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Adam Maitland

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Adam Maitland is the husband of Barbara Maitland. He owns and operates the Maitland Hardware Store in Winter River, Connecticut and he has no fear of spiders.

Beetlejuice (movie)[]

History (BJ1)[]

Adam Maitland married Barbara Maitland and they moved into a large house in a small town called Winter River, Connecticut. Adam spends most of his time in the attic working on a giant model of the town. One morning, the couple was driving home from their hardware store when Barbara swerved to avoid hitting a dog, causing them to crash off a bridge and over into the water where they drowned.

Adam and Barbara make it back home without realizing that they are dead. Adam notices something is off, realizing he can’t recall getting out of the water, and heads back to the bridge to retrace his steps. But as soon as he steps of the porch, he finds himself in a sandy desert planet with a monster looming. Barbara pulls him back onto the porch before the monster can devour him and states he’s been gone for two hours, and in the time that he was gone, she’s noticed there reflections don’t appear in the living room mirror. She also points out a handbook on the table with the title Handbook for the Recently Deceased, and they realize they didn‘t survive the crash.

Later, the couple are in their bedroom and Adam is sitting on the bed trying to read the handbook. Despite all the questions Barbara asks, Adam is unable to understand anything, stating it reads like stereo instructions. Adam spends the next few days working on his town model, while Barbara attempts to clean. When Barbara’s cousin, Jane, drives up to the house, Adam tries to get her attention, but Barbara points out that the handbook says the living can’t see the dead. Adam says that since they’re dead, they shouldn’t have much to worry about.

Some time later, Adam and Barbara wake up to a loud noise and notice a family has moved into their house: Charles Deetz, his wife Delia, and his daughter Lydia. Adam and Barbara attempt to scare them away by Adam cutting off his head to look like a headless corpse, but while Delia and her interior designer, Otho, are looking around the house, they can’t see them. Adam notices that they are headed to the attic, and Adam locks it quickly so they can’t get in. Adam returns to Barbara and puts his head back on. Barbara doesn’t approve of the changes the Deetz family is making to the house and tries to leave. Adam follows her and they both end up on the desert planet as soon as they step off the porch. Adam frantically searches for Barbara and when he finds her, they are confronted by a giant sandworm. They retreat back into the house, realizing they are trapped.

The Maitlands keep the attic locked and take refuge in it. When Adam is flipping through the handbook, a flyer falls out for Betelguese, the bio-exorcist, but no way to contact him. Barbara is looking out the window and sees Lydia noticing them, but Adam denies this. Lydia is given a skeleton key and tries to enter the attic, but Adam and Barbara hold the door. A commercial appears on the television for Betelguese, saying he can get rid of people living in your house. Adam realizes they need help, and returns to the handbook for emergencies. Following the instructions, he draws a door with chalk on the attic wall and knocks three times. The wall turns into a passageway and Adam and Barbara enter, giving Lydia a chance to unlock the attic door.

They enter the Waiting Room and are told to go to the third door to their right after waiting for a while. They enter and are horrified to see it’s their house remodeled into gothic style. Juno meets with them and explains they are to haunt their house for 125 years and it’s their responsibility to get the family out by themselves. Juno also warns them to never approach Beetlejuice because he is a troublemaker and he can be brought back by saying his name 3 times. The Maitlands dress up in bed sheets to try and scare Charles and Delia but this fails. Lydia snaps photographs of them and realizes they are ghosts. Adam is surprised Lydia can see them and can understand the handbook. In the attic, they bond with Lydia and they ask her to help them scare her parents, and she agrees. However, Delia brushes off Lydia. Adam and Barbara notice Beetlejuice lurking around the model cemetery and curiously summon him, ending up in the model. They dig up his grave and Beetlejuice emerges, immediately sexually harassing Barbara and teasing Adam. Both regret summoning him and decide back out of working with him, and resolve to scare the Deetz family out themselves.

During dinner, Charles, Delia and their guests are possessed into singing and dancing to Day-O. Adam and Barbara think they succeeded but the others are excited and try to force their way into the attic, and fail to notice the couple hiding. Beetlejuice manifests into a snake to terrorize them before being stopped by Barbara and Lydia accuses them of being involved. Beetlejuice berates Adam and Barbara for breaking their deal while they scold him for hurting Charles and scaring Lydia. They are summoned to the Netherworld where Juno scolds them for letting Beetlejuice and letting Otho get the handbook. She advises them to come up with a new trick to scare the family and they distort their faces. However, Barbara has second thoughts because she is fond of Lydia and Adam sympathizes with her. They return home to find Lydia about to summon Beetlejuice and stop her, and they comfort Lydia as she admits she wants to be dead with them.

Otho summons the Maitlands who immediately begin decaying, as rather than a seance, Otho had performed an exorcism. Lydia goes to Beetlejuice to ask him to save them and he agrees if she agrees to marry him so he can leave the afterlife for good. She agrees and summons him, and he keeps his end of the bargain and saves the Maitlands. As he tries to force Lydia to marry him, Adam and Barbara interfere and save Lydia.

Months later, Adam and Barbara become secondary parents to Lydia, and peacefully co exist with the Deetz family.

History (BJ2)[]

At some point, Lydia found a loophole in Adam and Barbara’s 125 year sentence to haunt their house, allowing them to move on The Great Beyond.

Personality[]

Adam Maitland is a polite man, who wants to get along with everyone and be in peace. His hobby was creating realistic sculptures (especially for his model of his hometown).

He is very close with his wife. While he initially disliked Charles and Delia, he became fond of Lydia. He also strongly detests Beetlejuice for his malicious and perverted actions.

Trivia[]

  • He would've summoned Beetlejuice as soon as he got the flyer, but since the bio-exorcist used the ancient astrology spelling of his name, Adam (luckily) mispronounced it as "Beetleguice".
  • He misread the title of the book upon first glance, calling it the Handbook for the Recently Diseased.
  • According to Alec Baldwin, who played Adam, this is one of his least favorite roles.

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Appearances[]

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