Randall Pace is a character in the comics, based on the Hatbox Ghost from the attraction.
Backstory[]
Randall Pace was the captain of the Pomona, a sloop he sailed from port to port, trading in a variety of supplies.
Captain Pace as a mortal.
One night on a voyage to Barbados, there came a sudden storm. Despite the protests of his first mate William Gracey and the rest of the crew, Captain Pace had them sail through the storm, determined to arrive to their destination on time to meet a deadline.
As they braved the storm, Gracey discovered that Pace had apparently become a gunrunner without consulting the crew. He confronted Pace, demanding to know the truth about the cargo, who it was for, and why they were risking their lives and the ship for it. Pace replied, "Truth is not on the manifest, and is none of your concern."
A sudden gust caused some the riggings to break free. Pace found himself tied up and struggling with the broken parts of the mast. He ordered his first mate to cut him loose, and in a fit of rage, Gracey beheaded Pace with a sword. Later, Gracey put Pace's head in a hatbox he'd found below, intending to give him a proper burial in Barbados. Immediately following Pace's death, Gracey began his pirating career under the alias Captain Blood.
Three years later, Gracey purchased a haunted mansion in New Orleans. Among the items he stored in the attic was the hatbox containing Pace's skull. The spirit of Pace was summoned by Madame Leota, a psychic medium employed by Gracey to rid the house of the ghosts.
On their wedding day, Gracey's beloved bride-to-be Emily de Claire went into the attic to find "something old." She found the hatbox and was confronted by the headless ghost of Randall Pace.
After taking his head out of the hatbox and placing it on his shoulders, Pace revealed to Emily that he had been murdered by Gracey. He also told her of Gracey's piracy. The spirits of the rest of the Pomona crew then appeared, who had been betrayed by Gracey and left to die.
Gracey heard a scream from the attic, and ran upstairs to find Emily dead on the floor. Before vanishing, the ghostly Captain Pace mocked Gracey and his ruined wedding.
Trivia[]
- Possibly due to the strange artsyle of this part of the story, Randall Pace's Hatbox Ghost-inspired form is very different from the figure that appears/appeared in the attraction and can be seen a few times in the rest of the comic line. He is not hunchbacked, is not bald, does not wear a hat or use a cane, and has no pupils in his eyes.