CONTEST | AGHHHH! SCARY TWEETS!
Oooh, oooooh, OOOOOOOH! What's that's 'orrible noise what's emanating from your cellular device of choice? Is it the sound of a congress of ghosts sliding into your menchies? A coterie of vampires @-ing you about cardiovascular pseudoscience? Mayhap it's a zombie account, programmed through twisted magics to reply whenever someone tweets the phrase "pineapple dance." How spooky!
But, nah. It's actually the conclusion to the inaugural Planet Scumm Trick or Tweet Contest.
Our followers sent tweet-sized short fiction at @PlanetScumm over the past few weeks. Then we, Scummy's Faithful Children, dove into the rustling, orange-red pile of tweets and came out with winners in six categories (we also came out with a few missing limbs).
We've got:
#Space, for the best off-planet story
#Scumm, for the best gross story
#Spoop, for the best funny story
#Surprise, for the best story with a twist
#Short, for the best short-short story
and finally #Best, for the best… best story. Most goodest--whatever.
With that, we present your winners:
#Space
@planetscumm We were told we wouldn't dream. I take my last breath for 10 years before we reach our destination. The hatch seals shut and I watch my crew go under. The air tastes refrigarated. It's been 6 hours... I'm hoping I'll dream. #planetscummtrickortweet
— Joseph Dov Dworsky (@Joey_Dov) October 7, 2019
#Scumm
@planetscumm
— Pandora Grim Gore 🦇💀🖤🕷️😱 (@MauraYzmore) October 11, 2019
I ran my digit down the alien's forelimb & flayed a strip of skin. The flesh on my knuckle burned off. So we stuck to signs & gurgles.
Until we found our mucosa compatible.
I'll always remember them fondly. A great lover. A tasty meal. #planetscummtrickortweet
#Spoop
DEGENERATION SHIP
— Catherine J. Cole (@CJCole2U) October 2, 2019
Who's idea was this?
If you can't stand your family over Thanksgiving, what made you think we could all live together in peace for four generations?
Hypersleep? What about my rights?
It's not my mission, Dad. I'm not your f*ing clone!
Mutiny! Kill them all!
#Surprise
@planetscumm The garden doesn't eat alive things, granda said, it makes alive things. It's how the station lives in the nothing. The garden makes things. When we buried granda I waited for him to become a thing. It took a while. But he tasted lovely.
— Maya Dworsky-Rocha (@GayJewess) October 5, 2019
#planetscummtrickortweet
#Short
@planetscumm #trickortweet The Duplicate, born of miscalculation, saw the edges of the Paradox twisting closer and closer in the air, like heat off blacktop on a summer day. "What a Brief, Strange life I've had."
— Jackson Lewis Monk (@jacklewismonk) October 2, 2019
#Best
@planetscumm I stare at the android wearing my face. "I am a god made flesh," it says, speaking with my lips, my voice. "You are nothing but meat."
— Anna Catalano 🏳️🌈 (@thepaintedlion) October 10, 2019
My cheek glistens, blood and viscera where my skin had once been.
The android's sharp fingers drip red.#planetscummtrickortweet
Yikes! Scummy's so spooked he's ordered that all our cellphones be destroyed! Just kidding. We're not allowed phones, on account of them being useful for coordinating rescues and escapes and all.
But hey—this was some frightful fun friends! And you'd better believe that our winners are getting some full-size swag in their trick-or-treat bags, in the form of our soon-to-be-released commemorative postcard packs. You can give our winners a treat as well—give 'em a follow and give their stories a retweet before Halloween.
Want to get a head start on the inevitable next Planet Scumm Tweet Contest yourself? Then follow us at @PlanetScumm. We'll be doing this again in less than a month and, honestly? You don't need an excuse to tweet short fiction (or weird gifs, or haunted QR codes) at us.
Oh, and have a Happy Halloween! Scummy's gonna leave a bowl of Reese's on Olympus Mons, if you're interested.