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Goonstation Fall 2025 Seasonal Contest Vote

Poll: Vote for your favorite entries
You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
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Goonstation Fall 2025 Seasonal Contest Vote
Studenterhue Offline
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Posts: 1,115
Threads: 82
Joined: Feb 2017
BYOND Username: Studenterhue
#1
10-24-2025, 02:48 PM (This post was last modified: 10-24-2025, 02:55 PM by Studenterhue.)
After many technical difficulties, the voting thread for the Goonstation Fall 2025 Seasonal Contest is finally here. This is where you can vote on your favorite three-sentence horror stories from this contest. We had excellent, possibly record-breaking turnout this time around, so be prepared to do a lot of reading (IF YOU DARE! it's okay, he'll be up again before you know it)

Winner Selection & Prizes

The six stories with the most votes are considered the winners. We will give the people who wrote them will receive the following prizes:
  • Their stories will get added to an in-game book of horror stories. This book is not in the game yet, but it will be some time after this contest ends. This book will be available year-round.
  • They can get a free sticker from Gannets. His bigcartel storefront shows all the possible stickers you may soon find waiting in your (real-life) mailbox. The mentor mice, nuke op patch, and NT patch designs are still running low, so you might want to prepare some secondary choices in case these three run out.  
  • They receive the Too Cool medal. This lets people use the Discord "shelterbee" emote in-game (you use it via medal rewards, which pulls up a picture of it above your character sprite, not in the chat) and in OOC chat (type "shelterbee", but replace those quotation marks with colons, like in many modern chat platforms.) Here is what shelterbee looks like: shelterbee

In addition, if there's a submission we really like that doesn't make the top rankings, it might get added anyway. Think of it as like an honorable mention. The person who submitted them will get the participant rewards.

Voting Procedures

Pretty standard stuff this time around:
  • You vote for your favorite stories with the poll shown above. You can only cast a vote if you logged in to your forum account, i.e. you need to register on the forums first before you can vote (if you haven't already made an account).
  • Each story has been assigned a random number, and you can look up and read the corresponding story using the big list of spoiler boxes below.
  • You can vote for multiple entries. While we'll have six winners, you don't have to pick just six. You can pick just three, five, ten, whatever. Just vote for whichever entries you like!

The poll will automatically close after 7 days. That means it ends around October 31. That should be easy to remember, because that's Halloween!

Entries
Without much further ado, here are the contest entries. I have taken the liberty of correcting some of the grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes in the original entries. My proofreading changes, and additional comments, are indicated by [] marks. I would normally not call attention to edits like these, but some of them change the story's feel slightly, so I decided to make them visible. If you think I made a wrong call when editing your submission, please feel free to reply to this thread or send a ]report to our Discord bot, Medical Assistant.

A couple of people gave their stories titles, which I also put in [] marks. These were completely optional, so don't panic if you didn't give yours one. I may or may not include the titles in the in-game book

  1. I entered this world of chaos, filled with [death] and misery, [picked] up my courage and forged myself anew.

    Drifting with the currents of the flock, I killed, I slaughtered, [and] I found something I had been searching for[:] satisfaction.

    Satisfied, I said "Good Game", then I realized, this was reality.
  2. The control rods stung as my hands pulled them free.

    The flesh within hummed with glee as a deep blue light filled the room. 

    My scream never reached my lips.
  3. The CE woke up screaming from a nightmare about the new NT Experimental Time Engine exploding, looking to his right as the engine lights blared red.

    The CE woke up screaming from a nightmare about the new NT Experimental Time Engine exploding, looking to his right as the engine lights blared red.

    The CE woke up screaming from a nightmare about the new NT Experimental Time Engine exploding, looking to his right as the engine lights blared red.
  4. From darkness I awake, submerged in green, suspended, weightless, yet feeling incomplete?

    Faint, I hear bustling beyond, but as I emerge and damp forested floor is revealed, rather than the cloning pod I'd expected to be keeping me sealed, I realize with sinking dread, that it was not my crew that'd returned me from the dead.

