What do you think?
Rate this book
The Little Witch
Every Halloween, an elderly woman hands out candy to a young trick-or-treater who's dressed as a witch each time, looking exactly the same age. With each passing year, the woman grows more attached to the little witch and her odd nature. But she is no ordinary child, and an uncanny relationship develops between the two of them that may prove dangerous and deadly.
31 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 28, 2020
22 people are currently reading
1213 people want to read
About the author
M. Rickert
89 books121 followersM. Rickert also writes under the name Mary Rickert. How did this happen and why, you might ask. It is a reasonable question but that does not mean the answer is reasonable as well. There was a time when M. was a young writer, scribbling in notebooks and on the back of envelopes, who thought she wanted to disappear behind the stories she wrote. (She still feels that way, and rather enjoys writing about herself in the third person as if she were someone else.) After years of rejections M. began publishing under the mysterious moniker, and was happy doing so, until she began to feel that she was repeating herself, or (and this is the weird part) repeating someone else who she once had been. At the age of 51 she decided to go back to school and earned her MFA as well as the rest of her name. She also wrote a novel, The Memory Garden, to be published in May, 2014.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews
![Profile Image for s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1735525095i%2F6431467._UX200_CR0%2C11%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
October 15, 2024
For those looking for spooky Halloween vibes but don’t like to be actually scared, I’m excited to present this story which I like to think of as “cozy horror.” We all deserve some spooky season fun and even the most fear-adverse readers will likely have a pleasant adventure through this one. The Little Witch by M. Rickert is a charming yet creepy little tale (you can read it all here) of an aging woman who generally keeps to herself but has taken interest in a young girl she sees each Halloween dressed up as a witch in red boots and solemnly takes too much candy. The witch girl, it seems, does not age despite the passing years. The story is told with as much wholesome warmth as there is eerie mystery and abrupt disaster in the neighborhood, feeling much like a cozy evening with a cat snuggling in your lap by the fire but if that cat just happens to be a ghost. This is a perfect read for Halloween and leaves you with much to ponder, haunting you long after without being fearsome.
‘Such power was harnessed from either great evil or great good.’
This really was a delightful story and Rickert creates such an all-encompassing atmosphere that is both cozy and charming yet still unsettling. The narrator—the older woman—tells the tale with a lot of vagueness that keeps you guessing and all the unconfirmed suspicions make for a perfect spooky experience. Yet, despite the sudden deaths going on, we feel her reclusive loneliness and her being avoided from the whispered rumors of her being a witch more than anything else. Is she hexing people or are these accidents a coincidence? And is that why Alice, the adorable little witch, is drawn to her? And who is the horned figure that accompanies her on Halloween nights? Yet all these uneasy questions seem snuggled in all warm in the blanket of the narrative that is more concerned with taking care of this mysterious houseguest who frolicks with the narrator’s cat and loves candy.
‘Alice seemed perfectly happy to eat her marmalade toast by candlelight and, when she got to the third piece, I noticed how her little legs in the striped stockings and red boots had begun to swing happily beneath the kitchen table.’
So if you are looking for a great spooky season read but are more interested in being charmed than chilled, The Little Witch is a perfect treat. It proceeds to a well constructed yet still ambiguous ending that has had me wrestling with all the half-revealed clues throughout the story yet I found the eerie atmosphere and unnerving events to be more devilishly delightful than dreadful. And who knows, maybe you’ll spot Alice this year trick-or-treating on Halloween night, better have some extra candy for her.
4/5
‘Such power was harnessed from either great evil or great good.’
This really was a delightful story and Rickert creates such an all-encompassing atmosphere that is both cozy and charming yet still unsettling. The narrator—the older woman—tells the tale with a lot of vagueness that keeps you guessing and all the unconfirmed suspicions make for a perfect spooky experience. Yet, despite the sudden deaths going on, we feel her reclusive loneliness and her being avoided from the whispered rumors of her being a witch more than anything else. Is she hexing people or are these accidents a coincidence? And is that why Alice, the adorable little witch, is drawn to her? And who is the horned figure that accompanies her on Halloween nights? Yet all these uneasy questions seem snuggled in all warm in the blanket of the narrative that is more concerned with taking care of this mysterious houseguest who frolicks with the narrator’s cat and loves candy.
‘Alice seemed perfectly happy to eat her marmalade toast by candlelight and, when she got to the third piece, I noticed how her little legs in the striped stockings and red boots had begun to swing happily beneath the kitchen table.’
