Carly Beth Caldwell

Carly Beth Caldwell is the main protagonist of The Haunted Mask and The Scream of the Haunted Mask, as well as playing a major role in The Haunted Mask II. She is described as being timid and easy to scare, and at first, Carly Beth hated herself for this, as she was constantly teased for this. After the events of The Haunted Mask, however, she learns to accept herself for who she is and to not try to be something else she isn't. Her best friend is Sabrina.

The Haunted Mask
Carly Beth, who is easily frightened by everything, is constantly scared and humiliated by two pranksters, Chuck and Steve. On Halloween night, she goes to the local costume shop to try to find the scariest costume to scare Chuck and Steve with it. She takes in interest in The Haunted Mask, and the shopkeeper, after repeated warnings, reluctantly sells her the mask. After returning home, she takes a sculpture of her head made by her mother and goes trick-or-treating with Sabrina. Carly-Beth begins to act noticeably more aggressive and nasty, scaring little kids and threatening to maul and eat them. She eventually finds and scares Chuck and Steve by pretending to be a creature that took Carly Beth's head. The sculpture head then begins to talk on its own, calling for help. Carly Beth haphazardly abandons the fake head. After returning to Sabrina's house, she tries to take off the mask, only to find that there is no space between the mask and her skin. She goes back to the shop and the shopkeeper explains the history of the mask as well as telling her that the mask can only be removed by a symbol of love. The other masks in the shop come to life and attack her, but she hurries out the shop and finds the sculpture of her head, using it as her symbol of love. She is then finally able to take off the mask. The book ends with her little brother putting on the same mask.

The Haunted Mask II
Steve, one of the pranksters from the last book, buys an old man mask and finds himself in the similar predicament as Carly Beth was. He finds Carly Beth, and she helps him remove the mask.

Scream of the Haunted Mask
See The Scream of the Haunted Mask.