subconsciously used as a name for my house from hell. I used all the metaphors, all of the symbols in this story – the evil spirit, the wicked witch, the doppelganger. All of the essential ingredients of Grimm are the basic material. If you think about it, Alice fell through a hole and ended up in Wonderland. Our characters once they find they’re trapped in Rose Red, they’re kind of in a weird and wicked wonderland where things don't make sense or respect the laws of logic. So our big bad wolf is actually a haunted house, a house with a mind of its own. A house that is bigger on the inside than on the outside. A house you could get lost in, and might never find your way back."-(Stephen King)
The Evil Inside Rose Red[]
The abandoned Rose Red Estate as seen in the 2002 TV-Miniseries
Built on cursed land, in the middle of an ancient Indian burial site, Rose Red was thought to be "born bad", as even before it was fully completed, severel workmen died during the house's construction under strange and bizzare circumstances.
The house itself—or rather, the force that possessed it and gave it a life of its own—can only be described as a mysterious, evil parasite from the ancient Indian burial site that the establishment stood upon, living like a toxic organism inside Rose Red's structure. Over time, it became a powerful poltergeist that would eventually torment its inhabitants. For whatever reason, this nameless, supernatural force was extremely jealous of the warmth and emotions of humans. (It is not clarified if it is one spirit possessing the home or several spirits working together.) Seemingly out of spite, this force ate off the feelings of those who resided there and drained both the substantial life source and spiritual energy from its chosen victims. By consuming and absorbing their physical form, it keeps them in a state of "limbo" where they are cursed and doomed for eternity (or for as long as the house stands), to roam the halls and property of Rose Red as they become somewhat "trapped" within the unseen spirit realm that the house created deep within its walls. It uses these victims as mere pawns in all of its evil schemes, such as to lure more prey into its trap to become more powerful. Rose Red was unapologetic, even to its owners, having no regard or remorse. This proved to be true when the house took Ellen Rimbauer's beloved, six year old handicapped daughter named April Rimbauer who vanished within the mansion's kitchen one day while "tea-time", never to be physically seen again.
Stephen King's Rose Red
The force inside the house was very jealous, unpredictable and always hungry for souls. When the house was still occupied by the Rimbauer family in the early 1900's, it took a victim whenever it pleased; maids, servants, guest etc.
The Rimbauer family in early 1900s
As revealed in Ellen's diary, the house got so jealous that it eventually claimed and basically "kidnapped" Ellen Rimbauer's six year old handicapped daughter April Rimbauer, to remind the woman who was really in charge and to assure that Ellen would never leave. It even "ate" a glamorous movie star known as Deana Petrie, a dear friend of Ellen when she vanished in the house during an annual party in the 1940's, never to be seen again. Its favorite victims were clearly the females. When no one was looking, it would swallow women up without a trace and their fate would result in them becoming "one with the house". But the men who entered or lived within Rose Red, yet who crossed it the wrong way or offended it, would simply die or be killed in horrific and unnatural ways. With each victim Rose Red grew more powerful and dangerous and would add wings, rooms, staircases, closets, corridors and even furniture to itself at will. After the disappearance of Ellen in 1950, it was abandoned and had presumably fallen dormant, thus entering into a supposed "House-Coma".
- The story picks up in 2002 when Dr. Joyce Reardon, an unorthodox university psychology professor, leads a team of gifted psychics to the same antiquated mansion in an attempt to "wake" the house up. It is up to Joyce and her teammates to reveal Rose Red's deadly secrets, then record data which would constitute scientific proof of paranormal phenomena and also save Joyce's reputation and secure her career.
Appearances[]
- Rose Red 2002 ABC TV Miniseries.