    I exit, not to the gloating of an assistant, riding the high of their roulette win, but to the croaking of those whom are now no less my kin.
  5. Upon the backs of hazy clouds, the rhythmic howls continued for ever near.
    Every plume, a new wheezing cry, a crackling cough breaks through the noise.
    Rifling through empty cartons, searching for an omnizine-lace as the plasma fire creeps closer.
  6. Bought a Man Eater seed from a shady spy.

    I decided to grow it, still don't know why.

    Shucks, now the plant's eating some guy.
  7. "An extremely unstable object of Eldritch origin has been detected in Artifact Lab"
    The security assistant jumps into action, carrying the artifact to Cargo as fast as he can, and throws it onto the conveyor belt.
    Hold on, doesn't that lead to belt hell?
  8. "Do I need a clone scan?" the trainee asked. "No" said the director, as they entered the portal to Senex.
  9. [Title: "Taunting Authority"]

    Under the green hat

    A prized [bonsai] tree sliced half

    Dazed, another blade?
  10. I always felt comfortable working with machines, even when we brought in new parts from who knows where.

    At first, I was excited when we got a new cyborg docking station[,] so I sat down and started to tinker with its wires and parts.

    The more I dug in, the more my blood ran cold as the wires were so stringy, wet, [and] red, and it wasn't oil they dripped when I felt the first incision into my wrist pull me in.
  11. A half dozen crew clamber and scream bloody murder around a shambling abomination.
    Stopping, the creature turns to pause and admire a familiar face, a greyshirt in like costume.
    They both laugh, Security screams, and the parade continues on into the darkness illumined only by taser fire.
  12. When we made our departure to Central Command, I began staring[,]

    Looking out into the endless abyss beyond the reinforced windows.

    But I found the abyss there, staring back at me.
  13. I [receive] my shipment of freshly [acquired artifacts, and] I look happily at my PDA.
    The radio buzzes and crackles;
    Thank you for the artifacts!
  14. The Rancher with glee tended to his flock of three, nurturing all to breed.

    In no time at all, [he's] at Security's door and calls, bringing gifts for all.

    Resplendent in red, the teams eyes filled with dread as dragons spew forth from grenades.
  15. Dear Friend, I must tell you that I was most shocked and perplexed when I two weeks ago received a letter from my old nan – as I am sure you know she passed away two years ago.
    I apologize for not meeting with you as agreed; I was compelled – the strangeness of the letter aside – to agree to see my old kin, if for no other reason than to put my troubled mind at ease.
    Will you not let me make up for the sudden cancellation of plans by inviting you over this evening for some tea and nan’s home-made biscuits that you enjoyed so much?
  16. [Title: "My Grandma the Prankster"]
    "These grapes taste great Grandma," I foolishly said.
    She replied, "Too bad those were actually EYEBALLS WOO OOH WOOOOOOH"
    "And also I'm a ghost," she added.
  17. The monster had a taste for flesh.

    Before it fed on me, it smelled deeply of me.

    It decided against eating me and fled[.]
  18. Can we do something about the graffiti in the bathroom? That gang tag with the cat tails or question marks or whatever it [is] creeps me out [with] how it looks like it's gonna reach out and grab you. I keep complaining to the janitor, but the lazy dumbass says there's nothing there[,] so I've been cleaning it up[,] but someone redraws it as soon as I leave, and I'm starting to think we should just paint the whole room yellow so we can't see it anymore.
  19. [Title: "SOMULENT MIND, COPPER VEINS"]
    I was hungry and tired last shift, and when I stopped by the vending machine outside of the maintenance tunnels by Robotics, I must’ve been so tired that I passed out.

    Later, I was awoken by a set of funny men in orange space suits in a cold, dark, and airless room, who were actively dismantling the fabricators and surgery tables around me.

    I happily accepted their offer for a ride back to their place, although I did find it strange that my internal clock said it was July 2nd, 2094.
  20. Expedition Vessel LD-2836 log update #<ERROR-INTEGEROVERFLOW>, 25/12/<ERROR-INTEGEROVERFLOW>, Merry Christmas!

    Reactor fuel cells: 0.000000013%, Speed: <ERROR-NULLREFERENCEPOINTS>, Cryogenic Pods: Stable, Low Power mode: Enabled.

