There could be a passer - by. This person might be the one who first notices the empty house and starts to wonder about it. Their curiosity can drive the story forward.
Maybe there's a curious explorer who ventures into the empty house. He or she is the main character who starts to experience all the horror.
The main characters are the boy with the empty pot and the emperor.
Since I don't know the specific 'the empty chair short story', it's hard to say. But it could be a person who notices the empty chair, like a homeowner who is puzzled by an empty chair in a newly - bought house. Maybe there's also a neighbor who has some knowledge about the chair's previous occupant.
I'm not sure without reading the story, but it could be a single parent who is left alone in the family home after the kids have grown up and moved away. This person would be one of the main characters dealing with the emptiness of the family.
One of the main themes could be loneliness. The empty house itself might symbolize a lack of human presence and connection, representing the isolation that a character or perhaps the whole setting experiences.
It might include the owners or former inhabitants of the empty houses. They could have some connection to the hauntings. Also, there could be investigators or curious neighbors who become involved in the spooky goings - on.
In 'the sinking house short story', there could be a variety of characters. There may be the family living in the house, for example, a father, mother, and their children. Each of them could have different reactions to the sinking house. The father might be more practical and try to find solutions right away, while the mother could be more worried about the safety of the family. The children might be scared and confused. There could also be a nosy neighbor who offers unwanted advice or a helpful contractor who tries to figure out the problem with the house.
I don't have enough information to tell who the characters are. They could be a hermit who lives in the house, or a family. There might also be some visitors or neighbors who play important roles in the story.
Well, the most obvious main characters would be the house guest and the host. The house guest could be a traveler, a friend in need of a place to stay, or someone with a mysterious purpose. The host could be a single person, a family member, or a couple. There may also be secondary characters such as a maid or a pet in the house that could add to the story's complexity, but again, this is all based on general assumptions about this type of short story.
I don't know for sure as I haven't read the story. But it could be the homeowners, perhaps a mother, father, and their children. Or it might be a single person who lives alone in the house.