So if you are looking for a great spooky season read but are more interested in being charmed than chilled, The Little Witch is a perfect treat. It proceeds to a well constructed yet still ambiguous ending that has had me wrestling with all the half-revealed clues throughout the story yet I found the eerie atmosphere and unnerving events to be more devilishly delightful than dreadful. And who knows, maybe you’ll spot Alice this year trick-or-treating on Halloween night, better have some extra candy for her.
4/5
October 31, 2023
Cozy horror? Yes, I’m all in.. perfect short story for Halloween!
November 2, 2020
I spent the next day getting to know my neighbors. It turned out I had been right to ignore them all the years before. They were rude people. Even the woman who lived in the darling yellow house with the swag of autumn leaves draped around the door sneered, as if I wore garbage for perfume, when I asked if she knew anything about the little red-boot wearing witch.
“She comes every year,” I said. “Her name is Alice.”
“Well, what do you want with her?” Ms. Yellow House asked.
“I don’t know exactly,” I lied. “I suppose to make sure she is all right.”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” the annoying woman asked.
“She hasn’t grown. Not an inch.”
Ms. Yellow House began slowly closing the door, as if one of us might become violent at any sudden movement, but I stuck my foot in to stop it, which caused her eyebrows to jump halfway up her forehead, and her mouth to drop open.
“Also, her guardian appears to be a goat,” I said.
“I’m going to call the police.”
“Good idea,” I said, and removed my foot. I sat on the front step to wait, remembering a time when folks didn’t leave visitors to chill on their stoop but, clearly, that was not the time I was in.
this was a perfect halloween-morning-short, especially if, like me, you prefer scary seasoned with plenty of sad.
i'm not sure i'm 100% clear on the l'il witch's cycle, but i'm nonetheless a big fan of the story's mood—spooky and funny and bitter and melancholy; a big old bag of tricks and treats.
and you know i love that curiosity-foiled cat.
short review for a short story—i have two hours before work to try to review a month's worth of reading and i am not optimistic about it!
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2020/10/28/the-li...
come to my blog!
July 3, 2022
Simply, A Pleasure.
The narrator of this story is very interesting. She is giving out candy on Halloween, when a little witch appears.
The child helps herself to candy then leaves.
The narrator sees the little witch every year, even when other children stop coming on Halloween.
Why did they stop coming? Why does the little witch continue to come? Who is the narrator?
The author uses a lot of hints and suspense to tell this story. She does a great job.
The narrator of this story is very interesting. She is giving out candy on Halloween, when a little witch appears.
The child helps herself to candy then leaves.
The narrator sees the little witch every year, even when other children stop coming on Halloween.
Why did they stop coming? Why does the little witch continue to come? Who is the narrator?
The author uses a lot of hints and suspense to tell this story. She does a great job.
October 31, 2024
Halloween for scaredy cats
A short story that’s unsettling, but also sweet: it features a cat, and is lacking in gore and big scares, so suitable for all ages.
A solitary old woman is particularly struck by one of the trick-or-treaters, a “preternaturally solemn” little girl dressed as a witch, with red boots. The woman, who’s telling the story, looks out for her the following year, and when she sees her, becomes a little concerned. But there is a connection between them.
The nature of the story, and the mechanics of its world, are revealed gradually, with scope for interpretation. It mostly has a timeless air, so the mention of lactose intolerance and ordering groceries online were a surprise.
It’s a positive tale about the power of friendship, even in impossible circumstances.
More treat than trick. Not really my thing, but good of its kind.
Image: Illustration of the red-booted little witch dancing in the autumn leaves, by Jon Foster (Source)
Quotes
• “Fingers small as sticks, fingernails like glass.”
• “When summer tripped in, she dropped a curtsy of bountiful green and wore a perfume that lingered well into the night, seeping through the open windows, making sleep difficult.”
• “‘Be careful,’ she said, clear as the sound of bells on a winter’s night.”
Read it
It’s ~18 pages and you can read it free, HERE.
A short story that’s unsettling, but also sweet: it features a cat, and is lacking in gore and big scares, so suitable for all ages.
A solitary old woman is particularly struck by one of the trick-or-treaters, a “preternaturally solemn” little girl dressed as a witch, with red boots. The woman, who’s telling the story, looks out for her the following year, and when she sees her, becomes a little concerned. But there is a connection between them.
