Bewildering Stories introduces and welcomes...

Marco Etheridge

Marco lives in Vienna, Austria. He writes prose fiction and, occasionally, poetry. He has published extensively to significant acclaim.

“The Yule King” will surprise many readers with its title. Even though the story first appears in a December issue of Bewildering Stories, it is not about Christmas; that is, not directly. The plot borrows from what has been determined of a custom of human sacrifice in prehistoric Ireland and Britain.

Legends have remained from early times of tribes’ celebrating and then sacrificing an important person in order to honor or appease a deity of some sort. In this case, the “yule king” is chosen by chance and, after twelve days of feasting, is made the prey of a hunt. The official justification is actually ludicrous: to make sure the sun will rise. Of course it will, whether or not the prey is killed.

However, Luti and Vatto, two survivors of the hunt, must know that they cannot merely walk into town, display their identifying scars and thereby cause everyone to laugh off the tradition of the Yule King as a bloody hoax. Too many “elders” have too much at stake in the custom to let it go easily. Readers will surely welcome a sequel.

Marco Etheridge’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Marco. We’re glad to have you with us.