| Harrison |
Albright | Poet and local resident of the Cloudwater area |
| Mark |
Artowsky | Graduate student working with a small research team |
| Albert |
Bierstadt | German-American painter |
| Petar |
Blagojevich | Serbian peasant associated with early vampire folklore |
| Zephraim |
Blakeney | Most sensitive member of the Blakeney clan |
| Fred |
Bridger | Bar owner |
| Robert |
Burton | English scholar, author, and clergyman |
| G. K. |
Chesterton | English author and philosopher |
| Thomas |
Cole | American artist |
| John |
Coltrane | American saxophonist and bandleader |
| Betty |
Cornhill | Jack Cornhill's wife |
| Jack |
Cornhill | Supervisor at Zone C |
| David |
Crockett | Former United States representative |
| Lotus |
Elan | Classic lightweight British sports car |
| Ralph Waldo |
Emerson | American essayist, poet, and philosopher |
| Ebenezer |
Emmons | Official New York State surveyor |
| Bill |
Evans | American jazz pianist and composer |
| Duke |
Ferdinand | Heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne |
| Dr. Chase |
Feverbridge | Brilliant and highly iconoclastic naturalist |
| Laura |
Feverbridge | Daughter of Dr. Chase Feverbridge |
| Willis J. |
Forsythe | American actor |
| Octavius Brooks |
Frothingham | American author |
| Alice |
Hannigan | Ranger in charge of all eight northern counties |
| William |
Hart | American film actor and screenwriter |
| Gregory |
Hartshorn | Booked Jeremy Logan into his cabin. Aka: Greg |
| Randall |
Jessup | Lieutenant ranger in New York's Division of Forest Protection |
| Diane |
Kearns | Conceptual artist |
| Captain |
Krenshaw | Zone commander, Troop B |
| Jeremy |
Logan | Yale history professor and enigmalogist |
| John |
Masefield | English poet and writer |
| Loch Ness |
Monster | Mythical creature |
| Thomas |
Moran | American painter and graphic artist |
| Kevin |
Pace | Fellow researcher of Mark Artowsky |
| Dr. Bryce |
Plowson | Plattsburgh Medical Examiner |
| Claude |
Prieur | Wine and champagne producer and seller |
| Gertrude |
Randowsky | Aunt of Sam Wiggins's late wife |
| Paul |
Rudolph | German physicist |
| Robert W. |
Service | Canadian poet and writer |
| Peter |
Stumpp | German farmer and alleged serial killer |
| Henry David |
Thoreau | American naturalist and essayist |
| Kelty |
Tioga | Brand and model of an external-frame backpack |
| John |
Webster | English dramatist |
| Sam |
Wiggins | Barber |
| Saul |
Woden | Person of interest in the investigation into hikers' deaths |
| Aaron |
| One of Harrison Albright's acquaintances |
| Buster |
| Sam Wiggins's Jack Russell terrier |
| Esau |
| Patriarch of the Blakeney clan |
| Euterpe |
| Muse of music in Greek mythology |
| Franklin |
| Randall Jessup's son |
| Hannah |
| Randall Jessup's daughter |
| Karen |
| Jeremy Logan's deceased wife |
| Mischa |
| One of Laura Feverbridge's dogs |
| Nahum |
| One of Harrison Albright's acquaintances |
| Palmer |
| Hiker and backpacker |
| Rebekah |
| Member of the Blakeney clan |
| Ruth |
| Member of the Blakeney clan |
| Suzanne |
| Randall Jessup's wife |
| Toshi |
| One of Laura Feverbridge's dogs |
