Characters from the Goosebumps novel Ghost Beach
Jerry and Terri Sadler
Portrayed By: Sheldon Smith and Jessica Hogeveen (TV)
Two siblings whom are sent to their very distant cousins. They encounter actual ghosts and try to get rid of them.
- Animal Lover: Jerry admits that he has a fascination with animals, as he immediately wants to inspect what appears to be a bat. He is also shocked upon a dog skeleton, and takes a liking to Harrison's canine companion.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Terri can be this towards Jerry at times. Downplayed as she's not trying to annoy. She's just very curious and loves to explore, is all.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: They get on each other's nerves plenty of times, but when it comes to solving mysteries and facing against danger, they work together.
- Big Brother Instinct: Before they go to their grandparents, their parents tell Jerry that he has to protect his sister in case anything bad happens. And considering the ending, Jerry probably has to endure this role to protect his sister from their grandparents.
- Brainy Brunette: Both have dark brown hair, and they both have interests in studying. Jerry has an interest in science and animals, while Terri has an interest in mysteries and graveyards.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: They are last seen about to be killed by their grandparents. When asked in an author interview in the Classic series what happened to them afterwards, R. L. Stine replied that this was disgusting, and he just ate lunch.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: Terri is constantly interested in what goes on around the beach, which makes her want to sneak out and solve the mystery. This almost gets her killed.
- Deadpan Snarker: Jerry is very sarcastic at times towards people, especially to Terri.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Terri is the Foolish while Jerry is the Responsible. This is why their parents chose the latter to look after the former.
- Goth: Given that Terri has an odd fascination of making etchings from tombstones, she seems to be going this way.
- He Knows Too Much: After Jerry and Terri find out that their caretakers are undead, Brad and Agatha are planning to kill them for discovering this secret. The book ends without revealing if they carried this out or not.
- Hidden Depths: Terri's "odd" hobbies and fascination with the dead imply she's an aspiring detective.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Terri often taunts Jerry with this, which annoys him greatly and sometimes goads him into going along with her plans.
- Oh, Crap!: The two come back home after their adventure in the cave, when Harrison's dog comes by and starts barking at their distant cousins, revealing that they were unliving to begin with. And as Jerry and Terri look on in shocked realization, the adults kick the dog out and wonder what they're going to do with the kids next.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Jerry is the Savvy Guy and Terri is the Energetic Girl. Jerry is more down to earth and serious, while Terri is very curious and likes to explore.
- Tank-Top Tomboy: Terri has decidedly less "feminine" interests and in the comic adaptation, wears a sleeveless shirt.
- Uncertain Doom: The story ends with their undead grandparents cornering them. It isn't revealed what happened after that, but considering what R.L. Stine implied about them, at least one of them didn't make it out.
- Youthful Freckles: Both have freckles across their noses.
Agatha and Bradford Sadler
Portrayed By: Dorothy Gordon and Jack Jessop (TV)
Two distant cousins of Jerry and Terri, whom look after them in their care.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the episode, not only are they preparing to kill Jerry and Terri, but they are also planning to kill and cook Harrison's dog to get that out of the way as well.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Brad is mostly silent initially, and when he later talks to Jerry and Terri about advice on the beach tide, the two children glance at each other surprised, not having heard Brad put two full sentences together before. He is also implied to be quite sinister.
- Evil All Along: After being outted as ghosts, they wonder to each other what to do with Jerry and Terri, now that they know their big secret. Given what R.L. Stine has hinted at what would happen next, the distant cousins likely are preparing to do something quite macabre to the children.
- Fingore: Brad is missing the top part of two of his fingers on his left hand. He claims that he got this after getting his hand caught in a wolf trap when he was young.
- Mr. Exposition: Agatha constantly explains to Jerry and Terri about the backstory of the Sadler family, including how the Sadlers first arrived in America and how most of them were wiped out until only a few of them remained.
