If one was to compare them to their primary predecessor motion pictures, The Haunted Mansion is simultaneously the Citizen Kane and Vertigo of theme park attractions. No attraction before or since has been able to entrance its visitors quite like it has, nor has any ride been able to encapsulate the theatricality of themed entertainment in such a flawless marriage of form and function. And just like those two aforementioned films, The Haunted Mansion is similarly surrounded by a swirling cloud of obsession seemingly signifying nothing or so we thought…

Like Foxx, I too have held a lifelong fascination with the New England edifice strangely situated in the swamps of Central Florida. I would also consume any and all manner of materials about the macabre manor house for decades.
Yet even the more comprehensive of these resources stayed somewhat superficial in their coverage of the subject matter, leaving “Mansionologists” like myself wanting more. Until now.

Enter Boundless Realm.

When Foxx announced she had completed a book on The Haunted Mansion it was some of the best news I’ve heard this (or any other) year! Like so many others of the Disney intelligentsia, I’ve been admiring her work for many years especially the “In Doorless Chambers” series that serves as the basis of this book.

Unlike so many Disney history books that simply describe the already self-evident show scenes of attractions accompanied by paintings and photographs that often compensate for the light peppering of prose on the production of its subject matter, “Boundless Realm” goes SO MUCH deeper into the historical, psychological, metaphysical and even metanarrative components that constitute The Haunted Mansion that extend well-beyond its wrought iron gates, while also providing bare bones brass tacks coverage of the many wall-to-wall creeps and changes this attraction has went through over the decades.

It may seem silly to some to refer to the teachings of Simon Sinek in reference to a not-so-sinister ride, but while other tomes focus on the “What” and “How” of theme parks attractions, Boundless Realm performs the rarest of all feats by revealing the all important “WHY” behind the Mansion and reasons for its immortal success.

One would indeed be a very Foolish Mortal not to purchase this impressive opus on that most enigmatic of all theme park entities!