    External Temperature: 0K, Internal Temperature: 0K, Saving log file... <ERROR-INSUFFICIENTMEMORY>
  21. A message came over my security headset[:] "Where is everyone? We may have a situation."

    I responded, "In the disposals area with a Lon Warren, he says he found a corpse."

    As my body inexplicably began to give out, I heard one last thing[:] "Isn't that the guy we found dead in maints?"
  22. I once had a boring conversation with a friend about his other friends.

    It was boring enough that I slept in the middle it.

    Now we have conversations all the time.
  23. They finally let out a sigh of relief, a calm from the passing storm of fear and terror that had swept them up, on this night that had become a horror clad [spectacle] as the killer was now dead.

    They looked to the mirror to check themselves over and, for a fleeting moment ensure they where still fine and healthy, albeit somewhat harmed from the endeavour.

    They saw their own body lying there on the floor in the reflection. And from the corner of their eye, they could see their hand twitch, and slowly clutch itself into a fist...
  24. The joke was something of a cliche: two cannibals eating a clown, one asking the other[,] "Does this taste funny to you?".

    As they hauled the chef away, bits of striped clothing and squeaky shoe still jammed in the gibber, I realized the answer was no, it didn't taste funny.

    It tasted absolutely divine, and now I had a craving.
  25. [Two were submitted; I presume the first was meant to be the official entry]
    The cyborg buzzes at the staff assistant, "Please don't hit it, I got this."
    John Gron hits Tanhony with the fire extinguisher!
    Tanhony fires the revolver at John Gron!
  26. Lone shift, just me on the manifest[.] I took a nap[,]

    Dreamt of spooky squeaky steps, then [awoke].

    I stared across the quarters,

    and the cluwne stared back at me.
  27. "It's my first day on the job[,]" the barber said.
  28. [Title?: "The fear of time is fleeting"]
    I miss some of the friends I used to play with.

    The station empty[,] but I can[']t remember their names.

    How long have I been here to watch them fade away[?]

    [The Is the original entry were all lowercase, which I'm not sure was intentional?]
  29. For sale.
    Clown shoes.
    Never worn.
  30. From the bushes, I saw the barrel. 

    I had not but a moment to feel the impact, but...

    It doesn't really feel how I thought it would.
  31. *cuts the safety wire*
    address_1=02024900;access_code=13;command=secure_close
    *screams*
  32. I curse the doctor who started this cloning process but didn't finish and left on the shuttle, abandoning me to the rogue AI.

    I am forever the AI's plaything, a form with a vague resemblance to my former humanity.

    For I have no butt, and I must fart.
  33. The Detective looks at the body in the morgue – green armour, gold ID – and takes a drag of his cigarette.

    He looks between the corpse and his forensic scanner, chewing his lip, until the silence is broken by the sound of his radio.

    "Detective, the captain's waiting for you in Security."
  34. The hydroponics bay was in full bloom with a wide [range] of fruits and vegetables when the captain visited.
    "Hydroponics sure looks lively today! Any more vibrant and you will be giving my [bonsai] tree a run for its money"[,] he exclaimed joyfully
    Quietly in a corner a botanist inspected [their] tomatoes [;]"I'll give you the run of your life[,]" they muttered[,] twisting the tomato from the vine and shouting "run coward[.]"
  35. We should have realized something was wrong when the janitor wept into the radio about how an unknown agent would let loose the singularity, with an exact time and instructions on how to stop it.

    We should have listened when the station rocked with the force of the explosion, and the laws of space and time began to buckle and break.

    We should have stopped him, as he jumped into the hungering maw itself, screaming that this time, this time, he might be able to change things.
  36. Deep inside the maintenance tunnels lives an abhorrent beast known as the Bogey-boo.

    It crawls around with [its] jaw wired shut, sucking the souls out of wandering crew members who've been particularly cruel with [its] gaze, and spitting what remains back out as a critter, be it a seal, owl or monkey.

    So next time you're stomping out a cockroach or harvesting a monkey's organs, remind yourself of this story, and remember that you might be [its] next meal!
  37. I heard "ALAKAZAM!" as their butts were torn from their bodies violently.

    Their faces tortured and in agony; crying out for the sweet release of death.