The nature of the story, and the mechanics of its world, are revealed gradually, with scope for interpretation. It mostly has a timeless air, so the mention of lactose intolerance and ordering groceries online were a surprise.
It’s a positive tale about the power of friendship, even in impossible circumstances.
More treat than trick. Not really my thing, but good of its kind.
Image: Illustration of the red-booted little witch dancing in the autumn leaves, by Jon Foster (Source)
Quotes
• “Fingers small as sticks, fingernails like glass.”
• “When summer tripped in, she dropped a curtsy of bountiful green and wore a perfume that lingered well into the night, seeping through the open windows, making sleep difficult.”
• “‘Be careful,’ she said, clear as the sound of bells on a winter’s night.”
Read it
It’s ~18 pages and you can read it free, HERE.
May 10, 2021
Trick or Treat!
One little witch wearing red boots makes an annual Halloween visit and always takes more candy than is allowed. What's fascinating and uncanny is that the little witch doesn't age. The elderly woman sets out to find more about her and her guardian but arises suspicion from neighbors when she questions them about the little witch. But when the little witch shows up at the elderly woman's house, she stays there and learns some everyday things but never takes off her hat and also still doesn't age.
It was a spooky read and perfect just in time for Halloween. I could not have guessed the ending that we got. I must say this was a fun little trick as well as a treat.
4 stars
One little witch wearing red boots makes an annual Halloween visit and always takes more candy than is allowed. What's fascinating and uncanny is that the little witch doesn't age. The elderly woman sets out to find more about her and her guardian but arises suspicion from neighbors when she questions them about the little witch. But when the little witch shows up at the elderly woman's house, she stays there and learns some everyday things but never takes off her hat and also still doesn't age.
It was a spooky read and perfect just in time for Halloween. I could not have guessed the ending that we got. I must say this was a fun little trick as well as a treat.
4 stars
July 5, 2021
Whimsical, eerie, unsettling Halloween short story with all the appropriate Halloween vibes.
I'd rate this story a PG.
Read it here: https://www.tor.com/2020/10/28/the-li...
I'd rate this story a PG.
Read it here: https://www.tor.com/2020/10/28/the-li...
October 28, 2023
This was a lovely little short story appropriate for Halloween. As one reviewer put it, "cozy horror" is a perfect description.
September 20, 2021
It's spooky season and I've collected several short stories to read this year! First up is The Little Witch by M. Rickert and it can be read here: https://www.tor.com/2020/10/28/the-li...
An eldery woman hands out candy each Halloween to the children who arrive at her door. Only a few remain dimly in her memory but one that she can never forget is the little witch in red boots who appears year after year and never seems to age.
One Halloween, the woman leaves a bucket of candy on the front step and retires early to bed but is later awakened by the little witch at her bedside.
Eerie, atmopsheric, and ambiguous; The Little Witch is a haunting story with an ending that will fill you with unease!
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
An eldery woman hands out candy each Halloween to the children who arrive at her door. Only a few remain dimly in her memory but one that she can never forget is the little witch in red boots who appears year after year and never seems to age.
One Halloween, the woman leaves a bucket of candy on the front step and retires early to bed but is later awakened by the little witch at her bedside.
Eerie, atmopsheric, and ambiguous; The Little Witch is a haunting story with an ending that will fill you with unease!
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
October 22, 2022
A perfect late October short story.
September 23, 2025
Cute, slightly cozy, with a Halloween setting. This was a very short novella that was a tad creepy, whimsical and charming at the same time. Perfect little book to up your reading this Halloween. 🎃
October 19, 2024
Witches, hooves, the dead and the are-they-dead?, lots of candy, the police, and a relatively-short length. Let the October vibes begin!
*finally cuts the ribbon on Halloween season*
The Little Witch is a fun novelette. Some have dubbed it "cozy horror", but I would opt for "MFA horror". Fiction that feels like I'm back in literary academia is the stuff of my nightmares. Writing programs tend to encourage a focus on little observations and cleverly-worded sentences at the expense of delving into characters' emotional journeys that are believable (rather than conceptual, clever, or... contrived).
In other words, in order for us to experience (even mild) horror as if it's happening to us directly, the non-supernatural parts of a story have to feel real. I didn't find that to be the case here.
