The Victorian Book of the Dead’s first chapter is on personifications of Death. Here we meet a Reaper-like Death Angel, who discusses, in a weirdly bureaucratic way, the persons who are to be taken.
The holidays (or perhaps more accurately, holiday films) are a time for heartwarming depictions of helpful angels: Clarence, the Angel Second Class of It’s a Wonderful Life and Cary Grant’s debonair Dudley of The Bishop’s Wife spring to mind. Here are stories of three angelic visitations, two of dubious helpfulness.