Joyland characters

Appears from the start

A twenty-one-year-old college student who takes a summer job at Joyland in 1973 after his girlfriend begins pulling away from him. Devin is inexperienced, heartsick, and initially an outsider to carnival life, but he proves willing to work hard and unusually good at entertaining children while dressed as the park's dog mascot. An older Devin narrates the story, looking back on the season that changed him.

Appears from the start

Devin's college girlfriend. His plans for their future mean more to him than they do to her, and her growing distance shadows his arrival at Joyland.

First appears in chapter 2

Joyland's experienced operations manager, a decent and observant man who gives Devin his chance at the park and teaches the new employees its routines and private vocabulary.

First appears in chapter 3

One of Devin's fellow summer employees and roommates. Tom is friendly, skeptical of supernatural stories, and less enamored of amusement-park life than Devin becomes.

First appears in chapter 3

A sharp, practical college student hired for the same summer as Devin and Tom. She becomes a loyal friend to both men and takes the story of an unsolved murder at the park seriously enough to investigate it.

First appears in chapter 3

A handsome, easygoing veteran employee who runs rides and knows how to reassure both guests and inexperienced summer workers. He is one of the park figures Devin admires as he learns the job.

Also known as Madame Fortuna

First appears in chapter 4

The park's fortune-teller, whose public act disguises flashes of genuine perception. She warns Devin that a child and a woman connected with a red hat will matter to him, though neither of them yet knows how.

First appears in chapter 5

A young woman murdered years earlier inside Joyland's Horror House. Her killer was never identified, and employees say her ghost still appears near the ride.

First appears in chapter 8

A guarded young mother living with her seriously ill son in a beach house near Joyland. She keeps strangers at a distance and distrusts false hope, but Devin's patient interest in Mike gradually reaches her.

First appears in chapter 8

Annie's ten-year-old son, who uses a wheelchair because of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Mike is bright, direct, and aware that his life will be short. He also has an intuitive sensitivity to people and events that cannot be explained by ordinary observation.

First appears in chapter 3

The elderly owner of Joyland, committed to preserving the independent park's old-fashioned style despite competition from larger attractions. He values workers who understand that the park's purpose is to give visitors a temporary escape.

First appears in chapter 5

A resentful Joyland employee whose manner toward Devin contrasts with the warmth of most of the permanent staff. His access to park gossip makes him a source of rumors about Linda Gray's death.