Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Andrew L. Hodges

Andrew was born in Suffolk, England but spent most of his early life on a farm in Virginia. He enjoys writing stories of nature, fantasy, and horror. Biology and Appalachian scenery are inspirations.

“The Angel and the Locket” qualifies as horror. It takes the point of view of a hospital volunteer who performs her duties conscientiously and quite inconspicuously. But she also appears to be an Angel of Death. Readers are given a hint of her motives in the form of the “angel’s” locket, which contains a picture of her mother. But what does that picture mean? Does it represent a plea for mercy or does it issue an order to kill?

Whatever the motive, the “angel” does not ask a moribund patient’s permission to slip the patient a spiked drink of water. Does the clandestine medication ease the patient’s suffering or end it in death? If death, what other patients will get the same treatment? In Ontario, Canada in 2017, a serial killer was sentenced to eight concurrent life terms in a very similar case.

Andrew L. Hodges’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Andrew. We hope to hear from you again soon and often!