Mari Ness

Jan 7, 2025 | uncannymagazine.com | Mari Ness |Clockpunk Studios

Sure, she sent those heavenly snakesto slither into that hand-hewn crib, andslide along that baby’s skin. And sure, she sentthose stinging insects against that cow,turned that one girl into a bear, chainedthat one dude to a fiery wheel. Look —We’ve all had our days. Butyou try facing eternitywith thunder, with knowingthat sound will never end, withknowing how swiftlythings catch fire.

Apr 29, 2024 | change.org | Mari Ness

I am a resident of Rugby, North Dakota. My home was invaded by two men who sexually assaulted me. One of them escaped justice. This is not just my story, but the story of many women in our town who have been disrespected and violated by men. The State Attorney and BCI Investigators were far from supportive during my ordeal; they even tried to twist my traumatic experience into a consensual act.

Feb 8, 2024 | lightspeedmagazine.com | Wendy Wagner |Mari Ness

Recent scholarship has shed considerable light on many previously puzzling or mysterious aspects of the life of the Baba Yaga—or, as some would still have it, the Baba Yagas. But one element has remained largely unstudied, and indeed, almost completely ignored: the remarkable candle skulls that typically illuminated her houses and the pathways to them.

May 26, 2023 | tor.com | Mari Ness

Hans Christian Andersen’s earliest years were marked by extreme poverty. His parents did not live together until nine months after his birth, leading Andersen and others to wonder if his father of record—also named Hans Andersen, a shoemaker—was indeed his father. Highly dubious legends later insisted that Andersen was the illegitimate scion of noble, even royal blood, but if so, noble and royal money was distinctly absent in those early years.