The Narrator
Benson’s stories are usually first-person accounts told by a nameless young man, single, and almost always from home. He is not necessarily always the same person literally, of course, but for most of the canon he may as well be. The narrator’s job is just that: to tell the story. He is an observer and rarely either a man of action or acted upon in any significant way. Very often he lives to tell the tale to another person or to find out some piece of information that has occurred in the interim. Generally speaking, though not exclusively so, he is accompanied by a more talkative male acquaintance.
The Narrator’s Acquaintance (The Hugh Grainger)
In one of his earliest short stories—and most successful—the narrator’s acquaintance is named Hugh Grainger. As with the narrator, the recurrence of a traveling companion is not literally intended to be Hugh Grainger, but may as well be. Benson did expend great energy upon delineating these character types that keep popping up over and over, but then again there wasn’t much need to. Just as Holmes always had his Watson and it didn’t matter if Watson’s war wound was in his right or left leg, it doesn’t really matter about the particulars of how Hugh Grainger may differ from those who followed. The supernatural story element is what counted.
The Caterpillars
Some of the most memorable characters in anything Benson ever wrote—ghost story or otherwise—are the title characters in “The Caterpillars.” Caterpillars may be icky bugs to some, but they typically don’t inhabit the same real as roaches, spiders and beetles when it comes to the revulsion factor. After all, caterpillars transform into butterflies and even before then they seem harmless enough. This quality of inoffensiveness may contribute strongly to the fact that most fans of Benson will warn newcomers not to read “The Caterpillars” late at night before bed. These are not your average caterpillars by any means and often manage to eclipse even his noted slugs as the creature most likely to keep you up at night.
The Slugs
Benson is invariably compared to H.P. Lovecraft if only by virtue of sharing the same era in the writing of horror fiction. While the two men generally operate on two completely different areas of the spectrum, one can argue that they come close to crossing paths when Benson indulges his penchant for creating large slug-like creatures. Most notably in the stories "And No Bird Sings…” and “The Thing in the Hall” but perhaps most spectacularly in "Negotium Perambulans" do these paths cross. One can also make a strong argument that “The Caterpillars” belong to this group and that the title creatures are just a variation of his grey slugs, but the mystery of why, exactly, a slug is one that keeps devoted fans of Benson up at night arguing on message boards and social media.
Mrs. Amworth
Mrs. Amworth is the star of the story that bears her name. It is for the most part a reinvention of Bram Stoker’s Dracula with the continental count being replaced by a widowed British matron who returns home to her little village after many years in India. The story has its own version of Dr. Van Helsing and even a young male counterpart to Lucy Westenra. Where the story diverges significantly from its inspiration is in the vampire lore created by Benson. Mrs. Amworth is struck down physically by an automobile, but manages to live on as a blood-sucking fiend through astral projection until her vampire slayer finally drives a shaft through her dead body in the grave.
Mrs. Cumberbatch
Mrs. Cumberbatch is the medium at the center of “Mr. Tilly’s Séance.” Mr. Tilly had been impressed with her powers to converse with the spirit world before he himself joined that realm. Almost immediately, he made his way to her scheduled séance and is delighted to learn that he can communicate with her. He is less than delighted, however, to learn that Mrs. Cumberbatch is also a fraud who engages in tricks and melodramatics to hoodwink true believers. The story is fascinating in that Mrs. Cumberbatch is both a genuine medium with psychic powers and also an example of the type of charlatans bilking thousands who had hopped onto the Spiritualism bandwagon of the era believing the tricks were authentic demonstrations.
Madge Dalrymple
Madge Dalrymple is at the center of what many consider to be Benson’s singular achievement in the genre of ghost stories: “How Fear Departed the Long Gallery.” Taking place in yet another mysterious mansion inhabited by spectral guests, the main difference here is the lack of malevolence on the part of the ghosts. Except for two ghosts who appear only in the long gallery. The ghosts of two children murdered long ago when mere babies. Those who chance to come across the ghosts in the long gallery after sundown are subject to the curse which can include paying the ultimate price for a case of bad timing. Madge Dalrymple takes a unique approach to the appearance of the ghosts, however, and by treating them with compassion brings about redemption and makes it safe to enter the long gallery after sundown again.