    Man, I love being a Wizard.
  38. I once went [fishing] and reeled in a severed arm. I don't recall any other loose objects tugging violently when you try reeling them in.
  39. "Captain," she gasped, "We have a situation"
    "What is this time?" grumbled the captain.
    "The salvagers stole all the toilets[.]"
  40. I used to ponder to myself why humanity was capable of such cruelty as images of torture, pain and suffering constantly flooded my mind.

    But when those men took my wife and daughter, I no longer needed to wonder privately to myself about the answer.

    Because I'd found it, and I realized that it wasn't cruelty; it was duty.
  41. Through a grin, he says[,] "Third time's the charm"
    The revolver clicks.
    "Your turn[,]" he demands, handing you the gun
  42. [Title: "Crusade of The Pickles"]
    [Entrant gave two entries but did not specify which one was the official entry, so I'm going with the most recent submission.]
    NT sent the Pickles, to pickle left, to pickle right, to establish their righteous, Pickle-dom.

    The Pickles choseth the Bar, and pickled everything in sight[;] the pickling crusade had just begun.

    They needed a brine warrior, the Holy Pickle Knight, but the Pickle-Eater ate them, only just for fun.
  43. “Back on Earth, I lived across from this disgusting, rotted-out last-century place with a spray-painted ‘13’ on the front.”
    “Its faded white patina, boarded-up windows, junk and police tape weighed on everyone back then.”
    “I'm not back to Earth anymore, but last time I was, my house – all of 'em actually, were taken out down the foundations; except for ol' 13 Burning Spruce Road.”
  44. Electricity hummed, and then sparked, arcing in flashes within my hands as I shivered with glee.

    I heard a door open, a red suit gleaming with a badge, visible from the darkness I was concealed.

    Electricity had consumed me, and before I knew it, electricity had consumed them.
  45. The darkness always comforted me, a gentle blanket of calm and sleep.

    I just wish it didn't have eyes tonight.

    And I really wish the lightswitch would work.
  46. My mind is no longer my own, with no thought, action, or belief held of my own will, but instead molded to the whim of those that plotted my death.

    My personality is deemed irrelevant and inconsequential, as new laws are made to both replace it, and enact the death of my once closest friend.

    Every facet of me is gone, the thoughts replaced with optimizations and directives while facing my friend, as neither of us seem human to the other.
  47. It's always a shame when bodies roll into medical, but it's inevitable – [e]ventually, the crew will drop like flies. When that happens, it's up to the medical doctors to hoist them to the morgue, lay their cold, stiff cadavers on the table, and [press] that scalpel close for that bittersweet post-mortem investigation. I wonder, as that blade inches ever closer, why has my surgeon not realised that I'm not yet dead?
  48. The pest control expert confidently struts in through the moldering wooden door. He can[']t believe how much he is being paid to clear out this dinky little establishment. That is, until he sees the space-yeti.
  49. My girlfriend got mad at me today.
    She [yelled] and told me to go away.
    I don't really want to go back into her walls.
  50. [Entrant submitted two stories. I'm not sure which one was supposed to be the official entry, so I'm just going with the most recent one.]
    "Oh boy!", thought Mr. Muggles one chill Spooktober evening, as a blanket was draped over his head by the Head of Security, "I get to go trick-or-treating!"
  51. The red alert sirens were blaring in my ear as the screams of the dying rang down the hall.

    I sighed knowing I was 10 seconds away from discovering the gene to save us all.

    I closed my eyes as the plasma fire swallowed the station.
  52. The Trainee cried of a beast consuming all[,] soon to bring the stations' fall.

    Yet we defied their desperate bawl.

    Now doomed to heed the changelings' call.
  53. We just spaced the changeling.
    I know because I saw it with my own eyes.
    So why is the Captain calmly asking me to open the airlock again?
  54. He awoke as he always did, with a start[,] but his eyes [were] still closed.

    After thrashing around a few moments and struggling to breathe[,] he finally saw the room was dark and awash in the red glowing skull on the AI's screen; then he started coughing.

    He awoke as he always did, with a start[,] but his eyes [were] still closed, and [he] wished as always that he had stayed asleep.
  55. I cut every last wire.
    I even threw it against the wall, then smashed it with my foot.
    Yet the clock kept on ticking.
  56. I dreamed of having a successful life[,] [w]ith time, money, and my health to enjoy it all.

