GARDNER DELMING
Real Name: Gardner Delming
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Serial killer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None; formerly Thorndike
Enemies: Clown, "Handy" Andy Ferhel, Thorndike, dozens of unidentified victims
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Parts-is-Parts Killer"
Base of Operations: Hell;
formerly apartment 4C in a rundown building somewhere
in New York City
First Appearance: Clive Barker's Hellraiser#13/2 (June, 1992)
Powers/Abilities: Gardner Delming was a ruthless murderer taking direction from a voice in his head that was actually a real voice. His mental state before being contacted from Hell is unclear, but it is rather dubious how well he acclimated to a life of murdering innocent people.
Height: Unrevealed (5'11"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (170 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Clive Barker's Hellraiser#13/2 (fb) - BTS) - Gardner Delming began
hearing a voice in his head that belonged to Thorndike, an evil man that
was taken to Hell by Cenobites to be tortured for eternity. Thorndike
sought a way out of Hell and gave Gardner a new direction in his life
that would lead to Thorndike's escape from Hell. Gardner began killing
people in Connecticut and always kept parts of their body to build a new
body for the voice in his head. He was unemployed for six months, but
stayed busy with his serial killer activities that eventually extended
into New York State. The tabloids dubbed him the "Parts-is-Parts Killer"
for his removal of body parts from his victims, but even after six
months the authorities were not even close to catching him after dozens
of murders.
(Clive Barker's Hellraiser#13/2) - Gardner came home to the rundown building where he lived in apartment 4C. He was carrying a bag of groceries and having trouble again with his lock. Caretaker Andy Ferhel better known as "Handy Andy" came by and offered to fix the lock for him, but Gardner told him that it was okay and that he just needed to get the key in just the right way. Andy left and Gardner was finally able to open the lock and enter his apartment. He switched on the light, told the radios that he wasn't listening to them tonight and switched on the TV instead. A pot was cooking something on the stove and Gardner sang while fishing out a human underjaw with a ladle. The news reported on Gardner's killing spree and that police officials and FBI behavioral sciences had established links between the Connecticut murders and more recent ones in the city. Gardner entered the room with the TV and numerous bones were hanging from the ceiling. He wanted to hear something he didn't know already, but the news couldn't provide him that. He smeared black markers over the newscaster's face on the TV and told him to shut up. He then picked up a board made of skin and drew a mouth on it to hear the whispers of his master. He listened to learn what he was supposed to do next, but he could barely hear him over the rattling bones in his apartment.
The next day Gardner came home again with a bag filled with a right arm. Handy Andy heard Gardner having problems with his lock again and offered his help, but Gardner knew how to deal with the lock and didn't want Andy's help. Gardner could barely hear Andy over the voice in his head. The body made form the removed body parts was almost finished. Gardner put on the TV news again and asked the voice in his head were to put the arm and what to do next. Gardner smeared blood from the arm on his face and heard on the news about the manhunt for him, but the authorities were still pessimistic about catching him despite new leads though the police predicted an arrest within the week. Gardner just got angry and tossed a skull into at the TV because whatever he heard on the news wasn't helping. He begged the voice to tell him how many more people he had to kill and what was still missing when he received an unexpected answer from fate. The door to his apartment was opened by Handy Andy, who offered once again to fix Gardner's lock. Andy was shocked when he saw bones and skulls hanging from the ceiling, but Gardner calmly told him that Andy was working too hard and deserved a break. He killed Andy by stabbing him with a bone.
Gardner finished the body with Andy's scalp and put Andy's face on the wall so that its mouth was around an outlet. He did it for no other reason than to crack a joke when he plugged in the lamp that he had placed inside the chest of the body he had built from this victims' body parts. Moments later Thorndike took control over the body and turned it into a completed new form for himself. Gardner marveled at what he had created from the parts he had taken and was ecstatic about finally meeting the one with the voice in his head in person. Thorndike thanked Gardner for everything he had done for him and wanted to return the favor to him. The Cenobite Clown entered the room through an interdimensional portal and told Gardner that Thorndike had traded him into eternal damnation. Gardner Delming was then dragged to Hell by hooked chains.
Comments: Created by D.G. Chichester, Mike Mignola & Mark Nelson.
This profile was completed on 09/13/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary event.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Gardner Delming has no known connections to:
images:
Clive Barker's Hellraiser#13/2, p2, pan7 (main)
Clive Barker's Hellraiser#13/2, p9, pan3 (head shot)
Appearances:
Clive Barker's Hellraiser#13/2 (June, 1992) - D.G. Chichester (writer),
Mike Mignola (plot/pencils), Mark Nelson (inks)
First Posted: 09/28/2026
Last updated: 09/15/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!