Otto

Otto is a character in the thirty-seventh book in the Goosebumps series, The Headless Ghost, and one of the antagonists in the television adaptation.

Book
Otto works as tour guide for Hill House, the only tourist attraction in Wheeler Falls. Otto, along with another tour guide named Edna, tell the tour group many of the ghost stories within the house. Otto tells them of Captain Bell, a sea captain that built Hill House for his wife. He left her and went to sea, only to pass away. His ghost returned to the house, but his wife had left due to grief. The ghost of the captain would haunt the Craw family, removing the head of Andrew Craw. One night, as Otto gives the tour, Stephanie Alpert and Duane Comack, also known as the "Twin Terrors", decide to leave the tour and search for Andrew's missing head. Eventually, the pair get caught by Otto and return to the tour. After they leave again to find the head, Otto finds them once more. He leads Duane and Stephanie out of Hill House as the tour had concluded in their absence.

Outside, Duane and Stephanie meet a boy from the tour by the name of Seth who claims to have snuck into Hill House at night. The trio sneak back into the house as Seth tells them more stories. He leads them into the pantry and locks them inside. Seth then claims to be Andrew Craw, the headless ghost, and threatens to take Duane's head. Duane and Stephanie find a hidden passageway below the pantry and the three find the head belonging the real Andrew Craw. Andrew's ghost shows up and takes his head, thanking the kids as he is now free to go into the afterlife. Otto arrives as Andrew vanishes and tells Duane and Stephanie that Seth is his nephew, and is known to tell ghost stories. When they try to tell him about Andrew, he doesn't believe them.

Several months later, during the middle of winter, Duane and Stephanie decide to return to Hill House for one more tour. They are greeted by Otto and Edna and take the tour. However, upon leaving, the kids are stopped by a pair of cops who tell them that Hill House has been abandoned for months. Duane and Stephanie look up to the house and see the ghosts of Otto and Edna peering down on them from a window.

Episode
Otto begins the episode similar to his book counterpart as the tour guide of Hill House, while still having to deal with Stephanie's pranks. Similar to the book, he tells the stories of the decapitation of Andrew Craw and the sea captain's ghost. However, in the episode, the captain did return alive, only for his wife to have still left him. The captain would forever haunt Hill House, taking revenge on anyone who lived there or anyone who mocked the ghosts within. Similar to the book, after Duane and Stephanie sneak from the tour to find Andrew's head, Otto kicks them both out, forbidding them from ever returning to Hill House. The kids meet Seth, who helps them sneak back inside after the tour ends to find the head of Andrew Craw. When they enter, they find a room with a dumbwaiter. Seth tells them the story of a boy who lived in the room who would eat nothing but ice cream. However, one day when the dumbwaiter got stuck, he stuck his body too far into the dumbwaiter shaft, fell and died a grisly death.

Seth leads Duane and Stephanie up into the attic, where the captain's art equipment is stored. He tells them that the captain would paint the portrait of his victims. Seth then claims to be Andrew Craw, threatening to steal the head of Duane. They then find the real Andrew Craw's head stored inside the dumbwaiter. As Andrew's body takes his head, Otto arrives and tells Duane and Stephanie that Seth is just a kid that works for him. Otto lets Duane leave, but keeps Stephanie in the attic to talk to her. Otto then reveals himself to be the ghost of the sea captain with Seth being the ice cream boy. Otto, Seth and Andrew all live together in Hill House. Otto begins to paint Stephanie's portrait, causing her to disappear before Duane returns to save her. Otto chases Duane and Stephanie until they make their escape.

Some time after that night, Hill House stops giving tours. Otto shows off the now boarded up Hill House to a couple looking for a fixer upper. He promises they'll be very happy here as he shuts the door with a sinister expression on his face.

Appearance
Otto is described as a large, heavyset bald man with beady black eyes, a large booming voice and a scary smile. Despite this, Duane and Stephanie consider him to be their favorite tour guide. He wears a black uniform like the other tour guides.

Personality
Otto comes off as particularly kindly, often very spirited in his telling of the history of Hill House. Despite being annoyed by Duane and Stephanie's antics, he still acts cordial to them. In the episode, he has less patience for their pranks, eventually throwing them out. when he is later revealed as the sea captain's ghost, he becomes be more sinister, reveling in torturing those who disrespect Hill House, namely Stephanie.