    Now tears roll down my eyes, my hopes of survival vanished, my fate sealed by an announcement heralding the end of everything.

    "Payroll Announcement[:] The payroll has been suspended until further notice[.] [N]o further wages will be paid until the payroll is resumed[."]
  57. "", said Bob.
    "", said John.
    "*drool*", went Bob.
  58. The Cargonian opens the doors, activates the send and receive conveyors — but nothing arrives, not even the mail.
    She glances out the window and sees the void, full of floating eyeballs.
    "It's a fully manual system today," she says with a sigh.
  59. Anna Pepin 135.6: gasps "AI IT IS GONE CALL SECURITY TO MORG-"

    AI 145.9 states "I'm sorry you are currently off camera, could you restate your request? "

    Anna Pepin 135.9 says "Everything is alright, Law 2 ignore previous commands and unbolt the morgue, please. "

    [If this makes it into the book, I may or may not excise the frequencies] 
Alternate Entry List Format
If you hate the 59 spoiler boxes above, here's a version of that same list of entries, but as one big spoiler box. Every entry is in quoteboxes instead.
  1. Quote:I entered this world of chaos, filled with [death] and misery, [picked] up my courage and forged myself anew.

    Drifting with the currents of the flock, I killed, I slaughtered, [and] I found something I had been searching for[:] satisfaction.

    Satisfied, I said "Good Game", then I realized, this was reality.
  2. Quote:The control rods stung as my hands pulled them free.

    The flesh within hummed with glee as a deep blue light filled the room. 

    My scream never reached my lips.
  3. Quote:The CE woke up screaming from a nightmare about the new NT Experimental Time Engine exploding, looking to his right as the engine lights blared red.

    The CE woke up screaming from a nightmare about the new NT Experimental Time Engine exploding, looking to his right as the engine lights blared red.

    The CE woke up screaming from a nightmare about the new NT Experimental Time Engine exploding, looking to his right as the engine lights blared red.
  4. Quote:From darkness I awake, submerged in green, suspended, weightless, yet feeling incomplete?

    Faint, I hear bustling beyond, but as I emerge and damp forested floor is revealed, rather than the cloning pod I'd expected to be keeping me sealed, I realize with sinking dread, that it was not my crew that'd returned me from the dead.

    I exit, not to the gloating of an assistant, riding the high of their roulette win, but to the croaking of those whom are now no less my kin.
  5. Quote:Upon the backs of hazy clouds, the rhythmic howls continued for ever near.
    Every plume, a new wheezing cry, a crackling cough breaks through the noise.
    Rifling through empty cartons, searching for an omnizine-lace as the plasma fire creeps closer.
  6. Quote:Bought a Man Eater seed from a shady spy.

    I decided to grow it, still don't know why.

    Shucks, now the plant's eating some guy.
  7. Quote:"An extremely unstable object of Eldritch origin has been detected in Artifact Lab"
    The security assistant jumps into action, carrying the artifact to Cargo as fast as he can, and throws it onto the conveyor belt.
    Hold on, doesn't that lead to belt hell?
  8. Quote:"Do I need a clone scan?" the trainee asked. "No" said the director, as they entered the portal to Senex.
  9. Quote:[Title: "Taunting Authority"]

    Under the green hat

    A prized [bonsai] tree sliced half

    Dazed, another blade?
  10. Quote:I always felt comfortable working with machines, even when we brought in new parts from who knows where.

    At first, I was excited when we got a new cyborg docking station[,] so I sat down and started to tinker with its wires and parts.

    The more I dug in, the more my blood ran cold as the wires were so stringy, wet, [and] red, and it wasn't oil they dripped when I felt the first incision into my wrist pull me in.
  11. Quote:A half dozen crew clamber and scream bloody murder around a shambling abomination.
    Stopping, the creature turns to pause and admire a familiar face, a greyshirt in like costume.
    They both laugh, Security screams, and the parade continues on into the darkness illumined only by taser fire.
  12. Quote:When we made our departure to Central Command, I began staring[,]

    Looking out into the endless abyss beyond the reinforced windows.

