Laura is a steady, practical Canadian nurse who recently returned home after sustaining a leg injury near the front lines in Flanders. She carries heavy grief after losing her parents in a catastrophic harbor explosion, a tragedy that exacerbates her trauma from the war. Believing the war signals the end of the world, she maintains rigid self-control until she receives confusing news about her missing brother, prompting her return to the war zone.

Freddie is a young Canadian soldier who worked as a harbor clerk before enlisting. Sensitive and artistic, he used his free time to paint and write poetry before the horrors of trench warfare shattered his idealism. Deeply traumatized by his experiences and terrified of his own perceived cowardice, he finds himself highly susceptible to the supernatural lures of the battlefield.

Winter is a German soldier in his mid-thirties who owned a farm in Munich and worked as a waiter in London before the conflict. Older and more composed than Freddie, he possesses a cynical understanding of how war distorts morality, yet he retains his core compassion. He functions as a steadying force when panic sets in.

Pim is an elegant, blonde Canadian widow living in Halifax. Having lost both her husband and her son to the war, she projects a delicate, flighty exterior that frequently causes others to underestimate her. Driven by a quiet, consuming grief, she volunteers to join a medical expedition to the Belgian front lines despite having no formal training.

Dr. Jones is an American surgeon volunteering at the private field hospital in Flanders. Known for his acerbic, blunt bedside manner, he is nevertheless a highly talented physician dedicated to experimental procedures like blood transfusions. Unlike many of the traumatized characters, he maintains an active belief in life after the war.

Faland is a charming, calculating figure surrounded by supernatural rumors across the Flanders countryside. He runs a strange hotel that appears to exist outside of normal space and time, offering traumatized soldiers brief respite from their pain. Using his violin, he transforms the painful memories he extracts from men into powerful, maddening music.

Mary is a wealthy, pragmatic woman who uses her own funds to establish and run a volunteer field hospital at Couthove near the front lines. She values competence over sentimentality and actively recruits skilled workers like Laura to manage the devastating influx of casualties.

General Gage is a high-ranking officer headquartered in Poperinghe who oversees the Allied forces in Ypres. He represents the rigid military command structure, treating the immense loss of life as an unfortunate but necessary strategic reality of the conflict.

Lieutenant Young serves as General Gage's military aide. Eager to impress, he immediately takes a liking to Pim upon their introduction, offering to teach her various survival skills to win her favor.

Jimmy is Pim's deceased son who served in the trenches near Ypres. His death casts a long, traumatic shadow over his mother's life and drives her actions throughout the narrative.

Kate is an exhausted nursing supervisor working at overwhelmed aid stations near the front. Having witnessed the unexplainable horrors of the battlefield firsthand, she is open to the supernatural occurrences reported by the soldiers.

Agatha is one of three elderly sisters (along with Clotilde and Lucretia) who employ Laura and rent her a room in Halifax. Deeply involved in spiritualism, she frequently hosts seances and claims to see the ghostly presence trailing behind her young tenant.

The deceased mother of Laura and Freddie, killed during the massive ship explosion in Halifax Harbor. During her life, she was a devoutly religious woman obsessed with the coming of Armageddon, a belief that deeply influenced both of her children's worldviews.