Character Analysis
Minor Characters Who Don't Live in the Lot
Father Gracon—A priest in Mexico who translates for Father Muñoz.
Maury Green—Jewish funeral home director at a town nearby the lot. Friends with Jimmy.
Miranda Mears—Ben's first wife; killed in a motorcycle accident.
Father Muñoz—A priest in Mexico who hears Mark's confession re: vampires.
Marsten and Relatives
Minella Corey—Birdie Marsten's sister; she tells Ben about Marsten's past as a contract killer and general evil person.
Birdie Marsten—Hubert's wife, whom he murdered in 1939.
Hubert Marsten—A contract killer and a very evil man. He apparently enjoyed killing and torturing young children, and was responsible for several disappearances in the Lot. He also was involved in Satanic rites. He murdered his wife and killed himself in 1939. He was in contact with Barlow, however, and it's because of their correspondence that Barlow eventually came to the Lot.
The Townspeople
Derek Boddin—Richie's dad, Franklin's uncle.
Franklin Boddin—Richie's uncle. A drunk
Marie Boddin—Richie's mom.
Richie Boddin—A school bully, who Mark beats up. Derek's his dad and Franklin's his uncle.
Corey Bryant—A telephone repairman sleeping with Bonnie Sawyer, Reggie's wife. He gets turned into a vampire by Barlow himself.
Weasel Craig—A tenant in Eva Miller's boarding house. He used to sleep with Eva, and he still helps her out with odd jobs. He's an alcoholic. After he's turned into a vampire, he turns Eva, too.
Joe Crane—Jerusalem's Lot resident who coincidentally has a heart attack and dies just before the vampires get just about everyone in the Lot.
Lawrence Crockett—A crooked land dealer and the richest person in Jerusalem's Lot. He sells Barlow and Straker the Marsten House in a semi-legal deal and then covers up for them. That's not nice, but he's punished when he and his family are turned into vampires, so justice is served.
Ruthie Crockett—Lawrence's high-school aged daughter. Dud Rodgers lusts after her and eventually (it's implied) turns her into a vampire before she gets a chance to be the lead in the school play.
Milt Crossen—Owner of Crossen's Agricultural Market, a gathering place for many of the 'Salem's Lot old-timers.
Rhoda Curless—Father Callahan's landlady. A believing Catholic. Escaped the vampires to work at a mission in Portland.
Pauline Dickens —Waitress and part owner of the Excellent Café. She figures out that the town is being invaded by vampires and is one of the few people to quietly escape.
Carl Foreman—Performs autopsies in Jerusalem's Lot. Turned into a vampire when Mike Ryerson comes back to life in the middle of an autopsy.
Nolly Gardener—Deputy sheriff in Jerusalem's Lot. He is ambitious and wants Parkins Gillespie's job. Not particularly bright. Parkins thinks he'll make a good vampire.
Parkins Gillespie—Jerusalem's Lot's constable. Slow-moving, but smarter than he seems. He figures out the town is being overrun by vampires. Ben and Mark ask him for help, but he figures the townspeople deserve to be vampires, anyway, so whatever. He leaves to go live with his sister in a nearby town.
Marjorie Glick—Mother of Danny and Ralphie. Grief-stricken by their deaths, Danny visits her as a vampire and changes her. Ben and Jimmy Cody sit by her corpse and fight her when she rises.
Danny Glick—A young boy; Ralphie's older brother. The first person in Jerusalem's Lot changed to a vampire. He infects Mike Ryerson and Marjorie Glick, and tries unsuccessfully to get Mark Petrie.
Ralphie Glick—Danny's younger brother. Murdered by Straker as a sacrifice to bring Barlow into Jerusalem's Lot.
Tony Glick—Father of Danny and Ralphie; devastated by their deaths. Presumably changed into a vampire by his wife Marjorie, if not by someone else.
Babs Griffen—The town beautician, Hal and Jack's older sister.
Charles Griffen—Father of Hal and Jack; owner of a large dairy farm. Towards the end of the novel, he sells the farm at a loss and apparently escapes.
Hal Griffen—18-year-old farmer's kid, no good at school. Eventually gets turned into a vampire by his brother Jack.
Jack Griffen—14-year-old farmer's kid, better at school than his brother Hal, though that doesn't matter much once they both end up as vampires.
John Groggins—Pastor at Jerusalem's Lot Methodist Church.
