Hellish View's Favourite Horror Literature Characters

A follow up piece.

Some of you may have read my favourite horror movie characters, and I hope you enjoyed it. This time I’ve gone for a top ten(ish) characters from horror literature. They’re a pretty random collection, but I definitely feel each individual, duo, or group deserves their place. Unfortunately, I had Rosemary, Carrie and Eleanor on my previous list, so there go my top three. Fortunately, I came up with some gooduns to fill the gap - they are in no particular order.

Possible (but mostly light) spoilers ahead. These are in no particular order.

Felix Kline - James Herbert’s Sepulchre (1987).

This guy sucks, but man is he frightening. Felix is merely a shell which something truly horrible has slithered into, and his slimy personality and supernatural power make him a fantastic villain. His fate at the end of the novel is appropriately appalling, too.

Roland Deschain and the Ka-Tet - Stephen King’s The Dark Tower (1982-2004)

This group of gunslingers (and their furry friend, Oy) are as loveable as they are relentless. The characters become grimmer and stranger with each book, and yet still their group relationship develops into something beautiful and heartfelt. Still, there is no denying the unnerving obsessions and brutal violence simmering beneath their heroic surfaces. This is especially true of our main protagonist, Roland, somewhere between an ancient knight and an Old West lawmaker, who remains deeply mysterious at every turn.

The cast of Richard Matheson’s Hell House (1971)

I fucking love a haunting, so these lot are right up my alley. You know instantly from meeting them that they will fall prey to all manner of spooks, ghosts and ghouls, and they really do. Nobody comes away unscathed, and their interpersonal dynamics make the creepy shit that goes down all the more interesting to read. The women are, of course, the most compelling.

Police Chief Martin Brody - Peter Benchley’s Jaws (1974)

Love Brody. He survives attacks from a fuck-off big shark, and he’s very likeable to boot. The fella makes for a great protagonist, even if I have little to say about him.

Larten Crepsley and Darren Shan - Darren Shan’s The Saga of Darren Shan (2000-2004)

Young boy Darren Shan is forced to become a vampire in this weird and surprisingly nasty YA series. His journey to mastering his fate and vampiric power is fun and exciting to read, and his master, Mr Crepsley, is an undeniably iconic vamp. I mean for God’s sake, he has a pet tarantula. Also, the prequel stories where we get him in his prime are gnarly - one story has the dude fighting a polar bear, all the while protecting a baby. You gotta admit, that’s pretty sick.

Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra and Count Dracula - Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897)

I mean what is there to say that hasn’t been said about these three. Capable and intelligent Mina, effortlessly cool and awfully tragic Lucy, and the evil, monstrous Thing that destroys their lives. All of these characters are horror essentials, and I could go on about each for a long time. However, Monica Van Fleet is the expert, so I’ll send you her way.

Rebecca from Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca (198)

Rebecca is dead before the novel begins, but she haunts every second of the narrative. Her presence bleeds into everything, and makes for a genuinely frightening ghost that never appears.

Mabel from Elizabeth Macneal’s Monster (2021)

From The Haunting Season anthology, Mabel doesn’t get a lot to do in her story, but she makes a big impact. Her unpleasant husband is our narrator, and as Mabel journeys into apathy and disgust for him, he likens her to a selkie. She’s awesome.

The narrator from Shirley Jackson’s The Tooth (1949)

A classic Jackson protagonist, slipping slowly into lunacy. The story makes for fascinating and disturbing reading, and for me its narrator is definitely a standout horror character.

Paul Sheldon from Stephen King’s Misery (1987)

Paul suffers a lot in his story, but he makes it out alive. He fights tooth and nail to survive, and his vivid character makes for a remarkable read. We spend a lot of time with him, alone in his own thoughts. Truly iconic.

As a final point, I have to say any narrator in a short ghost story is up there for me. The fellows in Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows (1907), for instance, are very interesting. I also have a great appreciation for other older horror figures, like Florence Marryat’s Harriet Brandt, who is despicably racist and unspeakably sinister, in part because she is so bigoted. Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan (1894) contains the unsettling Helen Vaughan, who is an underrated monster-woman.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Best to quit while I’m ahead.

As ever, thank you for reading,

Until next time,

H.E.

---