# The House on the Borderland — Character guide

> Key figures in The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson.

- [The Recluse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/narrator.md): He lives quietly with his sister Mary and his dog, yet admits he nearly fled the house before the visions began. Love for a woman who warns him against the place—and who can only reach him there—binds him to it against a
- [Pepper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/pepper.md): Pepper is the narrator's constant companion, dozing nearby through nights of strange light and stranger sounds. When his master finally stirs him, the old dog crumbles to dust—proof of ages passing in moments. His small,
- [Tonnison](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/tonnison.md): Tonnison and his friend discover the old gardens and the manuscript during a holiday, and he spends an afternoon reading it alone. Where his companion doubts the writer's sanity, Tonnison answers with flat certainty: no,
- [Mary](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/mary.md): Mary lives with her brother in the isolated house and is the sole confidante of his grief over the woman he loved and lost. She stays through the visions and the siege, bound to him by kinship rather than by any pull of 
- [Tip](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/tip.md): A small creature or entity mentioned briefly in the narrative.
- [Hush](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/hush.md): A name or exclamation appearing in the text, possibly a character or sound.
- [William Hope Hodgson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/william_hope_hodgson.md): The author, mentioned as the editor or discoverer of the manuscript.
- [The Swine-Things](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/the_swine_things.md): The Swine-things come out of the darkness in numbers, jabbering below the windows and forcing the study door inward inch by inch. The recluse fights them with rifle, crowbar, and falling stone, never sure how many wait b
- [The Dead](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/the_dead.md): Ghostly or spectral figures encountered in the house or visions.
- [Hark](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/hark.md): A name or exclamation, possibly a character or sound in the narrative.
- [Seth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/seth.md): A biblical or mythological name mentioned in passing.
- [Souls](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/souls.md): Abstract entities or spirits referenced in the narrative.
- [Dear One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters/dear_one.md): A term of endearment used by the narrator, possibly for Mary.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/characters