George Hawthorne

**George Hawthorne**, also known alternatively as **The Caretaker**, was a former mental patient who spent six months inside a mental asylum after suffering a psychotic episode, during which he murdered his entire family. After which, he managed to obtain a job as a caretaker at Derby Church, where he spent an abbreviated night working. In addition, he is the main protagonist of the gothic horror short story *Stone Cold*, and its film adaptation of the same name.

## Life Information

### Occupation

Cemetery CaretakerMental Patient (formerly)

Criminal (formerly; implied)

## Personal Information

### Family

Unnamed (first born child; deceased)Unnamed (second born child; deceased)

### Relationships

Julia Hawthorne (wife; deceased)Uthaine Tipps (employer; deceased)

Maid (Stone Cold) (co-worker; deceased)

### Residence

Hawthorne House (formerly)Mental Health Asylum (formerly)

Derby Church

## Appearances

### Films

*Stone Cold* (2022)

During his first and only night on the job, the ghost of his former wife, Julia Hawthorne, rises from the grave after her corpse had been sexually abused by Employer Tipps, George’s superior. During the night, George was haunted and driven back into a place of insanity, eventually falling back on his old, murderous ways, demonstrated when he killed the maid, mistaking her to be Julia.

Eventually discovering that Tipps was raping corpses, George killed him as well, and when the maid’s baby was born, placed it outside the church to give it a better home than he could. George then hung himself while seeing a vision of Julia, and was presumably reunited with his family in heaven.

## Biography

### Early Life

George Hawthorne was born in 1884. It is unclear what his childhood was like or who his parents were. It can be inferred, though, that he struggled with mental illness throughout his childhood and teenage years, but due to the scarceness of the proper medical opinion and equipment during the time, his mental health went un-tampered with, and so he deteriorated rapidly.

At some point in his life, George met and married a woman named Julia Hawthorne, with whom he had two children. While George may have had a happy life on the outside, inside he was struggling. It is known that during his marriage, he had several episodes of violent psychosis, and during these episodes, he would become irrational and unpredictable.

While he desperately tried to stop himself from harming anyone, George had no control over his actions, and they would eventually consume him entirely.

### Family Slaughter

After being married for a good number of years, George, one night, erupted into a violent fit and had a psychotic breakdown. This resulted in him killing Julia by stabbing her in the heart with a knife, an event that he would never get out of his head even in the future. It was with this knife that he also killed his two beloved children, leaving him with nothing and no one.

Fortunately, a passerby heard screams coming from George's residence. Police were notified and George was arrested. Julia's body was buried outside of Derby Church. He was placed inside an asylum where he underwent electroshock therapy as well as having a stint in solitary confinement, as he was considered too dangerous to be allowed to interact with other inmates and patients. George would stay in this asylum for 6 months, all of its treatments seemingly working.

### Stone Cold

6 months later, George was released from the asylum, where he fled to Derby, a small town in Southern England. There, he began looking for work and eventually saw an ad in the paper, which said that Derby Church was looking for a caretaker for its surrounding graveyard. George would approach Derby Church's owner, Uthaine Tipps, and he was given the job on the spot.

On his first and only shift at the graveyard, George arrived in his work clothes and was greeted by Tipps. He was given a lamp and a set of keys to navigate his way through the church during the night. He was also introduced to a pregnant young woman, the Maid of Derby Church. George would also witness an aggressive act towards the maid on Tipps' part, which would give him his suspicions of him. During the night, George would visit Julia's gravestone, where he visibly expressed remorse for what he had done. He also flashbacked to the night of the killing, which caused him great pain.

When George looked up, he saw an unnamed woman wearing white entering the church. Worried, George went inside to follow her, only to discover that she was gone. He confronted the maid, who said that she hadn't seen anything. All night long, George was tormented by this intruder, who he nicknamed "The Woman In White". In one instance, after waiting for her to show herself, Derby Church's inner lighting went out and George was grabbed by the woman's hand, which he discovered was made of ice.

