The Mystery Shack, briefly named Murder Hut, is the main location of the Disney Channel animated TV series, Gravity Falls. It is a house and tourist trap located in Gravity Falls, Oregon. It was formerly owned by Ford Pines, who initially built it as his main base of research and residence. After his disappearance, his twin brother Stan Pines took over the house and transformed it into a tourist trap. It is the main residence for Dipper and Mabel throughout the series, and after the summer, Soos Ramirez took over the Shack when the Stan brothers set off for their voyage. Wendy and Soos are the employees of the Mystery Shack.
History[]
The shack was originally the home of Ford Pines, during his studies of Gravity Falls. The estate was bought from "Northwest Realty", and the shack was built by a young Manly Dan. Through Ford's investigation of the Great Flood of 1863, he learnt that the land the Shack was built on was a mass grave of victims from the Flood. After his disappearance, his brother, Stan Pines, began to inhabit the shack in order to rescue his brother. As a business, the Mystery Shack, originally "The Murder Hut", was first created by Stan Pines, in an attempt to raise money to pay his brother's rent. He started the business by faking his identity, pretending to be his brother, Ford. Tourists decided to visit the shack to what was inside the mysterious man's home. His first tour was successful and fulfilled Stan's goal of raising money for the rent.
Stan has lived in the Mystery Shack for decades, and at some point, he added a museum to it after people showed their interest in knowing what was inside. For some time, one of the most lucrative exhibits was the Wax Museum of Mystery, though Stan closed it after tourists stopped coming to see all of it. There was also a costume store near the site fifteen years ago. Stan runs and resides at the Shack, and Dipper and Mabel Pines spent their first summer away from home there as of 2012. The Pines, Wendy Corduroy, and Soos Ramirez make up the staff.
In "Scary-oke", the shack was wrecked again by a zombie attack but it was fixed soon after. Stan claimed it was a "big woodpecker" when a construction worker asked.
In "Not What He Seems", the Shack suffers extensive damage due to the gravity anomalies caused by the Universe portal.
By the events of "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons," the Shack has been temporarily closed for repairs. Later in the episode, a wall is destroyed by Probabilitor's "math ray" which pushes back construction even more.
During the events of "The Last Mabelcorn," the Mystery Shack is shown to have been fully repaired. Ford is shown to possess the Mystery Shack's architectural plans. Dipper and Ford managed to create an invisible Bill-proof shield around it to prevent anyone within the Mystery Shack from being manipulated by Bill Cipher.
As Shacktron[]
After Ford created a barrier around the Mystery Shack using a spell involving unicorns' hair, it became the only place in Gravity Falls unaffected by Bill and any weirdness caused by him, thus becoming a shelter and hideout for almost all the remaining survivors. After Dipper, Mabel, Soos and Wendy find their way back to the Mystery Shack, they meet the group of survivors that Stan is leading. Stan explains everything to the twins, thus inspiring them to lead a fight against Bill. Stan mentions that they should not attack Bill because the Shack is the only place safe from weirdness, and the only way to fight Bill is to bring the Shack to him. Realizing this, McGucket quickly drafted some blueprints to convert the Shack into a powerful machine to fight Bill and his henchmaniacs. The survivors then worked together to gather parts from all over town and assemble them to create the Shacktron.
The survivors launched an attack on the Fearamid. While the Shacktron kept Bill and his minions occupied, Dipper, Mabel, Stan, Wendy, Soos, Pacifica, Sheriff Blubs and McGucket entered the Fearamid to free Bill's captives. Though the Shacktron managed to fend off Bill and his minions for a time, Bill ultimately discovered that only the Shack itself was immune to his power, with the rest of the Shacktron's parts being vulnerable. Bill ripped off one of the Shacktron's legs, and used it to damage the robot. The Shacktron was destroyed soon after, but the Mystery Shack was still intact afterward.
Architecture[]
Layout[]
The Shack is intended to be an "ever changing, inconsistent, labyrinthine location." It does have a loose layout that was developed while the show went on, but ultimately, it's meant to feel "mysterious and magical."
Exterior[]
The Mystery Shack has no less than four exits. The main entrance, the porch entrance, a small door which leads directly to the floor room, and the gift shop door. There's also a cellar door under the gift shop window. One side of the sloping roof has the Mystery Shack name, and the other has a small platform with a cooler that Wendy often hangs out on. The roof with the "GIFT" sign also has a weather vane that has the letters W, H, A, and T, along with a question mark, instead of the usual W, S, N, and E.