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"It's not working," she told the witch when the door opened to her pounding. "He's still a beast."

Good news! The Washington Science Fiction Association has announced that “The Witch’s Knives,” by Margaret Ronald, is one of the finalists for its 2017 Small Press AwardStrange Horizons published this story on October 17, 2016. It follows a woman named Leah, who is desperate to end a witch’s curse. But does she know what the curse is really for? Read the story again, or for the first time, here.

Margaret Ronald has been publishing stories with us since 2006, beginning with “The Welsh Squadron.” We’re excited to see her getting recognition for her story.

Congratulations, Margaret, and best of luck!



Ness is a queer Baltimorean with a gaming habit and a fondness for green things. Work hats include developmental editing, calligraphy, writing, learning design, and community management (that history degree was extremely useful). Ve started as an articles editor at Strange Horizons in 2012, and is constantly surprised about the number of fencers on the team.
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12 May 2025

You saw her for the first time at your front door, like she wanted to sell you something or convert you. She had light hair and dark eyes, and she was wearing fatigues, which was the only way you knew that your panicked prayers of the last few minutes had not come true. “Don’t freak out,” she said. “I’m you. From—uh, let’s just say from the future. Can I come inside?”
Time will not return to you as it was.
The verdant hills they whispered of this man so apt to sin / chimney smoke was pure as mountain snow compared to him.
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