George again confronted the maid, who said that only she and him were at Derby that night. George again waited for the woman to show herself, and eventually saw her cleaning a table right in front of him. George grabbed a wooden stake from underneath a chair and lunged at the woman, repeatedly stabbing her in the head, as he had become so scared of the woman after the grabbing incident that he was prepared to kill her.

However, after he finished stabbing her, he discovered that he had actually killed the maid, and that the woman had played a trick on him. George was unable to compose himself. He checked on the maid's pregnant stomach, and felt the baby inside her kick, bringing him to tears. George went outside to compose himself, where he discovered Tipps digging up a corpse in the graveyard.

George rushed over to Tipps just as he was about to interfere with the body. George viciously attacked Tipps after figuring out what he wanted to do with the corpse. While Tipps cried out for forgiveness and attempted to appeal, it didn't work. George then coldly executed Tipps by decapitating him with the coffin lid. He then went back into the church and found that the maid's baby had managed to crawl its way out of her stomach.

Unable to bring himself to raise the baby, George put it in a basket and left it outside to be taken by churchgoers the next morning. Knowing that he was going to go back to prison and with his mental health completely deteriorated, George fashioned a noose and prepared to hang himself. As he did, he saw the woman appear again, and discovered that she was the ghost of Julia, having been awoken after Tipps abused her corpse.

George solemnly watched his wife has he stepped onto the ladder and hung himself, dying. He was presumably reunited with Julia in heaven.

## Physical Appearance

George was a man of average height, around 5'2". He didn't weigh much and had a medium build. George had brown hair in his youth, but it would turn grey later on as he grew older. George was described as timid and had a facial blotch which stung every time he cried. George also had stubble protruding out of his chin. His eyes were a bright blue. George wore a monk-like outfit during his time as the caretaker. This included brown robes and a pilot's hat. He also wore black shoes.

## Personality

George was a man of many things. He was described as timid and in a way came off as bumbling. He was shown to be eager yet quiet, as he didn't speak much to the Maid during his only shift at Derby Church. Despite this, George is shown to be somewhat kind, as he does not lash out at people he deems incompetent or who disappoint him.

Due to George being born with a severe mental illness, his personality is wildly unpredictable. He would frequently have fits of psychosis during his time at the asylum. In this state, George would become violent and irrational, and would even develop almost rabid homicidal instincts. He would not think about the consequences of his actions and instead acted on impulse. For example, George needlessly killed his wife and children during one of his psychotic rampages. This caused him to be sent to an asylum.

Despite his psychotic tendencies, George was also very remorseful and visibly regrets his decision to murder his family. He also takes accountability, as he blames himself for what he did and is aware that it was his fault. George doesn't blame his mental state for his murderous nature. George is also shown to be open to change, as he made efforts to better himself to avoid any more outbursts. This is shown when he takes a job as the caretaker of Derby's graveyard in order to make some money and rebuild his life, as well as moving to Derby itself.

George, however, at the end of the day, was a very fragile man. Even though he had spent 6 months getting shock therapy at an asylum and having experience as a mental patient, he was still very unpredictable and could at any moment spiral out of control. George was also shown to be easily influenced, as demonstrated when he killed the Maid, under the impression that he was killing the intruder he believed was inside of Derby Church. Despite this, once George realized his mistake, he crumbled and immediately regretted what he did.

George was not without his morals, especially towards the dead. He killed Employer Tipps because of his behaviour towards corpses. This shows that George has little tolerance for people he deems to be undeserving of life. However, it should be noted that George's decision to kill both Tipps and the Maid could be considered an extreme measure. The fact that George considered murder a necessary option even though he wasn't suffering from psychosis could show that George had a flexible moral compass, as well as some possible homicidal urges.

Despite that, George only killed Tipps because he was disgusted by him, and he killed the Maid because he was being tricked by the woman in white (the ghost of Julia). George's most prominent trait, however, ended up being his remorse. It is believed that George was deeply unhappy with who he was, and didn't consider himself worthy of living, which could be a contributing factor as to why he took his own life in the climax of *Stone Cold*.