Each member of the Midnight Society from 1992 to 1996 has a distinct personality, and a notable trend in their storytelling. Though not all of their stories have similar styles and plots, in many of the stories, each character carries a unique aspect that reflects the nature of the storyteller, and what they find to be the most important to themselves. In the second generation, the characters derive their stories more from events that happen during the days leading up to the society meetings instead of from their personal interests and views. Many of the later episodes were simply given to a random society member to tell.
Original •
Gary: An unassuming, bookish-looking boy and the founder of this generation of the Midnight Society. Gary has a distinct fascination with magic, especially where the magician Houdini is concerned. His stories tend to revolve around cursed or enchanted objects with
supernatural properties, and how – in the wrong hands – they can cause disaster, for both the holder and those around them. His stories have the recurring character "Sardo" in them; most of his stories have the main character buying an enchanted item from Sardo's shop. In the 3-part episode, "The Tale of the Silver Sight", Gary reveals that his grandfather was the founder of the Midnight Society and that it was his grandfather's stories that inspired him to recreate the group. •
Betty Ann: A vibrant girl who has an open and eager passion for the bizarre and twisted. Her stories often include themes where an
alien or
supernatural force is either trying to break into the world of the characters, or else trying to drag them into their own unnatural realms. Her stories tend to have twists reminiscent of
Twilight Zone episodes, hinting that even after the protagonists of her stories manage to defeat the antagonists, they still have yet to fully escape danger by the end. •
Kiki: A spunky,
tomboyish girl who often makes fun of others. Many of her stories involve plots where the danger of carelessness or deceitfulness, as well as the danger of the past, repeats itself. Also notable is that a large number of the characters in her stories are also of African descent (likely due to Kiki herself being African-Canadian), though the trend dies off later on in the series. One story she came up with had to be read by Gary due to her suffering from laryngitis at the time. •
Frank: A punkish teenager with an in-your-face attitude. Though his stories do not often have a running theme, they do often have the recurring character Dr. Vink appear as the villain, or at least, the creator of the story's antagonist. The first episode of the series has Frank attempting to impress the Midnight Society with a story to be allowed membership, which he does with "The Tale of the Phantom Cab". In season five, he and his family moved away, and he was replaced in the group by Stig. •
Tucker: Gary's younger brother and the youngest member of the Midnight Society. Due to his age, he is often portrayed as youthfully obnoxious. His stories tend to involve family relationships that are at first sour but grow in strength in the face of adversity, possibly reflecting his relationship with his brother Gary. There is also a running theme of the characters accidentally unleashing evil upon their world. After Gary left, he took over his place as the president of the Midnight Society. Once Tucker is in charge, he is less of a brat and more of a serious leader like his older brother. He is the only character to appear in both generations of the Midnight Society. •
Sam: A shy girl with an obvious mutual crush on Gary, which becomes one of the highlighted arcs of both their developments in the series. Reflecting this affection for Gary, Sam's stories tend to have more of a strong theme of love, and its endurance even beyond death. •
Kristen: A girl who, though squeamish about much else, has a fondness for
ghost stories and
fairy tales. She has a growing crush on David, and their affection for each other is a developing arc in the first few seasons. She loves to dress up for her stories or bring something for effect, sometimes to scare the others with and her stories almost always deal with ghosts from the past who have unfinished business that they cannot complete without the aid of the living. In season 3, she left the Midnight Society due to her and her family moving, and she was replaced in the group by Sam. •
David: A quiet boy with a mysterious expression. Reflecting his introverted nature and need to deal with his crush on Kristen, David's stories tend to be less about malignant outside forces, and more to do with the evil of past events left unresolved, or the darkness inside normal people, and the consequences of not dealing with their actions. In season 3, he and his family moved away, and he was replaced in the group by Tucker. •
Stig: His nickname may come from the term
stigma, as he is marked an outsider for his notable lack of hygiene. Stig is the last member to be initiated into this generation of the Midnight Society. As such, he has only two stories in the series before the cast is changed: "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float" and "The Tale of Station 109.1." Due to the aversion people seem to have against him for his looks, both of his stories seem to revolve around outsiders judged for their appearances and/or tastes. •
Eric: Eric is portrayed as a diminutive teenager with visible
Irish ancestry that influences his first story. As he has only had two stories in the first season before his character was cut, there is no visible theme in his storytelling but they seem to be about incredibly powerful evil forces (ones never proven innocent or misunderstood like some others). In his short run on the show, Eric was shown to be rather snide and negative, spending most of the time making sarcastic remarks and antagonizing the other members, especially Frank. He is the only character to leave the show without any explanation for his departure.
Revival Several years after the last meeting of the Midnight Society, Tucker returns to reinitialize the meetings, inviting his own circle of friends to reform the Midnight Society. •
Quinn: is usually getting in trouble at school and at home, but he is a smart kid that likes to make fun of Andy teamed up with Vange. Quinn's stories have little in common though usually involve the protagonists' actions unleashing or bringing them face-to-face with the villain. •
Vange: (short for "Evangeline") is the youngest of the New Midnight Society. She is a tomboy and does not have a problem with speaking her mind. Teamed up with Quinn she makes fun of Andy a lot. Vange's stories have little in common though most seem to be about how wanting something too badly can cause the main character to play into the villain's hands. •
Andy: is very sweet and kind. He is always being made fun of by Quinn and Vange for having more muscle than brains. He lives on a farm with his family. He often works there before and after school. Andy is the closest to Megan. Andy's stories have little in common but are often about how characters' dark sides can unleash evil. Usually, the inspiration for his stories are based on his own real-life personal experiences. •
Megan: is a rich kid who is not very comfortable in the woods. She would rather hold the New Midnight Society Meetings in her own well-managed backyard. Tucker, not being the stickler his brother was, lets Megan refurnish the campfire with some comfortable old couches. She seems to have a soft spot for Andy. Megan's stories have little in common though most seem to somehow involve romance. Sometimes she brings a prop or starts a brief game relating to her story.
