"Ghosts of Summer" is a Reader's Choice Winner!

“Ghosts of Summer” Won the Apex Reader’s Choice Award for Best Original Fiction!!!

Publication: Apex Magazine, Issue 151
Date: October 7, 2025
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 1,015 words (Short Fiction)
Access: Free to read online
Awards/Honors:
–Reactor Magazine’s Must Read Short Speculative Fiction October 2025
–2026 British Science Fiction Association Awards–Longlist
–Locus Online Review by Paula Guran
–WINNER: Apex Reader’s Choice Awards (Original Fiction)

Read "Ghosts of Summer"

AAAHHH!!! I am so thrilled!!! Never did I imagine my little witchy story going this far and reaching so many people. This is my first award for my writing. It means so much to me that it was a reader’s choice as well because that’s why I write—so that my stories can reach readers and give them spots of joy in their lives.

I am so thankful to Apex Magazine for giving my story its home. I am also super grateful to my fellow Velmas (iykyk) for helping me shape this story with their feedback and encouragement.

And a huge congrats goes out as well to my co-winners Rukman Ragas (flash fiction) and Yorgos Cotronis (cover art), my TOC mates of Issue 151, and to all the authors and artists that made Apex 2025 such a fantastic year. I am deeply honored to be counted among such amazing artists and their work.

And, of course, to all the readers—your support and delight for this story means the world.

💖 Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 💖