This has been a year of transition for the fiction department. With the departure of two senior editors, we have recruited new staff members to carry us into 2027 and beyond.

First, please join us in thanking senior editors Hebe Stanton and Kathryn Weaver for their tireless work. Together they have contributed more than 17 years to Strange Horizons! We wish them the best in their new projects!

New Editors

• Austin Dewar (Managing Editor - Fiction)
  Austin Dewar stepped into the managing editor role early in 2026. Austin is a writer, editor, and educator from Fort Worth, Texas. He has a certificate in copyediting from UC San Diego, previously served as a first reader for Strange Horizons and Flash Fiction Online, and is pursuing a master’s in English at TCU. He blogs intermittently about story craft at austindewar.com.
• Myna Chang (Managing Editor - Fiction)
  Myna Chang joined the editorial team in July. Myna is a lifelong spec fic fanatic. Her award-winning flash and short stories have appeared in more than 100 venues. She publishes MicroVerse Recommended Reading and hosts Electric Sheep SF. Her debut flash collection, The Potential of Radio and Rain, was released in 2023. Originally from the American shortgrass prairie region, she now lives in Maryland. You can find her online at MynaChang.com.

In hopes of speeding submission turnaround time—and avoiding staff burnout—we have also expanded our editor roster. Please welcome newly-promoted editors K.T. Elms, Belicia Rhea, and Ashlee Lhamon.

• K.T. Elms (Fiction Editor)
  K.T. Elms (she/her/hers) is likely complaining right now about the weather in Southwest Michigan. She is an avid reader of all things speculative fiction and speculative poetry. When she’s not working as an administrative assistant, she’s haunting her local hiking trails, learning how to knit, or starting another TTRPG with friends.
• Belicia Rhea (Fiction Editor)
  Belicia Rhea is an author, editor, and vampire who loves speculative fiction, horror most of all. You can read her short stories in various anthologies and her novella, Voracious, from Dark Matter INK. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s up late watching something scary. Find her online at beliciarhea.com.
• Ashlee Lhamon (Fiction Editor)
  Ashlee Lhamon is an author and editor who currently calls the DC area home. Her fiction has previously appeared in Lightspeed, Nightmare, Apex, Tractor Beam, Salamander, The Massachusetts Review, Hunger Mountain Review, Grist, and others. Her debut novel about evil celebrity clones, Last Lynn Standing, is due out next summer. For more, visit ashleelhamon.com.

You can see the full fiction department staff on our masthead.

Fiction submissions will reopen on October 1 at 3 p.m. UTC.