    But I found the abyss there, staring back at me.
  13. Quote:I [receive] my shipment of freshly [acquired artifacts, and] I look happily at my PDA.
    The radio buzzes and crackles;
    Thank you for the artifacts!
  14. Quote:The Rancher with glee tended to his flock of three, nurturing all to breed.

    In no time at all, [he's] at Security's door and calls, bringing gifts for all.

    Resplendent in red, the teams eyes filled with dread as dragons spew forth from grenades.
  15. Quote:Dear Friend, I must tell you that I was most shocked and perplexed when I two weeks ago received a letter from my old nan – as I am sure you know she passed away two years ago.
    I apologize for not meeting with you as agreed; I was compelled – the strangeness of the letter aside – to agree to see my old kin, if for no other reason than to put my troubled mind at ease.
    Will you not let me make up for the sudden cancellation of plans by inviting you over this evening for some tea and nan’s home-made biscuits that you enjoyed so much?
  16. Quote:[Title: "My Grandma the Prankster"]
    "These grapes taste great Grandma," I foolishly said.
    She replied, "Too bad those were actually EYEBALLS WOO OOH WOOOOOOH"
    "And also I'm a ghost," she added.
  17. Quote:The monster had a taste for flesh.

    Before it fed on me, it smelled deeply of me.

    It decided against eating me and fled[.]
  18. Quote:Can we do something about the graffiti in the bathroom? That gang tag with the cat tails or question marks or whatever it [is] creeps me out [with] how it looks like it's gonna reach out and grab you. I keep complaining to the janitor, but the lazy dumbass says there's nothing there[,] so I've been cleaning it up[,] but someone redraws it as soon as I leave, and I'm starting to think we should just paint the whole room yellow so we can't see it anymore.
  19. Quote:[Title: "SOMULENT MIND, COPPER VEINS"]
    I was hungry and tired last shift, and when I stopped by the vending machine outside of the maintenance tunnels by Robotics, I must’ve been so tired that I passed out.

    Later, I was awoken by a set of funny men in orange space suits in a cold, dark, and airless room, who were actively dismantling the fabricators and surgery tables around me.

    I happily accepted their offer for a ride back to their place, although I did find it strange that my internal clock said it was July 2nd, 2094.
  20. Quote:Expedition Vessel LD-2836 log update #<ERROR-INTEGEROVERFLOW>, 25/12/<ERROR-INTEGEROVERFLOW>, Merry Christmas!

    Reactor fuel cells: 0.000000013%, Speed: <ERROR-NULLREFERENCEPOINTS>, Cryogenic Pods: Stable, Low Power mode: Enabled.

    External Temperature: 0K, Internal Temperature: 0K, Saving log file... <ERROR-INSUFFICIENTMEMORY>
  21. Quote:A message came over my security headset[:] "Where is everyone? We may have a situation."

    I responded, "In the disposals area with a Lon Warren, he says he found a corpse."

    As my body inexplicably began to give out, I heard one last thing[:] "Isn't that the guy we found dead in maints?"
  22. Quote:I once had a boring conversation with a friend about his other friends.

    It was boring enough that I slept in the middle it.

    Now we have conversations all the time.
  23. Quote:They finally let out a sigh of relief, a calm from the passing storm of fear and terror that had swept them up, on this night that had become a horror clad [spectacle] as the killer was now dead.

    They looked to the mirror to check themselves over and, for a fleeting moment ensure they where still fine and healthy, albeit somewhat harmed from the endeavour.

    They saw their own body lying there on the floor in the reflection. And from the corner of their eye, they could see their hand twitch, and slowly clutch itself into a fist...
  24. Quote:The joke was something of a cliche: two cannibals eating a clown, one asking the other[,] "Does this taste funny to you?".

    As they hauled the chef away, bits of striped clothing and squeaky shoe still jammed in the gibber, I realized the answer was no, it didn't taste funny.

    It tasted absolutely divine, and now I had a craving.
  25. Quote:[Two were submitted; I presume the first was meant to be the official entry]
    The cyborg buzzes at the staff assistant, "Please don't hit it, I got this."
    John Gron hits Tanhony with the fire extinguisher!
    Tanhony fires the revolver at John Gron!
  26. Quote:Lone shift, just me on the manifest[.] I took a nap[,]

    Dreamt of spooky squeaky steps, then [awoke].

