Meet the Cast
Will Halloway
Born at exactly one minute to midnight, William Halloway ("Will" to his friends and family, and to you, too) is a boy with blond-white hair who lives with his parents on Oak Street, right next door...
Jim Nightshade
Honestly, Jim Nightshade leaves us scratching our heads a bit. We'll start with a brief comparison to his buddy Will. Will has white-blond hair, Jim has hair that's "wild, thick and the glossy colo...
Mr. Charles Halloway
We first meet Charles Halloway, Will's father, in Chapter 2. He is described first by Will as "not grandfather, not far-wandering, ancient uncle, as some might think, but…my father" (2.21). (...
Mr. Dark
Put simply, Mr. Dark is the novel's bad guy. (See "Character Roles" for more on his villain status.) Along with Mr. Cooger, he is the proprietor of the carnival and, as such, is focused on luring p...
The Dust Witch
Talk about creepy. Although blind, the Dust Witch is arguably the carnival's most powerful villain. Described as having "swamp breath," "stitch-wrinkled eyes," "mummy-linen ears," and a "dry-rivule...
Mr. Cooger
Mr. Cooger is Mr. Dark's partner in running the carnival. Aside from his red hair, we don't know too much about Mr. Cooger because he spends most of the book as either Robert, the young nephew of M...
Miss Foley
Miss Foley is the boys' seventh-grade schoolteacher. We first meet her in Chapter 15 when she bumps into the boys at the carnival. Although Will warns her not to step into the ominous Mirror Maze,...
Tom Fury
Tom Fury, the friendly lightning-rod salesman, succumbs to his desire to gaze upon the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, and re-emerges in the novel as the carnival's squashed Dwarf. As such, he i...
Mr. Crosetti
We assume that Mr. Crosetti, the town barber, was one of the carnival's first victims. His attraction to the licorice and cotton candy smells of his youth was very strong in Chapter 4, and then his...