Molly is a creative, twelve-year-old girl with a vivid imagination and a deep love for reading and writing poetry. Following her mother's remarriage, she struggles to find her place in her newly blended family, feeling isolated by her parents' expectations and her younger brother's staunch rationality. Her sensitivity makes her highly perceptive of the supernatural atmosphere surrounding their new rural home, though the adults in her life frequently dismiss her fears.

Michael is Molly's ten-year-old brother, characterized by his deeply rational approach to the world. He spends his time studying the natural sciences, actively collecting insects, and examining specimens under his microscope. His reliance on logic makes him highly skeptical of Molly's supernatural fears, and he often adopts an adult-like dismissiveness when confronted with concepts he cannot scientifically explain.

Heather is Dave's seven-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Small and pale-eyed with dark curly hair, she frequently acts younger than her age and relies on manipulative behavior to maintain her father's undivided attention. She carries deep trauma from the loss of her mother in a fire four years ago, resulting in fierce resistance to her new stepfamily and a desperate need for exclusive affection.

Jean is a talented painter who relocates her newly blended family to a restored church in Holwell, Maryland, hoping the rural setting will inspire her art. She desires a harmonious household but struggles to integrate her defensive stepdaughter while maintaining a supportive relationship with her biological children. She frequently urges Molly and Michael to be more accommodating, occasionally invalidating their feelings in her effort to keep the peace.

Dave is a potter and Jean's new husband. He remains fiercely protective of his young daughter, Heather, treating her with leniency due to the tragic death of his first wife. His protectiveness creates severe blind spots regarding Heather's behavior; he categorically believes her lies and frequently accuses his new stepchildren of treating her with deliberate cruelty. He distrusts psychological therapy, preferring to handle family trauma on his own terms.

Helen is the ghost of a seven-year-old girl who drowned in a nearby pond over a century ago. Described as an eyeless, glowing figure in a white dress, she haunts the Harper House ruins and the adjacent graveyard. She seeks a companion and specifically targets lonely, isolated children, utilizing a silver locket to forge a possessive connection with the living.

Mr. Simmons is the elderly caretaker of Saint Swithin's cemetery, where his own parents and sister are buried. He possesses extensive historical knowledge about the area and the people interred in the grounds. While practical about physical dangers like snakes and unstable ruins, he also harbors quiet superstitions about the supernatural history of the Harper property.

Officer Greene is a kindly local policeman in the rural community of Holwell. He investigates disturbances at the family's home and brings a surprisingly open-minded perspective to the area's eerie occurrences. Though he personally claims not to believe in ghosts, he acknowledges the widespread local fear of the cemetery.