João is a character in Tales of the Peculiar who lives in a haunted house. He is the husband of Hildy.
Tales of the Peculiar[]
The Woman Who Befriended Ghosts[]
João's haunted house had been in his family for generations, which is why he refuses to sell it despite the ghosts bothering him day and night. He starts exchanging letters with Hildy during her hunt for a haunted house. He later sends her a haunted, wailing bureau as a decoration for the house she builds herself.
As João and Hildy continue writing to each other, he eventually offers for her to come visit him, which she instantly takes him up on. During her visit, he watches as Hildy dissuades one of the house's ghosts from playing tricks, after which he asks if she can talk to all the ghosts for him. He falls in love with Hildy, and just as she is about to leave, he tells her this. As she reciprocates his feelings, they get married and have two children. He is introduced to the ghosts of Hildy's sister and parents at the end of the story.
Relationships[]
Hildy[]
At first, João and Hildy only exchanged letters, until she comes to visit him in person. Despite thinking her strange once, he also thought that she wrote very nicely, and was gentle in his refusal to sell his haunted house to her. He was the first to sign off a letter with "your friend," although Hildy was unable to tell if he was just being polite. When they first met, Hildy could not talk to him properly, but he did not think her unlikable. He was Hildy's first real friend outside her own family.
João is amazed by Hildy's peculiarity. During her visit to him, he falls in love with her, looking on with quiet admiration as she convinces most of the haunted house's ghosts to leave. Afterwards, Hildy is no longer awkward with João, and has grown feelings for him as well.