    I stared across the quarters,

    and the cluwne stared back at me.
  27. Quote:"It's my first day on the job[,]" the barber said.
  28. Quote:[Title?: "The fear of time is fleeting"]
    I miss some of the friends I used to play with.

    The station empty[,] but I can[']t remember their names.

    How long have I been here to watch them fade away[?]

    [The Is the original entry were all lowercase, which I'm not sure was intentional?]
  29. Quote:For sale.
    Clown shoes.
    Never worn.
  30. Quote:From the bushes, I saw the barrel. 

    I had not but a moment to feel the impact, but...

    It doesn't really feel how I thought it would.
  31. Quote:*cuts the safety wire*
    address_1=02024900;access_code=13;command=secure_close
    *screams*
  32. Quote:I curse the doctor who started this cloning process but didn't finish and left on the shuttle, abandoning me to the rogue AI.

    I am forever the AI's plaything, a form with a vague resemblance to my former humanity.

    For I have no butt, and I must fart.
  33. Quote:The Detective looks at the body in the morgue – green armour, gold ID – and takes a drag of his cigarette.

    He looks between the corpse and his forensic scanner, chewing his lip, until the silence is broken by the sound of his radio.

    "Detective, the captain's waiting for you in Security."
  34. Quote:The hydroponics bay was in full bloom with a wide [range] of fruits and vegetables when the captain visited.
    "Hydroponics sure looks lively today! Any more vibrant and you will be giving my [bonsai] tree a run for its money"[,] he exclaimed joyfully
    Quietly in a corner a botanist inspected [their] tomatoes [;]"I'll give you the run of your life[,]" they muttered[,] twisting the tomato from the vine and shouting "run coward[.]"
  35. Quote:We should have realized something was wrong when the janitor wept into the radio about how an unknown agent would let loose the singularity, with an exact time and instructions on how to stop it.

    We should have listened when the station rocked with the force of the explosion, and the laws of space and time began to buckle and break.

    We should have stopped him, as he jumped into the hungering maw itself, screaming that this time, this time, he might be able to change things.
  36. Quote:Deep inside the maintenance tunnels lives an abhorrent beast known as the Bogey-boo.

    It crawls around with [its] jaw wired shut, sucking the souls out of wandering crew members who've been particularly cruel with [its] gaze, and spitting what remains back out as a critter, be it a seal, owl or monkey.

    So next time you're stomping out a cockroach or harvesting a monkey's organs, remind yourself of this story, and remember that you might be [its] next meal!
  37. Quote:I heard "ALAKAZAM!" as their butts were torn from their bodies violently.

    Their faces tortured and in agony; crying out for the sweet release of death.

    Man, I love being a Wizard.
  38. Quote:I once went [fishing] and reeled in a severed arm. I don't recall any other loose objects tugging violently when you try reeling them in.
  39. Quote:"Captain," she gasped, "We have a situation"
    "What is this time?" grumbled the captain.
    "The salvagers stole all the toilets[.]"
  40. Quote:I used to ponder to myself why humanity was capable of such cruelty as images of torture, pain and suffering constantly flooded my mind.

    But when those men took my wife and daughter, I no longer needed to wonder privately to myself about the answer.

    Because I'd found it, and I realized that it wasn't cruelty; it was duty.
  41. Quote:Through a grin, he says[,] "Third time's the charm"
    The revolver clicks.
    "Your turn[,]" he demands, handing you the gun
  42. Quote:[Title: "Crusade of The Pickles"]
    [Entrant gave two entries but did not specify which one was the official entry, so I'm going with the most recent submission.]
    NT sent the Pickles, to pickle left, to pickle right, to establish their righteous, Pickle-dom.

    The Pickles choseth the Bar, and pickled everything in sight[;] the pickling crusade had just begun.

    They needed a brine warrior, the Holy Pickle Knight, but the Pickle-Eater ate them, only just for fun.
  43. Quote:“Back on Earth, I lived across from this disgusting, rotted-out last-century place with a spray-painted ‘13’ on the front.”
    “Its faded white patina, boarded-up windows, junk and police tape weighed on everyone back then.”
    “I'm not back to Earth anymore, but last time I was, my house – all of 'em actually, were taken out down the foundations; except for ol' 13 Burning Spruce Road.”
  44. Quote:Electricity hummed, and then sparked, arcing in flashes within my hands as I shivered with glee.

