Story spotlight: “Domestic Magic” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

  At a high school for the magical, the most picked-on kid dreams about J. Rutherford Wisenhaur II killing people with a fire spell. She knows her nightmares portend the future, but her domestic magic lacks the power to do most difficult spells. To make matters worse, no one will believe her. So, what’s a…

Story spotlight: “Ghost Case” by Bonnie Elizabeth

After moving her business into the new building owned by Rain McFarland, Meg Barringer wonders if having to combine their businesses is really a deal with the devil. When Rain leaves for a conference, Meg gets a call about a marketing group. Except she’s not there to market. They’re plagued by a ghost and want…

Story spotlight: “To Be a Monster” by Jamie Ferguson

Scylla is caught by surprise when her mother, the river nymph Crataeis, shows up unexpectedly. Mother’s infrequent visits are welcome, but also serve as a painful reminder of what Scylla’s life had been like before the evil witch Circe turned her into a hideous, people-eating monster. The cliff Scylla lives on juts out into a…

Story spotlight: “Lexie’s Choice” by Deb Logan

Prom is just around the corner, but Lexie has mixed emotions. The guy of her dreams has issued the invitation, but she can’t afford the kind of dress that makes her drool. Fortunately, her best friend is a faery princess. No. Really. Claire is an honest-to-goodness faery princess with flower faeries at her command. The…

Story spotlight: “The Haunting of Melsbury Manor” by Rebecca M. Senese

Charlotte and her maid Trudy stalk the halls of Melsbury Manor, alone since the last tenants fled. But now new tenants are moving in, Andrew and his son Mark, and their presence threatens the careful equilibrium Charlotte has developed. Will she be able to escape them? Just who is haunting who?        …

Story spotlight: “The Ballad of Molly McGee” by DeAnna Knippling

Witches weave curses out of words; the less you use ‘em, the more powerful they are. Blessings are weaker—but you can use them more often, wear them in like shoes. Judith’s red-headed granddaughter Molly, also a witch, curses her way through life, and now look at her—pregnant, a widow, and an adulteress with the spirit…

Story spotlight: “Freshly Ghost” by Chuck Heintzelman

  Being dead was unlike anything Chance Phillips had expected. For one thing, he’s forced to change his name. For another, he discovers he can move through time.   When Chance learns a friend, an alive friend, is in danger will he and his ghost friend Jeremy be able to save her in time?  …

Story spotlight: “We, the Ocean” by Alexandra Brandt

When Thalassa’s Children—the mer-like, genderless protectors of the ocean—experience the trapped and suffocating death of one of their own, a single member chooses to take action. Against the wishes of the collective mind. But can a lone mer ever hope to convince the humans of what they have done to the ocean, in a language…