Characters

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Characters are one of the core elements of any story. The development of characters and how they react and behave can make or break a horror plot. A character with layers of development that is revealed throughout the plot can bring a story together. Because we as humans try to relate to characters in stories, a character that people attempt to relate to can really help to create an atmosphere of horror as the reader discovers things about the character.

Types of Character

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Antagonist (the bad guy): The action of a story arises from conflict between the antagonist and protagonist.  The antagonist does not need to be a person but it can be an animal, an object, someones imagination or even nature.
Protagonist (the good guy): The central character of the story who ends up facing the antagonist.  
Confidante: Someone in whom the central character confides, thus revealing the main character's personality, thoughts, and intentions. The confidante does not have to be a person.
Dynamic Character: A character who changes during the course of a story or novel. The change in outlook or character is permanent. Sometimes a dynamic character is called a developing character.
Flat Character: A character who reveals only one, or two personality traits in a story or novel, and the traits do not change.
Foil Character: A character that is used to enhance another character through contrast. 
Round Character: A well developed character who demonstrates varied and sometimes contradictory traits.
Static Character: A character that remains primarily the same throughout a story or novel. Events in the story do not alter a static character's outlook, personality, motivation, perception, habits, etc.
Stock Character: A special kind of flat character who is instantly recognizable to most readers. They are not the focus nor developed in the story.

Wife's Story

Character development is a huge part of the Wife's Story. As the story progresses the wife explains how her husband is one of the kindest and strongest men she knows. The story uses this development to later throw in a twist, that the husband is not who he seems. This part of the story would not have been as impactful without knowing who the father was. Character development really pushes the idea that a man like her husband could be something so awful.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Characters in this story really bring the horror element together. In every good story, there is a character that the reader tries to relate to, consciously or unconsciously. This story really brings horror because the antagonist is a character that is completely unrelatable. The characters that readers try to relate to are the humans. The story is terrifying because they are put through hell by a character that is emotionless. The AM has no apparent motives other than its hatred for humans. When the reader relates to the characters, they relate to a pain that has no end or reason. This is the true horror in this story.

Lost Hearts

This story is a very stereotypical horror story. A man thinks that he can gain supernatural powers by creating a potion using the hearts of three children. The story follows the third child, but before this man can take the third child, the ghosts of the first two children kill him. While this story isn't particularly unique, it is easy to dissect and classify the characters into the different types explained above.

Stephen Elliot: The Protagonist. This is the main character in the story who faces the antagonist.

Mr. Abney: The Antagonist. While we do not find out he is attempting to do harm until later in the story, this is the character trying to stop the protagonist.

Mrs. Bunch: The Confidante. Mrs. Bunch is the character in which Stephen places trust. He asks her questions about Mr. Abney and tells her when he had a nightmare about a girl being killed.

Mr. Parkes: A Stock Character. Mr. Parkes does not have any individual development, but does move the plot along by having a conversation about voices he heard with Mrs. Bunch.

The Ghosts: Foil Characters. While "enhance" may not be the correct word to use, they do give us a better sense of the character of Mr. Abney. They reveal what he has been doing by being present and in general move the plot towards the end.

The Mystery of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

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Characters are essential to the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The story can be very hard to follow without knowing and keeping track of the characters, as with any story. Knowing the Types of Characters can help in breaking down the story for studying and better understanding.

Mr. Gabriel John Utterson: The central character of the novel, who narrates most of the story, either directly or through documents which come into his possession. He is also the counsel for, and close friend to, both Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Lanyon.
Mr. Richard Enfield: A distant kinsman of Mr. Utterson, he is a well-known man about town and is the complete opposite of Mr. Utterson; yet they seem to thoroughly enjoy their weekly Sunday walks together.
Dr. Henry Jekyll: A prominent physician in London; very handsome, distinguished, and generally respected; he has alienated some of his close professional friends because of his experiments concerning the dual nature of mankind.
Edward Hyde: As the name indicates, Hyde is the fleshy (or "sinful," according to Victorian standards) manifestation of Dr. Jekyll's personality; he is guilty of committing atrocious acts throughout the novel. The search to determine who Edward Hyde is constitutes the first half of the novel.
Dr. Hastie Lanyon: Dr. Jekyll's closest friend of many years; Lanyon broke with Jekyll concerning how much evil can be found within a person. Dr. Lanyon's narration in Chapter 9 reveals the true nature of Jekyll's and Hyde's relationship.
Poole: He is Dr. Jekyll's man servant, chief butler, and all-around manager of the house; he has been in Dr. Jekyll's service for so long that he knows every footstep and motion associated with his employer; he is, therefore, able to report to Mr. Utterson that the man in seclusion is not Dr. Jekyll.
Bradshaw: Dr. Jekyll's footman and man-about-the-house, who goes around to the back entry of Jekyll's laboratory to guard the back door, while Poole and Utterson break in through the front door.
Mr. Guest: Mr. Utterson's secretary, who is "a great student and critic of handwriting." He finds something amazingly similar between Dr. Jekyll's and Mr. Hyde's handwriting.
Sir Danvers Carew: A distinguished M.P. (Member of Parliament), who does not appear in the work, but whose unprovoked and vicious murder by Edward Hyde causes a turning point in the novel.
Inspector Newcomen of Scotland Yard: The officer who accompanies Utterson on a search of Hyde's house in Soho after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew.

The other half of the broad subject of characters is Character Development. This is absolutely prevalent in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this story, we slowly discover more and more about each character that helps build the story. It gives the reader the power to guess, as they learn more about the characters and frame together a possible outcome. The obvious example of this from the book is Hyde and Jekyll themselves. As we learn more about each character, we see how separate they are, however, little things such as the two having the same handwriting, adds an intrigue to the two characters that leaves us guessing at what they might turn out to be. The story makes excellent use of stock characters that float in and out of conversation. These characters are seen for brief moments, mostly in conversation. The main use of these characters is to express to the reader what the main characters are thinking in the form of conversation.

The Hanging Stranger

Ed finds a hanging man and no one seems to be bothered by it. He makes a seen and attracted the police that were controlled by the aliens. Ed eventually gets chased out of town and then realizes that no one noticed the hanging man because they did not want to attract the attention of the aliens. The short story is kind of weird and ends up being very random turns. It ends up being a typical horror story with the mystery of why people do not notice the hanging body, the weird acting police, and the aliens that control the police and town

Ed Loyce – acts as the protagonist, TV sales and service shop owner, he discovered a dead body of stranger hanging from a lamppost.

Alien Insects - are the antagonists, are the aliens that attack Ed Loyce.

Don Fergusson – a salesman from the TV store.

Jack Potter – a man who works in a shoe shop.

Jenkins – Loyce’s friend, a stationery clerk.

Margaret Henderson – a jewelry store worker.

Pete Foley – a television repairman.

Man on the Bus – a slender man, with dark hair and a small mustache.

Man on the Bus – an elderly man with a box.

Janet Loyce – Ed Loyce’s wife.

Tommy & Jim – Mrs. and Mr Loyce’s twin sons.

The Police Commissioner of Oak Grove – explains to Loyce what happens for all the weird events.

Clarence Mason – he encounters the same situation as Ed Loyce.