Reboot In 2019, a
second revival of the show began. The first season is known as "Carnival of Doom", the second season is known as "Curse of the Shadows" and the third season is known as "Ghost Island".
Carnival of Doom The Midnight Society: •
Rachel Carpenter: A shy girl who recently moved to the town of Argento. She quickly resigns herself to life as a social outsider, but when some classmates notice her interest in the horror genre, she earns an invite to the mysterious Midnight Society. She suffers from recurring nightmares and uses that to form her first story to submit to the group,
The Carnival of Doom. She's named after
John Carpenter. •
Gavin Coscarelli: An outgoing member who lives next door to Rachel and quickly takes an interest in her. He's good friends with Louise and is shown to be fairly popular at school. He's also a vegetarian. He's named after
Don Coscarelli. •
Akiko Yamato: A blunt and pragmatic member of the Midnight Society who enjoys filmmaking and is seen directing her own scary movie throughout the series. Her older brother, Hideo, is a rookie police officer. •
Graham Raimi: A horror film fanatic who loves gushing about his favorite movies, although he often comes off awkward to his peers. He is also a talented artist and a germaphobe. He sits behind Rachel in class and is the first to pick up on Rachel's horror obsession, eventually inviting her to the group. He's named after
Sam Raimi. •
Louise Fulci: A cheerleader and one of the popular girls at school who holds her reputation dearly. Although she's friends with Gavin, she avoids speaking to the other members of the Midnight Society outside of meetings, particularly Graham, in fear that it will affect her social status. She's named after
Lucio Fulci.
Curse of the Shadows The Midnight Society: •
Luke McCoy: A skateboarding Shadow Bay High School wrestler who snuck out after a fight. •
Hanna Romero •
Gabby Lewis •
Jai Malya •
Seth Romero: Hanna's young brother with an interest in wizardry. •
Connor Stevens Ghost Island The Midnight Society: •
Kayla King •
Max Matheson •
Leo B. Stoker •
Summer DaCosta •
Ferris Poe Recurring characters One of the more significant recurring characters was Sardo (
Richard Dumont), owner of "Sardo's Magic Mansion" (a magic shop). He would often attempt to sell a character a "prized" item, succeeding almost every single time. He often had items in his shop that contained real properties of magic, yet did not know until it was revealed in the story. One of the most memorable recurring jokes in the series occurred when someone would address him as "Mr. Sardo." He would then get irritated and exclaim: "That's SarDO (Sardôh)! No mister; accent on the doh!" Another recurring gag is Sardo attempting to sell a series of cheap novelty items before revealing the magical artifact, culminating with
fake vomit, asking the protagonists, "Have you seen our vomit?" Additionally, when selling someone an item, he would often ask a rather high price. The main character would mention how much money they had, and Sardo would grab the money saying, "But I'm losing on the deal." Although he rarely got what he wanted, he would often end up helping the characters, often unintentionally. He appeared in Gary's stories, although in the later seasons, he appeared in two of Tucker's, and one of David's in the episode "The Tale of The Dark Dragon." Sardo's character is revived in the second season of the second revival, "Curse of the Shadows." Sardo's son (
Ryan Beil) is the owner of "Sardo's Magic Shop". Richard Dumont appears in the finale as Sardo. Another recurring character was Dr. Vink (
Aron Tager). He was a physically imposing man who would often appear as a mad scientist, sorcerer, and the like. When he enters, he introduces himself by saying, "Vink's the name. Dr. Vink." He would also get his name mispronounced, usually something like "Dr. Fink?" When this happened, he would respond "Vink. With a
va-va-va!" Often, the protagonist would call him a "nutbag" behind his back, assuming he could not hear him, only to have him reply later, "...and I am
not a nutbag". Unlike Sardo, whose character was set in a magic shop, Dr. Vink had many "unique endeavors" as he called them, for his stories. These ranged from living deep in the woods conducting strange nature experiments, being a retired filmmaker, owning his own restaurant as head chef and lastly a barbershop. His activities were usually villainous, designed to put the characters in peril and allow him the last laugh. However, in his last appearance, "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure" (which was told by both Frank and Gary), he allied himself with Sardo and the main characters without his usual maliciousness. He appeared in Frank's stories. Aron Tager also played the carnival worker who stands in front of the Funhouse and invites people to go inside in the episode "The Tale of the Laughing in the Dark". The character of Zeebo the Clown, also played by Tager, who appeared in "The Tale of the Laughing in the Dark" is referenced in several other stories, for example, in the episode "The Tale of the Whispering Walls", two children mention seeing him at a fun park, in the episode "The Tale of the Mystical Mirror", a girl says she will look like Zeebo if she wears too much lipstick, and in the episode "The Tale of the Crimson Clown", a video game called ''Zeebo's Big House'' can be seen in the boys' room on the desk with a picture of Zeebo on it as the title character. The video game was also mentioned in the episode "The Tale of Train Magic". Finally, in the episode "The Tale of the Night Shift", the teenage janitor is called Zeebo by his supervisor a few times at the beginning of the episode. A villain, the "Ghastly Grinner" (star of "The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner"), like Zeebo the Clown, appears in a comic book that the characters read. In "Tale of the Ghastly Grinner", The Grinner is shown as being the star of a comic book. == Legacy ==