Irene Marlowe (The Eyes of the Panther)
She is a young woman described as "young, blonde, graceful, with something in her figure and movements suggesting the word 'lithe'" (2). She describes herself as insane, and is revealed to be a panther.
Jenner Brading (The Eyes of the Panther)
A handsome bachelor and lawyer, he expresses interest in Irene Marlowe but accidentally kills her when she appears in panther form at his window.
Charles Marlowe (The Eyes of the Panther)
He is a frontiersman who loses his wife and first child. At the time of the events in the story, he is described as a sad, broken old man.
Charles Marlowe's Wife (The Eyes of the Panther)
The unnamed wife of Charles Marlowe, she has a terrible dream about an animal-faced child before awakening to see a real panther staring at her.
Joel Hetman (The Moonlit Road)
He is a wealthy Southern gentleman who mysteriously disappears.
Julia Hetman (The Moonlit Road)
Wife of Joel Hetman, she is a wealthy Southern woman found mysteriously murdered in her own home.
Joel Hetman, Jr. (The Moonlit Road)
Son of Joel and Julia, he moves back home to take care of his father after his mother is murdered, only to have his father disappear.
Murlock (The Boarded Window)
He is a pioneering man who lives in the area around Cincinnati. His wife dies tragically of a fever.
Murlock's Wife (The Boarded Window)
The wife of outdoorsman Murlock (who thinks she has died of a fever), she is revealed to be alive when a panther tries to drag her out of the house. She ends up with a fragment of its ear in her mouth.
Harker Brayton (The Man and the Snake)
A young bachelor staying with his friend Dr. Druring, he is bold and skeptical, but ends up dying when he is "hypnotized" by a toy snake.
Dr. Druring (The Man and the Snake)
He is an eccentric old scientist who enjoys keeping snakes in his home.
Thomas and Janet MacGregor (The Secret of Macarger's Gulch)
A couple originally from Scotland, they migrate to the United States and set up a homestead at Macarger's Gulch. Thomas is remarkable for the large scar on his face. He murders his wife Janet for reasons unknown.
Elderson (The Secret of Macarger's Gulch)
A bold adventurer who stays in the shack near Macarger's Gulch, he has a strange dream about a distant city, then hears a strange incident in the darkness of the house.
Morgan (The Secret of Macarger's Gulch)
A friend of Elderson, he is the one who discovered the skeleton in the shack at Macarger's Gulch, and tells Elderson about what really happened in that remote location.
Richard Grossmith (The Middle Toe of the Right Foot)
A large middle-aged man with a cruel, forbidding face, he is revealed to be Manton, a man who killed his wife and children, before escaping to parts unknown. He is killed by the ghost of his wife whom he murdered.
King (The Middle Toe of the Right Foot)
A sheriff’s deputy, he says he hates any kind of deformity in a woman, and Grossmith/Manton challenges him to a duel based on this insult. He is friends with Rosser and Sancher.
Rosser (The Middle Toe of the Right Foot)
A friend of King and Sancher, he takes part in the duel against Grossmith.
Sancher (The Middle Toe of the Right Foot)
A friend of King and Rosser, he reluctantly agrees to act as Grossmith’s second for their duel.
Gertrude (The Middle Toe of the Right Foot)
Wife of Manton and sister of Brewer, she is remarkable for the missing middle toe on her right foot.
William Jarrett (A Psychological Shipwreck)
A former business partner for the mercantile house of Bronson and Jarrett, he boards a ship bound to New York with only an unusual young woman for company.
Janette Harford (A Psychological Shipwreck)
A mysterious young woman orphaned at a young age before being adopted by the Harford family, she is engaged to Doyle. She has the ability to move out of her body.
Gordon Doyle (A Psychological Shipwreck)
A friend of William Jarrett and passenger on the City of Prague, he is engaged to be married to Janette Harford. He is notable for his wry sense of humor.
Jefferson Doman (A Holy Terror)
A wandering miner, he is friends with Barney Bree, and the sweetheart of Mary Matthews. He dies when a coffin falls on him.
Barney Bree (A Holy Terror)
A resident of the mining camp Hurdy-Gurdy, he is an alcoholic and a grave digger. He discovers a vein of gold and writes a letter to his friend Jefferson Doman about it.
Mary Matthews (A Holy Terror)
She is a beautiful blonde woman whose face is cut over a gambling incident. Though she was originally the sweetheart of Jefferson Doman, she ends up marrying the wealthy Mr. Porfer. She dies when she realizes that the bones they discovered at Hurdy-Gurdy belonged to Jefferson Doman.
Mr. Porfer (A Holy Terror)
The wealthy husband of Mrs. Porfer (that is, Mary Matthews), he earned the beginning of his wealth at the Hurdy-Gurdy mining camp, which is why he is so eager to visit.
John Bartine (John Bartine's Watch)
A man who has inherited a watch from his great-grandfather, he feels a compulsion to look at it every night, along with increasing dread as the hour approaches 11. When he finally does look at the watch at this time, he dies.
Bramwell Olcott Bartine (John Bartine's Watch)
He is the great-grandfather of John Bartine, a Tory abducted by rebels from his home in Virginia during the Revolutionary War and who was never seen again. We can infer that he died at the hour of 11 pm.
John Bartine's Friend (John Bartine's Watch)
John Bartine's unnamed friend, he joins him for dinner. He decides to conduct an experiment on John Bartine by turning his watch one hour back, which kills John Bartine.
Mohun Dampier (Beyond the Wall)
He is a friend of the narrator, a rather selfish aristocrat who dabbles in the occult. He falls in love with a young woman, but limits himself only to knocking on her wall. When she dies, this knocking continues.
Narrator (Beyond the Wall)
He is returning from Hong Kong when he visits his friend Mohun Dampier. This character mainly serves as a vehicle for the reader to hear the story of Dampier.
Dr. Helberson (Watcher by the Dead)
A doctor who insists that fear of the dead is not innate, he proves this by describing an experiment in which a living man is locked in a room with a corpse for a night. He hatches a plan with Harper and Mancher to play a trick on the gambler Jarette. After this trick goes awry, the two flee to Europe and New York and eventually become gamblers.
Harper (Watcher by the Dead)
He is a young medical student who hatches a plan with Dr. Helberson to play a trick on the gambler Jarette. By the end of the story, he has fled San Francisco with Dr. Helberson and become a gambler.
Mancher (Watcher by the Dead)
A physician who poses as a corpse in a dark room with Jarette, he is either killed by Jarette out of terror when he rises from the table, or accidentally causes Jarette's death from fear.
Jarette (Watcher by the Dead)
A gambler who takes on a bet to spend the night in a room with a corpse, he either killed Mancher out of terror at seeing him rise from the table, or was killed from fear at seeing Mancher.
Moxon (Moxon's Master)
An inventor who believes that all matter has consciousness, he invents a chess-playing machine that eventually kills him.
Narrator (Moxon's Master)
A friend of Moxon, he witnesses the chess-playing machine kill Moxon.
Haley (Moxon's Master)
Moxon's assistant, who helped him build the machine, he saves the life of the narrator when the house burns down.
