A lot of people know Tower of Terror as one of Disney's most iconic rides (RIP to the Disneyland one [1]), but the creepy story behind it is what really makes us want to scream. The ride was originally based off of numerous episodes of The Twilight [2] Zone, and Disney stayed pretty true to the tale when they decided to make the movie in 1997. The story follows Buzzy Crocker (Steve Guttenberg), an out-of-work newspaper editor whose stories attract the attention of an old woman named Abigail Gregory. Abigail claims that she witnessed an incident at the Hollywood Tower Hotel in 1939 when five guests — singer Carolyn Crosson, her boyfriend Gilbert London, child actress Sally Shine, her nanny Emeline Partridge, and bellhop Dewey Todd — were killed when the elevator they were riding in while on their way to a party at the hotel's Tip Top Club plummeted to the basement.
Abigail claims that Emeline orchestrated the entire thing because she was fed up with Sally's spoiled attitude, but her plan backfired when they became trapped inside the hotel as ghosts. Abigail said the "spell" can be broken once the elevator is fixed and items belonging to the dead can be found. Buzzy decides to try and solve the mystery with his niece, Anna (Kirsten Dunst [3]), but they quickly realize that Abigail is actually Sally's sister, and that she was the one behind the deaths because she was jealous of Sally's booming career in Hollywood. Sally and Abigail are then reunited, and Sally reveals that the party at the Tip Top Club was actually a surprise party for Abigail. Sally apologizes to her sister for never making it to the party, and the two make up before they finally reach the Tip Top Club and all the trapped souls (plus Abigail) finally depart for heaven.
When It's a Dark, Stormy, and Green(?) Night
And It Becomes Evident Very Quickly That the Hotel Is Alive With . . . Spirits
When a Dark (but Suited) Figure Casually Creeps in the Background
When Buzzy's Hand Almost Gets Stabbed by a Demonic Pen
When You See This Traumatizing Flash of a Person Hanging
When a Dead Body Decides to Roll Itself Through the Basement Kitchen . . .
. . . Only to Reveal IT HAS NO HEAD (and Carries a Meat Cleaver, Naturally)
When the Ghost of Sally Slowly Dances Her Way Toward Buzzy and Anna
What Whatever the Hell This Is Happens
When Emeline Appears to Want to Set the World on Fire . . .
. . . But Then She Slowly Disappears
When You Realize That Abigail Is Quite Psychotic
When the Elevators Are About to Fall and You Can't Take the Stress
When You Realize That Abigail Basically Decapitated Sally's Doll
When the Party of Ghosts Is Over in .2 Seconds
When You Realize It Was All Just a Big Misunderstanding and You Feel Angry and Confused
Bye.
