Maven is a Manhattan-based entomologist specializing in butterflies who has avoided her hometown of Solstice, Vermont, for twelve years. She consciously suppresses her connection to the eccentric Blackthorn lineage by dyeing her signature red hair black and maintaining a tight, controlled lifestyle in the city. Returning to her ancestral home forces her to confront unresolved grief over her mother's death and a long-standing feud with the powerful Croft family. She operates with a highly guarded exterior, prioritizing her daughter's safety above her own comfort.

Ronan is the wealthy heir to Croft Pharmaceuticals and a permanent resident of Solstice. He possesses a dark, brooding demeanor and frequently leverages his family's financial resources to manipulate town operations. His interactions with Maven are aggressive and charged with lingering attraction from a brief, damaging relationship during their high school years. He demands access to Maven's life and questions the true parentage of her daughter.

Beatrix, commonly called Bea, is Maven's precocious young daughter. Raised in Manhattan, she is highly observant and quickly formulates dark theories about the strange occurrences surrounding her family. She wears green contact lenses to hide her icy-blue eyes and finds herself fascinated by the wild animals and eccentric relatives at Blackthorn Manor.

Esme is one of Maven's eccentric aunts residing in the chaotic halls of Blackthorn Manor. She proudly embraces her identity as a town outcast and continuously defies the patriarchal norms of Solstice. Sharing the distinct pomegranate-red hair of her lineage, she actively protects her family's isolated way of life and partakes in local provocations against the townspeople.

Davina is Maven's other aunt and a fierce guardian of the Blackthorn family history. She views men with inherent suspicion and lectures Maven on the superiority of the Blackthorn matriarchy. Confident and unapologetic, she navigates the hostility of Solstice with secretive smiles and subtle threats, fully embracing her reputation as a dangerous woman.

Elijah is the patriarch of the Croft family and former head of Croft Pharmaceuticals. Arrogant and obsessed with control, he actively perpetuates a centuries-old feud with the Blackthorn women, whom he views as a direct threat to his authority. He uses his wealth and social standing to intimidate his rivals, though he suffers from strange, violent animal attacks.

Quentin is the ancient, nonspeaking caretaker of Blackthorn Manor. Tall and corpselike with wispy white hair, he communicates entirely through intense eye contact and rigid gestures. He serves as a steadfast, silent presence in the chaotic ancestral home, executing the will of the Blackthorn women without question.

Ezra is a practical, logic-driven scientist based in New York who works in the same field as Maven. He represents the stable, rational world that Maven attempts to inhabit away from Solstice. Frustrated by Maven's emotional distance, he approaches romance with clinical detachment, prioritizing logical partnership over passion.

Lorinda is Maven's recently deceased grandmother, whose fatal fall down a set of stairs brings the family back together in Solstice. A formidable woman in life, her passing sets off a chain of bizarre events when her un-embalmed body inexplicably vanishes from a locked room at the funeral parlor.

Elspeth is Maven's late mother, who died from an apparent fall from the roof of an old Croft church. Unlike the rest of her family, she encouraged Maven to embrace her differences. Her death remains a source of deep suspicion and grief, serving as the catalyst for Maven's initial flight from Solstice.

Cole is a private investigator hired by Maven to locate her grandmother's missing body and research the town's suspicious history. Pragmatic and thorough, he uncovers troubling statistics about Solstice's abnormally high rate of unsolved missing persons cases, providing Maven with vital external information.

Mr. Anderson is the local undertaker responsible for Lorinda Blackthorn's arrangements. He finds himself in a terrifying predicament when her body vanishes from a locked parlor under his watch, forcing him to face severe threats from Ronan Croft and the state licensing board.

Becca is a resident of Solstice and Maven's former childhood bully. She harbors intense hostility toward the Blackthorn family, publicly confronting them at the funeral home before suffering a sudden and catastrophic house fire shortly afterward.

Dr. Lattman is a Los Angeles-based surgeon whom Maven claims is Beatrix's father in an attempt to deflect Ronan's suspicions. He is entirely disconnected from the events in Solstice and serves primarily as an alibi.

Silas is a former groundskeeper for the Croft estate who carries heavy memories of the town's history. He holds crucial, closely guarded information regarding the events that occurred on the night of Elspeth Blackthorn's death twelve years ago.

Father O'Brian is the local priest in Solstice who regards the Blackthorn family with open hostility. He represents the religious and social opposition the family faces, confronting Maven with dark prophecies and aggressive attempts at conversion.

Megaera is a historical ancestor of the Blackthorn family who was executed for witchcraft in the town square more than three hundred years ago. Her death is the foundational event that sparked the enduring, vicious feud between the Blackthorns and the Crofts.

Levi is a colonial-era magistrate and direct ancestor of the Croft family. He is remembered for condemning Megaera Blackthorn to death, cementing a bitter, centuries-long war between his descendants and the women of Blackthorn Manor.

Diana is Elijah's wife and Ronan's stepmother. She lives in the imposing Croft home but is kept largely in the dark regarding many of the family's deep-seated medical secrets and historical burdens. She frequently clashes with Ronan over his disruptive behavior during family gatherings.

August is Ronan's ten-year-old half-brother. He is sheltered from the darker aspects of the Croft legacy and serves as a point of deep concern for his father, who desperately funds medical research in anticipation of August's adolescence.

Luce is Maven's employer at a museum in Manhattan. She represents the professional, scientific life Maven has built for herself away from the supernatural chaos of her family's estate.