That said, I quite liked the plot of this little spooky tale. If it weren't for the writers' workshop flavor, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
*finally cuts the ribbon on Halloween season*
The Little Witch is a fun novelette. Some have dubbed it "cozy horror", but I would opt for "MFA horror". Fiction that feels like I'm back in literary academia is the stuff of my nightmares. Writing programs tend to encourage a focus on little observations and cleverly-worded sentences at the expense of delving into characters' emotional journeys that are believable (rather than conceptual, clever, or... contrived).
In other words, in order for us to experience (even mild) horror as if it's happening to us directly, the non-supernatural parts of a story have to feel real. I didn't find that to be the case here.
That said, I quite liked the plot of this little spooky tale. If it weren't for the writers' workshop flavor, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
October 30, 2020
I am very sorry to admit I basically didn't understand anything about this novel: not its plot, not the setting, and not the meaning behind it.
November 28, 2020
I have always found the Tor.com short stories to be worthwhile, a special treat when taking a break from printed tomes. This year I resolved to read more supernatural, as opposed to fantasy, stories so this little Halloween gem by M. Rickert hit the spot.
It is narrated by a local resident in a town where one can feel the chill of October and the changing colours of Autumn. Handing out candies one Halloween, she meets a little trick-or-treater dressed as a Little Witch. Even though admonished to limit the amount of candy to be taken, the Little Witch takes more which earns her some respect from the Narrator. In the meantime, life goes on, though perhaps not for everyone. It seems that every time someone upsets the Narrator, bad things happen to those people. So who is this Narrator?
Because she is the one telling the story, we are immediately looking at the story's world via the "teller" but maybe, just maybe, she is not necessarily what she assumes to be. Haven't we all wished a bad wish on someone who has ticked us off? Does that make us all evil? After all, when she accidentally kills her cat, she collects her own tears to place in the cloth for the feline's burial. The neighbours shun the Narrator, because they say she is a witch. Is she? Who is what they say they are?
I loved this tale because of the ambiguity. I wasn't sure who was who and where the line was drawn between good and evil. For instance, there is the police Officer Sharon, who comes to visit the Narrator after a neighbour launches a complaint. We assume the cop is meant to be on the side of good. But maybe not.
I had been visited by the dead many times before, but never one so corporeal. Such power was harnessed from either great evil or great good.
This is a perfect short story for Halloween and I am still thinking about it.
Book Season = Autumn (horns and goats)
It is narrated by a local resident in a town where one can feel the chill of October and the changing colours of Autumn. Handing out candies one Halloween, she meets a little trick-or-treater dressed as a Little Witch. Even though admonished to limit the amount of candy to be taken, the Little Witch takes more which earns her some respect from the Narrator. In the meantime, life goes on, though perhaps not for everyone. It seems that every time someone upsets the Narrator, bad things happen to those people. So who is this Narrator?
Because she is the one telling the story, we are immediately looking at the story's world via the "teller" but maybe, just maybe, she is not necessarily what she assumes to be. Haven't we all wished a bad wish on someone who has ticked us off? Does that make us all evil? After all, when she accidentally kills her cat, she collects her own tears to place in the cloth for the feline's burial. The neighbours shun the Narrator, because they say she is a witch. Is she? Who is what they say they are?
I loved this tale because of the ambiguity. I wasn't sure who was who and where the line was drawn between good and evil. For instance, there is the police Officer Sharon, who comes to visit the Narrator after a neighbour launches a complaint. We assume the cop is meant to be on the side of good. But maybe not.
I had been visited by the dead many times before, but never one so corporeal. Such power was harnessed from either great evil or great good.
This is a perfect short story for Halloween and I am still thinking about it.
Book Season = Autumn (horns and goats)
May 11, 2021
An older woman notices that the same little girl dressed as a witch visits her every year without any evidence of aging. After these encounters begin, strange and mysterious things start occurring. This story is quite creepy and mysterious.
December 9, 2020
An almost sweet story of a woman who become obsessed with her yearly trick-or-treat visitor - a little witch who wears red boots.
August 3, 2022
An easy 4 stars. Best experienced without foreknowledge.
November 24, 2020
“…those who pretended they were from the other side, and those who pretended they weren’t.”
-- M. Rickert
For a short story, there are a lot of layers in this story. It’s a twisty, spooky, melancholy read. There’s quite a bit of horror between the lines. Most of all, it seems to me, to be a story of moving on peacefully and on one’s own terms.