Charles ("Sonny") James—A friend of Ben's when he was little. He runs the gas station in Jerusalem's Lot, and is one of the few inhabitants to escape the vampires.
Jerusalem— A pig owned by Charles Tanner that escaped and went feral. Jerusalem's Lot is named after it.
Delbert Markey—Owner of Dell's Bar. One of the last turned into a vampire in the novel.
Glynis Mayberry—A gossip; friends with Mabel Werts, whom she eventually turns into a vampire.
Homer McCaslin—The county sheriff. Gets turned into a vampire by Susan and Barlow.
Randy McDougall—The infant son of Royce and Sandy. Turned into a vampire by Danny Glick.
Royce McDougall—Sandy's husband.
Sandy McDougall—A young, unhappy mother. She sometimes beats her baby, though eventually she is turned into a vampire, and turns Sandy and Royce as well.
Larry McLeod—The mailman who found Birdie Marsten killed in 1939.
George Middler—Works at the hardware store and secretly dresses in women's clothing. It is also suggested that he is homosexual.
Eva Miller—The owner of the Jerusalem's Lot boarding house. She once had a sexual relationship with Weasel Craig, with whom she is still close. She gets turned into a vampire by Weasel late in the novel.
Ralph Miller—Eva's former husband. He died before the beginning of the novel in a mill accident.
Brenton Norbert—The county examiner's assistant. Everyone agrees he's an idiot.
Ann Norton—Susan's mother. She doesn't like Ben Mears. Turned into a half-vampire by Susan, she goes to kill Matt under Barlow's orders and is stopped. She presumably turns into a full vampire later on.
William "Bill" Norton—Salt of the earth small-town good guy. He probably gets turned into a vampire, eventually, though it's never shown.
Hank Peters—One of Crockett's moving men, along with Royal Snow. He (unknowingly) helps move Barlow's coffin to the Marsten House. He sees Ralphie Glick's clothes in the basement of the Marsten House, but Lawrence Crockett bribes and threatens him into silence. He's cheating on his wife with Jackie Talbott
Henry Petrie—Mark's rational dad. His refusal to believe in vampires is his undoing; Barlow murders him and his wife.
June Petrie—Mark's mom. She reads Jane Austen and Henry James and gets killed by Barlow.
Irwin ("Win") Purinton—The milkman, who's happy his unpleasant wife Elsie died two years before. His dog Doc is killed early in the novel by Straker because it has white spots over its eyes, which are dangerous to vampires. Win gets turned into a vampire late in the novel. He's Floyd Tibbets's uncle.
Virgil Rathbun—A drunk, buddies with Franklin Boddin.
Charlie Rhodes—Mean-spirited bus driver who torments his kids. After they've been turned to vampires, they get back at him.
Dud Rodgers—The custodian of the town dump. A hunchback; he lusts after Ruthie Crockett. Barlow himself turns him into a vampire early on.
Mike Ryerson—The gravekeeper. Turned to a vampire by Danny Glick. Dies in Matt's house and tries to turn him, unsuccessfully. Last seen sleeping in Straker's boarded-up store.
Bonnie Sawyer—Wife of Reggie; she's having an adulterous affair with Corey Bryant. After Reggie catches them, Corey is turned into a vampire and comes back for Bonnie.
Reggie Sawyer—A car mechanic. He catches Corey Bryant sleeping with his wife and cruelly punishes them both. Corey has his revenge after he gets turned into a vampire.
Royal Snow—One of Lawrence Crockett's moving men; he (unknowingly) helps move Barlow's coffin. Crockett and his wife feed on him towards the end of the novel.
Loretta Starcher—The town librarian. As a vampire, she sleeps upstairs in the library.
Cynthia Stowens (Aunt Cindy)—Ben's Aunt, whom he stayed with for four years in Jerusalem's Lot after his dad died and his mom had a nervous breakdown. She died of natural causes before the novel opens.
Jackie Talbott— A waitress at Dell's place. Sleeping with Hank Peters. It's not clear whether she ends up as a vampire or not.
Charles Tanner—An early resident of the Lot. The town is named after his escaped pig, Jerusalem.
Floyd Tibbets—Susan's ex-boyfriend; Win Purinton's nephew. He gets turned into a vampire; partway through the transition, he attacks Ben under orders from Barlow.
Mabel Werts—The town gossip. Glynis Mayberry turns her into a vampire toward the end of the novel.