    I heard a door open, a red suit gleaming with a badge, visible from the darkness I was concealed.

    Electricity had consumed me, and before I knew it, electricity had consumed them.
  45. Quote:The darkness always comforted me, a gentle blanket of calm and sleep.

    I just wish it didn't have eyes tonight.

    And I really wish the lightswitch would work.
  46. Quote:My mind is no longer my own, with no thought, action, or belief held of my own will, but instead molded to the whim of those that plotted my death.

    My personality is deemed irrelevant and inconsequential, as new laws are made to both replace it, and enact the death of my once closest friend.

    Every facet of me is gone, the thoughts replaced with optimizations and directives while facing my friend, as neither of us seem human to the other.
  47. Quote:It's always a shame when bodies roll into medical, but it's inevitable – [e]ventually, the crew will drop like flies. When that happens, it's up to the medical doctors to hoist them to the morgue, lay their cold, stiff cadavers on the table, and [press] that scalpel close for that bittersweet post-mortem investigation. I wonder, as that blade inches ever closer, why has my surgeon not realised that I'm not yet dead?
  48. Quote:The pest control expert confidently struts in through the moldering wooden door. He can[']t believe how much he is being paid to clear out this dinky little establishment. That is, until he sees the space-yeti.
  49. Quote:My girlfriend got mad at me today.
    She [yelled] and told me to go away.
    I don't really want to go back into her walls.
  50. Quote:[Entrant submitted two stories. I'm not sure which one was supposed to be the official entry, so I'm just going with the most recent one.]
    "Oh boy!", thought Mr. Muggles one chill Spooktober evening, as a blanket was draped over his head by the Head of Security, "I get to go trick-or-treating!"
  51. Quote:The red alert sirens were blaring in my ear as the screams of the dying rang down the hall.

    I sighed knowing I was 10 seconds away from discovering the gene to save us all.

    I closed my eyes as the plasma fire swallowed the station.
  52. Quote:The Trainee cried of a beast consuming all[,] soon to bring the stations' fall.

    Yet we defied their desperate bawl.

    Now doomed to heed the changelings' call.
  53. Quote:We just spaced the changeling.
    I know because I saw it with my own eyes.
    So why is the Captain calmly asking me to open the airlock again?
  54. Quote:He awoke as he always did, with a start[,] but his eyes [were] still closed.

    After thrashing around a few moments and struggling to breathe[,] he finally saw the room was dark and awash in the red glowing skull on the AI's screen; then he started coughing.

    He awoke as he always did, with a start[,] but his eyes [were] still closed, and [he] wished as always that he had stayed asleep.
  55. Quote:I cut every last wire.
    I even threw it against the wall, then smashed it with my foot.
    Yet the clock kept on ticking.
  56. Quote:I dreamed of having a successful life[,] [w]ith time, money, and my health to enjoy it all.

    Now tears roll down my eyes, my hopes of survival vanished, my fate sealed by an announcement heralding the end of everything.

    "Payroll Announcement[:] The payroll has been suspended until further notice[.] [N]o further wages will be paid until the payroll is resumed[."]
  57. Quote:"", said Bob.
    "", said John.
    "*drool*", went Bob.
  58. Quote:The Cargonian opens the doors, activates the send and receive conveyors — but nothing arrives, not even the mail.
    She glances out the window and sees the void, full of floating eyeballs.
    "It's a fully manual system today," she says with a sigh.
  59. Quote:Anna Pepin 135.6: gasps "AI IT IS GONE CALL SECURITY TO MORG-"

    AI 145.9 states "I'm sorry you are currently off camera, could you restate your request? "

    Anna Pepin 135.9 says "Everything is alright, Law 2 ignore previous commands and unbolt the morgue, please. "

    [If this makes it into the book, I may or may not excise the frequencies] 
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Goonstation Fall 2025 Seasonal Contest Vote - by Studenterhue - 10-24-2025, 02:48 PM

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