-- M. Rickert
For a short story, there are a lot of layers in this story. It’s a twisty, spooky, melancholy read. There’s quite a bit of horror between the lines. Most of all, it seems to me, to be a story of moving on peacefully and on one’s own terms.
November 5, 2020
This was a perfect read for me - a beautiful and scarred combination of next-door witchery, hidden guises, and the friendship between witch child and a older women who may be more than she seems. It's a little bit sad and happy at the same time, and feels perfect for the family in autumn. Loved it.
March 2, 2023
Unsettling in the best way. A perfect little witchy/horror novella!
March 21, 2021
It took me several hours, working in shifts,
The Little Witch by M. Rickert is a perfect Halloween tale, lovely and dark at the same time. Told in such a way you can interpret the story in various ways.
Beautifully written. For anyone who loves a little spooky.
Themes: Halloween, trick or treat, the little girl that never ages, ghosts, witch, officer Sharon, goat, death is not the end, Gerta the cat stole my heart.
4 Stars
The Little Witch by M. Rickert is a perfect Halloween tale, lovely and dark at the same time. Told in such a way you can interpret the story in various ways.
Beautifully written. For anyone who loves a little spooky.
Themes: Halloween, trick or treat, the little girl that never ages, ghosts, witch, officer Sharon, goat, death is not the end, Gerta the cat stole my heart.
4 Stars
July 8, 2025
Eeeh, I was not quite satisfied with this? It is very ambiguous and open to interpretation and I guess I wasn't in mood for that. That said I highly appreciated the witchiness of this. I still want some answers though!
3,5⭐
Read for free here: https://reactormag.com/the-little-wit...
3,5⭐
Read for free here: https://reactormag.com/the-little-wit...
October 30, 2020
Sad little Hallowe’en story.
January 8, 2021
A weird little story. I have mixed feelings. It was quite well written narratively -- though there were some turns of phrase that jerked me out of the narrative at places by being too self-aware or composed. There are types of horror I love -- I like unsettling; this was unpleasant.
The protagonist was unpleasant, the things that happened around her/that she did (it was unclear) were unpleasant, the incidental (in character) gender essentialism was unpleasant, the was unpleasant, and most unpleasant of all to me was my strong suspicion that the whole point of the story was .
So it ends up being a strong story that sort of felt to read like when you reach into a snack bag and touch something wet. I didn't feel unsettled so much as repulsed by it. This is a type of horror, and one some people like, so I'm not even saying it's a drawback of the story necessarily -- but it was a drawback to me, certainly. And if I'm right around what the story was saying, and I think I am, it's just... uncomfortable, and I feel a little more tricked into reaching into that treat bag by it being on a fantasy site.
That said: it's still a strongly-written halloween story so ymmv on this one.
The protagonist was unpleasant, the things that happened around her/that she did (it was unclear) were unpleasant, the incidental (in character) gender essentialism was unpleasant, the was unpleasant, and most unpleasant of all to me was my strong suspicion that the whole point of the story was .
So it ends up being a strong story that sort of felt to read like when you reach into a snack bag and touch something wet. I didn't feel unsettled so much as repulsed by it. This is a type of horror, and one some people like, so I'm not even saying it's a drawback of the story necessarily -- but it was a drawback to me, certainly. And if I'm right around what the story was saying, and I think I am, it's just... uncomfortable, and I feel a little more tricked into reaching into that treat bag by it being on a fantasy site.
That said: it's still a strongly-written halloween story so ymmv on this one.
October 30, 2020
What a curious and delightful read for any time of the year, but especially for Halloween. This tale delivers a twist, one that keen readers will anticipate with guilty pleasure. Afterword, the story lingers and marinates in the mind. There's a lot to unpack in this short tale. Also, the narrator's observations often made me laugh out loud--this is fantasy-horror laced with playfulness. Highly recommend!
November 1, 2020
i love halloween and this was perfect for a quick halloween-y break from homework.
March 17, 2021
I'm confused..
October 26, 2024
Clever, ambiguous, quite masterful little story, with a few delicious twists of the prose. Full of both charm and dread.
Read
October 30, 2020Each year, an old woman is visited by one trick-or-treater who never seems to get any older... I expected something shorter, and more directly a ghost story, but the strange shape this takes has its own power. I especially liked the ghostly cat, mithering for food it's physically incapable of eating.
October 30, 2023
An interesting short story, perfect for this spooky time of the year. I am left pondering the meaning of the final paragraphs, which is why I described it as interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews