History Main / CreepyHousekeeper

Her male counterpart is the CrustyCaretaker. They'll often tag team any newcomers into being properly creeped out before the hauntings start.

* Mrs Pritchard is the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "Ghost Light". [[spoiler: She turns out to be the lady of the house, brainwashed into serving the main villain Josiah Smith]]

* Daniella from ''{{Haunting Ground}}''.

* In the original ''ThirteenGhosts'', the protagonist's son accuses the housekeeper of being a witch, due to her generally humorless and cruel demeanor and homely appearance. This is an in-joke for those that know the actress who portrayed her, Marget Hamilton, played [[TheWizardOfOz the Wicked Witch of the West]].

* Mrs Pritchard is the ''{{Doctor Who}}'' serial "Ghost Light". [[spoiler: She turns out to be the lady of the house, brainwashed into serving the main villain Josiah Smith]]

[[caption-width-right:250:He...vas...my...BOYFRIEND!!!]]

->"I am Frau Blucher. ''(horses whinny)'' Your rooms are ready, Herr Doctor. If you will follow me, please."
-->-- Frau Blucher''(horses whinny)'', '''''YoungFrankenstein'''''

Ever found yourself at a huge mansion in the middle of a torrential rainstorm? Chances are the door was opened to you by a Creepy Housekeeper. This trope spends much of her time walking around a large manor house cleaning, cooking, being fanatically devoted to her master, and scaring off any new female inhabitants of the house. Although she often welcomes hapless visitors, chances are they will be either murdered or scared off by the end of a terrifying night. She will be common in murder mysteries/tales of the supernatural, although often subverted for comedy.

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** Same in ''WutheringHeights,'' written by Charlotte's sister Emily Bronte. Nelly is the [[OnlySaneMan only normal person]] at Wuthering Heights by a LONG shot.

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* Miss Stolz from ''QuantumLeap'': In the episode "A Portrait for Troian," the Creepy Housekeeper is used to her full potential, and we find out that Miss Stolz was actually a ghost the entire time. If that's not creepy, I don't know what is.

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* ''TheCatAndTheCanary'' has "Mammy" Pleasant, a voodoo woman from the West Indies.

->"Welcome, I am Frau Blucher! ''(horses whinny)'' Your rooms are ready, Herr Doctor. If you will follow me, please."
-->-- Frau Blucher, '''''YoungFrankenstein'''''

* Frau Blucher from ''YoungFrankenstein'': Every time someone says her name, horses neigh and there is lightning.

* Jane Twisden from Charles Ludlam's ''The Mystery of Irma Vep''. Mainly a parody of Mrs. Danvers.

* Mammy Pleasant in 1927 ''TheCatAndTheCanary'' is one of the earliest cinematic examples.

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-->'''Mrs. Dudley:''' I set dinner on the dining room sideboard at six. Breakfast is ready at nine. I don't stay after dinner. Not after it begins to get dark. We live in town, nine miles, so there won't be anyone around if you need help...\\
'''Nell:''' We couldn't even hear you.\\
'''Mrs. Dudley:''' No one could. No one lives any nearer than town...\\
'''Nell:''' No one will come any nearer than that.\\
'''Mrs. Dudley:''' In the night...\\
'''Nell:''' In the dark.

* In the original ''ThirteenGhosts'', the protagonist's son accuses the housekeeper of being a witch, due to her generally humorless and cruel demeanor and homely appearance. This is an in-joke for those that know the actress who portrayed her, Marget Hamilton, played [[TheWizardOfOz the Wicked Witch of the West.]]

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* Nettie from the short story ''Bargain with the Wind'' by Sharon Shinn might qualify. Unusually, she is the narrator, and [[spoiler: she turns out to be an immortal earth spirit charged with protecting the masters of the house.]]
* Mrs. Danvers from Daphne du Maurier's ''{{Rebecca}}'' is pretty much the iconic example.
* Averted In ''JaneEyre'', where Mrs. Fairfax is the most normal and wholesome person around creepy Thornfield Manor.
** Same in ''WutheringHeights,'' written by Charlotte's sister Emily Bronte. Nelly is the [[OnlySaneMan only normal person]] at Wuthering Heights by a LONG shot.
* Also averted with the pleasant, helpful, long-suffering Mrs. Hudson. Though it might be supposed that her neighbors think she's a bit nutty for putting up with [[SherlockHolmes her eccentric tenant.]]
* Eunice Parchman, the housekeeper in Ruth Rendell's ''A Judgement in Stone'', is mildly creepy and off-putting, but that's probably just because she's desperately keeping a secret (her illiteracy) which will eventually drive her to murder the entire family. (And that's not even a spoiler: the book ''begins'' with the sentence "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write." The ensuing novel is an exploration of the hundred tiny threads that lead to the murders, such as that she can't read a note written by the daughter and comes to believe that whatever's written on it is making fun of her.)
* The title character in Roald Dahl's short story ''TheLandlady'' says that she has stuffed all her dead pets herself. Apparently, [[spoiler: she has done so to her previous guests as well and is about to do so to the young man who stays in her house]].

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* Mrs. Danvers from Daphne du Maurier's ''Rebecca'' is pretty much the iconic example.

[[quoteleft:357:[[YoungFrankenstein http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fraubluckerxn3.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width:357:He...vas...my...BOYFRIEND!!!]]

* Rebecca Femm, in James Whale's 1932 film ''The Old Dark House'', is one of the earliest cinematic examples.

* In the original ''ThirteenGhosts'', the protagonist's son accuses the house keeper of being a witch, due to her generally humorless and cruel demeanor and homely appearance. This is an in-joke for those that know the actress who portrayed her, Marget Hamilton, played [[TheWizardOfOz the Wicked Witch of the West.]]
* Helga in "ThePacifier." *shudder*
* Mammy Pleasant in 1927 ''The Cat and the Canary''.

* Mary-Anne plays a parody of this trope in a Vampire-spoof dream sequence in "Gilligan'sIsland."

* Mary-Anne plays a parody of this trope in a Vampire-spoof dream sequence in Gilligan'sIsland.

* Magenta and Riff-Raff from ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''.

* ''The House on Haunted Hill'' has one. She's blind.

* This trope is parodied in the otherwise straight ghost movie ''The Haunting''. The housekeeper, Mrs. Dudley, has already given Nell a speech implying all sorts of nastyness about the house, when she does an encore for latecomer Theo, Nell "[[LargeHam helpfully]]" finishes parts of her monologue for her:

* Eunice Parchman, the housekeeper in Ruth Rendell's ''A Judgement in Stone'', is mildly creepy and off-putting, but that's probably just because she's desperately keeping a secret (her illiteracy) which will eventually drive her to murder the entire family. (And that's not even a spoiler: the book ''begins'' with the sentence "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.? The ensuing novel is an exploration of the hundred tiny threads that lead to the murders, such as that she can't read a note written by the daughter and comes to believe that whatever's written on it is making fun of her.)

--> - Frau Blucher, '''YoungFrankenstein'''

* In the original ThirteenGhosts, the protagonist's son accuses the house keeper of being a witch, due to her generally humorless and cruel demeanor and homely appearance. This is an in-joke for those that know the actress who portrayed her, Marget Hamilton, played [[TheWizardOfOz the Wicked Witch of the West.]]

* Mrs Pritchard is the {{Doctor Who}} serial "Ghost Light". [[spoiler: She turns out to be the lady of the house, brainwashed into serving the main villain Josiah Smith]]
* Lurch. [[TheAddamsFamily You Rang?]]

* Averted In JaneEyre, where Mrs. Fairfax is the most normal and wholesome person around creepy Thornfield Manor.

* Daniella from {{Haunting Ground}}.

[[quoteleft:357:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fraubluckerxn3.jpg]]

** Doesn't help she has a creepy obsession with the original frankenstein and tried to transfer it to our protagonist
* Magenta from ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''.
** Pretty sure you mean Riff-Raff, though to be fair the entire staff fits the trope.
*** ...what with the entire staff being composed of Magenta and Riff-Raff.