Constance Nebbercracker

Constance Nebbercracker is the main antagonist of the 2006 film Monster House.

Personality
Constance Nebbercracker is a cruel woman and she doesn't like kids very much.

Appearances
Prior to the events of the film, Horace Nebbercracker first met Constance when she was a circus performer and developed feelings for her, feeling bad for her when he saw how much she was treated. He offered to take her away from the circus, much to her delight. They married soon after. Then, one Halloween, they began building a house for the two of them on a newly bought piece of land. However, on that day, Constance was harassed by a couple of trick-or-treaters. Nebbercracker tried to reassure her that he would do everything in his power to protect her. Unfortunately, the kids continued to tease her, ultimately causing her to fall into the house’s basement and get buried in cement, killing her. Knowing Constance would’ve wanted the house to be complete, Nebbercracker did so. But then, a new problem arose: Constance’s spirit brought the house to life, and began attacking anyone or anything that came close. Realizing this, Nebbercracker spent the next four decades acting like he hated kids as a way of keeping them safe from harm.

45 years later, Nebbercracker, now in his seventies, has a new neighbor living across from him: 12-year-old DJ Walters, who has been spying on him and observing him chasing away kids and confiscating their things on his front yard. When DJ’s best friend Chowder shows up to play basketball with him, his ball ends up on Nebbercracker’s lawn. DJ tries to reclaim it, but Nebbercracker catches him, and while confronting him, he has a heart attack and faints on top of him. He is then taken to the hospital. Nebbercracker’s absence causes Constance’s spirit to reawaken, and blame DJ for her husband’s departure.

That evening, she calls DJ on his phone, emitting growling noises. This further arouses DJ’s suspicions about the house, and he calls Chowder to help him investigate. Meanwhile, Bones, the boyfriend of DJ’s babysitter Zee, teases Nebbercracker’s house out of anger over having his kite taken away from him when he was a kid. The house uses his kite to lure him closer, then devours him.

Accompanying DJ to the house, Chowder disagrees with him about the house being haunted, and proceeds to go up to the house and ring the doorbell to show him there’s nothing to worry about. Doing so causes the house to awaken; its interior suddenly takes on a mouth/throat-like appearance, and the exterior also takes on a more threatening look. Chowder barely avoids being eaten and he and DJ retreat back to DJ’s house, where they spend the night keeping an eye on the house, though the house remains inactive.

In the morning, DJ and Chowder spot an alluring red-haired girl, Jenny Bennett going around door to door selling Halloween candy. Seeing her heading towards the house, they run out to warn her; she merely thinks they’re crazy, but when she turns around, she sees the house coming alive. DJ and Chowder manage to rescue her.

Jenny calls her mom about her encounter with the house, but is not believed. The three then witness the house consuming a dog, making them realize the house waits for its prey to get close enough before devouring it. Calling the police, the youthful trio approach the house, thinking about the carnage waiting to happen that evening. The house tries to tempt Chowder with his basketball, but DJ and Jenny stop him from taking the bait. It is then that the cops show up; DJ, Chowder, and Jenny attempt to tell them about the nature of the house. However, they realize that the house knows better than to come alive when adults are present. Thus, the cops dismiss their claims as well.

The kids then go to Reginald Skullinski, AKA Skull, a rumored expert on the supernatural. He tells them that what they’re dealing with is Domus Mactibillus, a rare breed of monster that spawns when a human soul possesses and merges with a man-made structure, and to defeat it, they have to go for the heart.

Realizing the furnace, which started burning when Nebbercracker was taken to the hospital, is the heart, they concoct a plan to infiltrate the house using a dummy filled with cold medicine that Chowder reluctantly steals from his dad’s pharmacy. However, they end up being arrested by the same police officers they called earlier.

The house lures the officers closer and then attacks and eats both of them. Constance then feasts on the police car; DJ, Chowder, and Jenny are able to escape from the car, but are then trapped inside the house.

They then explore the house, discovering Constance on her honeymoon with Nebbercracker, as well as Nebbercracker’s army days when he was part of a demolition team. Plummeting into the basement, they find a huge collection of toys that Nebbercracker confiscated from children, and Constance’s tomb. The house becomes aware of their presence, and tries to eat them, but they attack the uvula, causing the house to spit them out.

Shortly afterwards, Nebbercracker returns home, having borrowed an ambulance from the hospital. He furiously snaps at the kids before his anger turns to fear as he realizes it’s only a matter of time before the trick-or-treaters show up. As Nebbercracker approaches his house, which is happy to see him, DJ realizes the house is the spirit of his wife, and tells Nebbercracker the truth. Nebbercracker becomes outraged upon learning DJ and his friends were in his house, but calms down and retells his and Constance’s story.

DJ urges Nebbercracker to let Constance go for the better. This causes Constance’s anger to really shoot through the roof; she turns the trees flanking the house into hands/arms and feet/legs, pulls the house out of the earth and chases after DJ, Nebbercracker, Jenny, and Chowder. During the chase, Nebbercracker is forced to stop and rest, while Constance continues going after the kids.

Nebbercracker stands up to Constance and realizes how much trouble she has caused recently, making her feel remorse for her actions. Nebbercracker then resolves to put Constance out of her misery by blowing her up with a dynamite. Infuriated by this “betrayal”, Constance grabs her husband, intent on killing him too. Before she has the chance, Chowder fights her off using the excavator from the adjoining construction site. Nebbercracker then asks DJ to stop his wife on his behalf.

The battle between Chowder and Constance causes them both to fall down into the bed of the empty lake; the house falls apart in the process. For a moment, it looks like the kids won. But, as DJ, Jenny, and Chowder rejoice, Constance reassembles the house, making it look like a massive misshapen bundle of wood, brick, and shingles.

Chowder engages the house in battle once more, while DJ and Jenny ascend a nearby crane, however, this time, Constance gets the upper hand and rips the excavator’s backhoe off, then eats the excavator. With his only weapon capable of fending off the house gone, Chowder is forced to flee. Above them, DJ and Jenny get the dynamite lit; DJ then swings on the crane and throws the dynamite down the chimney and into the furnace, blowing up the house.

With the house destroyed, Constance’s spirit is released and able to go on to Heaven. Nebbercracker is heartbroken over the loss of his house and his wife, but is grateful to DJ, Chowder, and Jenny for freeing them from all these years of imprisonment.

Trivia

 * Constance's last name is Nebbercracker which is named after her husband.
 * She is voiced by Kathleen Turner.