King Sorrow

The ghost of Elwood Hondo symbolizes the power of shared belief. He is first introduced in Part 1, Chapter 8, as the result of an experiment led by Llewellyn Wren. The object of the experiment was to conjure a ghost through the power of shared belief. The resulting artifact, a film documenting Hondo’s summoning, is such a powerful demonstration of this experiment that it briefly projects poltergeist activity into the library at The Briars when screened 30 years later. From then on, Colin uses Hondo as shorthand to refer to any inexplicable phenomenon. Hondo also sets the precedent for the summoning of King Sorrow as Arthur and his friends emulate the film to focus their communal imagination on the entity they are trying to evoke.

For Colin specifically, Hondo also represents the illusory nature of power. During King Sorrow’s summoning, Hondo speaks to Colin alone, foreshadowing the deaths of Colin’s friends and ascribing to them Colin’s future prosperity. This prophecy drives Colin’s motivations, allowing his belief in Hondo’s vision of the future to justify his immoral actions. This belief also leads to Colin’s downfall as he assumes that he can conjure Hondo and weaponize him against his friends. Instead, Hondo subverts Colin’s will and kills him, proving that Colin’s power has been transitory all along.