- Nothing but Skin and Bones: They are so frail and light, and Jerry didn't think that they weighed more than a hundred pounds. Considering that they're actually dead, that probably has a lot to do with this trope.
- Walking Spoiler: It is revealed at the end of the book that they are actually ghosts, to say nothing about the peril that they plan on inflicting onto Jerry and Terri for finding out this.
- Would Hurt a Child: They speculate on what to do with Jerry and Terri now that they know that they're really dead, and from the looks of it, they are up to no good towards them.
The Sadler Trio
Louisa, Sam, and Nat
Portrayed By: Anna Majewski (Louisa) and Bill Turnbull (Sam) (TV)
"It wasn't fair! We barely had a life at all!"
Three little kids who're supposedly cousins of Jerry and Terri Sadler. They warn the twins of a ghost that inhabits a nearby cave. In reality, Sam and his siblings died over 350 years ago, during their family's first winter in America, and they plan to kill the twins so they'll have new friends.
- Adapted Out: Nat doesn't appear in the TV show.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: All of them, in some form or another.
- Louisa has auburn hair in the book. But in the episode, she has dirty blonde hair, and in the comics, she has black hair. Also, she had her hair in braids in the book, but she instead has Boyish Short Hair in the episode.
- Sam in the book has brown hair. But in the episode, he has ginger hair, and in the comics, he has white hair.
- Nat in the book has light blond hair. But in the comics, he has dark brown hair.
- Affably Evil: The ghost kids, who act like they just want to be friends. Turns out they want their friends to be dead like them.
- Big Brother Instinct: Sam and Louisa to Nat, especially Louisa. She comforts him when he cries about the dog skeleton and he hangs onto her when they enter the cave, and both her and Sam comfort him when he's upset about Jerry and Terri not killing the ghost.
- The Leader: Sam, as the oldest, is the one who takes charge.
- Not Growing Up Sucks: They can't get any older and they already didn't have much of a life when they were still alive, so their ability to experience the world around them is very limited.
- Promotion to Parent: Implied to be the case with Sam and Louisa, who're much older than Nat is. Since their parents are not around, it's up to them to look after him.
- Tragic Monster: They died before they could have a chance to actually live life in the new world, and now they're stuck haunting the beach where they died. All they want is some new companionship no matter how they have to get it, and they're consistently stalked and terrified by a man who wants to destroy them.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When they were truly alive. It's possible their niceness to Jerry and Terri was genuine, but they still want to kill them so they'll have new companions.
- Walking Spoiler: To put it very lightly, they aren't at all what you may think they are.
Harrison Sadler
Portrayed By: Hardee T. Lineham (TV)
"You brought the ghosts. Thank you."
An obsessive, bitter, and determined old man, Sadler sees himself as a ghost hunter. He hides out in a cave near his hometown and spies on three ghostly children in the area, seeking to capture them. When Jerry and Terry Sadler show up, he finds his chance.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Living for God knows how long in a cave isn't good for appearances.
- He Who Fights Monsters: So much so that he's willing to use two innocent kids as bait for a ghost trap.
- Last of His Kind: Before the arrival of Terri and Jerry, Harrison is the sole surviving member of the Sadler family.
- Pick on Someone Your Own Size: The Sadler spirits may be hundreds of years old, but spiritually they're still kids, and it's implied they're even more afraid of him than the other way around.
- Red Herring: For most of the story, Harrison is built up as an ancient ghost haunting a cave. Then comes The Reveal.
- Senseless Sacrifice: He has the cave he's living in collapse so he can seal himself in with the ghosts as well as save Jerry and Terri from being killed by them. The two living children do survive, yet they go back to Brad and Agatha only to suffer their wrath once they realize that they are ghosts as well, and they don't seem to make it out alive.
- Taking You with Me: Buries himself and the ghosts in a cave-in to stop them once and for all.
- Walking Spoiler: The fact that Harrison isn't a ghost, while every other character with the surname Saddler around the area, are.
