"The Fire When It Comes" is a fantasy short story by American writer Parke Godwin. It was first published in the January 1981 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
A young couple rents an apartment that is haunted by the ghost of an actress.
"The Fire When It Comes" won the 1982 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella,[1] and was a finalist for the 1981 Nebula Award for Best Novelette[2] and the 1982 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.[3]
Kirkus Reviews considered it to be "dandy", judging it to be the best story in Godwin's 1984 identically-named collection The Fire When It Comes.[4] Mike Ashley called it 'powerful'.[5]