A swine and bovine killer at the door way with the title of the contest, Tales of Terror.
Oh, the horrors!

Congratulations to our winners of the Tales of Terror flash fiction contest! There was an impressive gamut of engaging stories, ranging from tales of woe to heartwarming (and often comedic) celebrations of friendship and community. We loved everyone but, there could only be 5 winners and our community has spoken!

Check out the winning stories below and some of the epic illustrations by our talented artist, Megan Bishop. And don’t forget to join Discord! Stay tuned for more contests and connect with other players: discord.gg/stateofdecay

Pumpkin Perfection by Danger and Oliver

Oliver worked the dull blade into the pumpkin when suddenly the shed door crashed open. He slipped and cut a much larger chunk from the jack-o-lantern’s eye.

“Dammit, Danger!” Oliver glared at his buddy who was carrying a sack of fertilizer.
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out!” Danger heaved the sack into the corner.
“Slamming the door screwed up my pumpkin!”
“Sorry, hands were full, so I kicked. Besides, you can always get another.”
“This is the LAST one!” “Pumpkin carving contests mean that much?”
“YES.”
“Alrighty, I’ll leave you to your pumpkin perfectionism.”
“You do that.”
Oliver jabbed his knife into the pumpkin top in frustration as Danger opened the door… and was tackled by a snarling red blur! The blood feral roared, but the acoustics shifted as Oliver slammed the pumpkin onto its head, the jack-o-lantern fitting into place with a squelch. Danger grabbed the knife still attached to the top. Several neck stabs later, the feral went limp and fell aside.

“Friggin’ freaks!” Oliver growled and pulled the jack-o-lantern free. Gore oozed from the jagged pumpkin mouth. “That’s gonna be tough to clean,” Danger muttered. “F’ that! I’m entering the contest with it just like this!”

Getting Back Together by Blizleopard

It’s Friday, so it’s time to play our weekly game.

It took a lot to get us together after everyone turned into zombies and started eating each other, but I’m not going to let that stop me from the one thing that I love. And that’s running my game and spending time with my friends.

Jack’s from over in Marshall, his dad owns the gun store, and he’s our badass cleric. He loves helping people. I just wish I could take off his gag. He tried to bite me twice.

Deliah’s from Fairfield and is the preacher’s daughter, but you wouldn’t know it by how she dresses. Coolest goth chick I know. Now if she could just use her one good arm for rolling dice now. The party needs the rogue to pick the lock.

Cassidy and Ben are twins who live up behind Jurassic Junction, and they both play fighters. I know everyone says a group needs a wizard, but Cass wanted to be like her brother. They’re both staring at me, looking hungry to play.

6 months to find them all. They’re not in great shape, but they’re here now. “Okay, so when we last left our heroes…”

The Final 1v1 by Ink Hero

“Dust off the generator!” Dan said with a grin. “We have a score to settle.” Alex looked up from the car manual, watching his long-time friend carry something over to the TV. “What did you find?” He said. “I got lucky, finally found a way into that apartment on Cappello. Check it out!” Dan held up an old XBOX, with some questionable residue on one of the corners. Alex tossed the manual onto the floor. “No way!” He exclaimed and scrambled to the nearby bookshelf. He skimmed excitedly until he pulled out a game labeled Halo: Combat Evolved, featuring a pretty cool guy who doesn’t afraid of anything.

Fumbling with the controller, Dan swore as he watched the replay of his character getting sniped. “Okay, I blame this monstrosity of a controller. It’s fucking huge.” Alex laughed as he collected more ammo for his sniper. “Dude, we flipped for it. Loser got the Duke. Fair is fair. Besides all those years boasting about how it would go down if we ever played again, you had it coming.” The long-time friends played for hours, shouts and cheers rang out over the hum of the generator, drawing in dozens of curious silhouettes.

Ghost’s Nightmare by

A survivor named Ghost, once hopeful, now haunted by relentless hordes of undead. The night was particularly ominous, fog thick as sorrow, obscuring the horrors lurking within.

As dusk settled, Ghost and his comrades gathered at their drucker outpost, barricades creaking in protest. A distant moan echoed through the silence, a harbinger of impending doom. Suddenly, a Plague Juggernaut emerged from the mist, its malevolent eyes fixated on the beleaguered group.

Panic surged, but there was no escape. The once valiant fighters were reduced to mere prey. Ghost’s heart pounded, his breath ragged. Desperation fueled his last stand. He fired relentlessly, each shot a desperate plea for survival.

In the end, it was futile. The Juggernaut’s colossal strength overwhelmed them. One by one, they fell, their screams swallowed by the abyss. Ghost, now the sole survivor, stood amidst the carnage, haunted by the loss.

The outpost that once held promise now reeked of death. Ghost, wounded and broken, knew the fight was far from over. He gathered what little he could salvage, a solemn reminder of the horrors that lurked beyond the safety of their walls. With a heavy heart, he set out into the unforgiving world, determined to honor the fallen and cling to the sliver of hope that remained.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

 

The Siege at the Moonshine Barn by Izzbee

As the sun set and the rain grew heavier, Alex and Riley knew they needed to find shelter from the horde of zeds that pursued them. The Wilkerson’s’ abandoned farm seemed like a perfect refuge for the night, but unfortunately, the house was demolished, forcing the two to take shelter in the moonshine barn.

On the way to the barn, Alex noticed the distant figure of a scarecrow near Wilkerson’s’ old house. The duo spent the next few hours barricading the place, but Alex couldn’t help but check the scarecrow through the gaps in the barn, that thing seemed to get closer every hour.

Alex decided to take a nap, but the brief moment of rest was interrupted by the noise of firecrackers outside the back doors, whoever threw that ended up attracting the horde’s attention.

The zeds approached the barn, Riley ran to hold the back doors and asked Alex to do the same with the front doors. As Alex approached the front door, something cold went through his tummy. Blood started dripping onto the floor, a blade was passing through the gaps in the barn doors, and behind the doors, the scarecrow stood with a bloody machete.

 

Survivor Stories: Dave and Jordan by ZombieSlayyer13

10/25/23

Providence Ridge.

Dave decided to go out and tackle an enemy enclave yesterday. He planned to lure hordes of zombies to them… He never came back.

I’ve traveled with Dave since the beginning. I remember the look on his face when we found that rusted Norma. Damn… did he love his cars.

That night, I went after him. I headed toward the abandoned pharmacy. When I got there, realized he’d actually pulled it off. Must’ve been fifty zeds piled in there, still munching on the bastards. Good riddance. Up the road I saw Ole’ Blue, that Norma he loved so much. As I got closer, the headlights illuminated the rust marked siding and I see that orange hoodie he always wore coming around. Once he stepped into those halogen beams, my heart sank. His skin was pale, his eyes had that yellow glow, bites on his arms, and his chest full of holes.

I walked over and put him out of his misery… buried him behind the Firestation.

I decided it’d be best to leave. Just didn’t feel like home anymore. Taking Blue to greener pastures. Heard some promising things about Meagher Valley. R.I.P. buddy…