Meet the Cast
The Narrator
The Narrator: Champion of Reason or Brash Young Whippersnapper?From the very first line of the story, we get the sense that the narrator’s a bit on the arrogant side. "I can assure you," said...
The Man with the Shade
The man with the shade is the oldest and probably the creepiest of the three creepy old custodians. He comes into the custodians’ quarters later (after the beginning of the story), which give...
The Man with the Withered Arm
The man with the withered arm is another one of three old and creepy-looking custodians left to take care of the abandoned Lorraine Castle. He tries, and fails, to dissuade the narrator from going...
The Old Woman
The old woman is the third in the trio of creepy old custodians. She has pale eyes and stares intently into the fire. Her most distinctive feature at the beginning is that she says "this night of a...
The Old Earl
The earl is one of the candidates for ghost of the red room, according to the custodians. A former master of Lorraine Castle, he apparently killed his wife in the red room when some joke of his wen...
The Timid Young Countess
The countess is the other most likely candidate for the ghost haunting the red room, and the younger wife of the old earl. She apparently died in the red room as the result of some misguided joke h...
The Poor Young Duke
The poor young duke, whom the narrator mentions, was apparently the last person who tried to spend the night in the red room. Like the narrator who admires him, his aim was to prove that room wasn&...