1408

Olin is a hotel manager who began his career in the Midwest, gradually working his way into the Upper East Side of New York, where he oversees the Hotel Dolphin. Considering its clientele, which includes elegantly dressed blond women and men who fly into town on Business Class, Olin maintains a carefully polished appearance. His hands are described as “carefully manicured” (373) and the tie he wears is likewise described as being “carefully knotted” (383). 

His conscientious nature and attention to detail translate to his work ethic. He possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the hotel’s history, and can easily recall the names of staff members, including those who have long since retired from service. He also makes the effort to personally oversee certain tasks, such as the light turn cleaning of 1408.

The first time Olin encounters Mike, he immediately tasks the concierge with procuring copies of Mike’s work, so that he can better understand him. Mike perceives him as the type of person “who probably read Proust on his nights off” (372). During their conversation, Olin also makes an offhand reference to Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.

Olin maintains a complex relationship to 1408, signifying the tension between his fidelity to the hotel and his Fear of the Unknown. Although no guests have stayed in the room since 1978, Olin finds it difficult to leave it untouched, gathering dust and falling decrepit. Olin fears this would translate to a neglect of duty.

Olin also functions as a foil for Mike. By challenging his motivations to stay in 1408, Olin is able to uncover and interrogate Mike’s cynicism as a writer. He exposes Mike’s defense mechanisms, either by failing to oblige them or by subverting them. Considering his commitment to the hotel, Olin’s motivation for dissuading Mike from staying in 1408 stems from a desire to minimize public scrutiny of the room. At the time of Mike’s arrival, he is grateful that 1408 remains one of the lesser-known locations on ghost tours and supernatural guides. Following Mike’s escape, Olin visits Mike’s literary agent, Sam Farrell, to listen to the tape. He rejects all culpability for Mike’s personal damages and lays all the blame at Mike’s feet. It is likely that his interest in the tape is a means to better understand the entity that inhabits the room, which Olin finds difficult to describe.

Sam Farrell is Mike’s literary agent, who appears in the fourth section of “1408.” His character is largely flat and static as he only functions to represent Mike’s career interests. When he encounters Olin, Sam briefly clashes with him, assuming the role of a protector to Mike. He declines Olin’s request to listen to the tape and threatens him with a lawsuit. Likewise, when Mike declares his retirement from writing, Sam believes that he will eventually change his mind as writers typically do.

Sam is the only person identified in the narrative to have listened to the contents of Mike’s minicorder after his escape from 1408. He is unsettled by its fragmentary recordings but remains largely unconvinced that Mike’s experience is tied to an authentic haunting. He hides the tape in his wall-safe, which suggests that the raw account of Mike’s encounter is both disturbing and repulsive, but also knows it is not enough to prove that anything occurred. On the other hand, he also sees the profit in Mike’s retelling of the experience, provided that he can bring himself to return to the tape and filter the experience in a way that would appeal to his readership. While Mike is changed by the experience and no longer wishes to profit from his readership, Olin remains interested in making money at the expense of others.