Randy Messarue is the male half of a second couple that is locked with Stephanie and Jack inside an abandoned house. Randy is very worldly and believes himself to be very successful and important. He runs a chain of hotels for a living and for this reason takes it on himself to complain about the service at the Wayside Inn. Throughout his time in the inn, Randy is pursued by images of his father who apparently abused Randy as a child. Stewart, one of the inbreds, develops a habit of removing his belt as Randy's father did. This action alone unnerves Randy. Randy believes he has overcome his fear of his father when he allows Stewart to drown in the drainpipe.
Randy is the weak link in the group of four people trapped inside the abandoned house. He is the one who becomes arrogant and hateful with his first encounter with Stewart while the others try to make friends with the strange people. Randy is also the one who takes the shotgun and shoots out the front door of the house in an attempt to free himself and the others. Randy thinks several times during the evening that he would be better off if he joined forces with Tin Man instead of trying to fight against him as the others do. In the end of the book, Randy does join the Tin Man as he gives in to the temptation to kill Leslie and stabs her with a knife. Even though Tin Man had told Randy that he would be allowed to go free if he produced a dead body, the Tin Man does not keep his promise. When Randy tells Jack that he killed Leslie, the Tin Man kills Randy.
