This month's farmpunk contest theme was Pumpkin Harvest. I've got to say right up front, I was overwhelmed at the response I got to this one. There was a total of six entries, and all of them were awesome!

Image from Pixabay.

I'm not just saying this. There was something about every story in this contest that I liked. It was a difficult contest to judge. Yet, there could only be one winner and one runner up.

The contest was to write a farmpunk fiction #story. It had to involve farming and high technology, and be punk! In some sense, all of the stories hit upon at least one of these elements and most of them managed to hit two. The winner is the story that came the closest to achieving a farmpunk feel. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the best written story or the best told story. This is a genre contest and I'm looking for certain elements that make the story a suitable farmpunk story.

Having said that, I want to add that not winning this contest doesn't mean a story wasn't well written, well told, or wasn't farmpunk enough. As I said, I liked them all and it was difficult to pick a winner.

The winner will receive two Steem Basic Income (SBI) shares and second place will get one SBI share. Without further ado, let's talk about winners. But first, a word from our sponsor.

Join Speculative Fiction Writers of Steemit. Share your links. Discuss farmpunk, and other speculative fiction literature (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and weird stuff too). Make new friends (but keep the old ones).

I want to thank all of the entrants to this contest. It is evident they all put hard work into their stories and that deserves a mention. I hope they'll all reflect some more on the farmpunk genre and enter future contests. The six entrants to this contest were

As I said, all of the stories had merit, but only one could win and one gets runner up. I'll announce the runner up first.

The Strawfolk by @ediblecthulhu

I didn't know whether to shit my breeches or cry. This story had some gruesome moments and a very literary read. It was a fun story and pushed a few boundaries. I really liked it.

From @ediblecthulhu's farmpunk contest #4 entry post

An excerpt:

And then, so suddenly she couldn't bite it back, that pain that she'd been struggling to keep at bay since she lost the cruficix broke through. It came erupting out of her just as the Diaphagia had spewed forth from the earth on Judgement Day, hot tears flooding her eyes, and snot bubbling from her nostrils, and suffocating sobs wrenching their way like eels up her throat. Her strength seemed to abandon her as well, and she slumped forward, found herself clinging to the strawmaiden as though her life depended on it.

And now for the winner.

The Pumpkin Raiders and the Scarecrows by @manoldonchev

This story was the most punk of them all and that's why it won. It's a crazy fun read, doesn't take itself too seriously, and just fills the page with good punk fun. Unlike most of the other entries, it didn't try too hard to play up the horror aspect of Halloween. If this had been a Halloween story contest, another story would have won. Instead, @manoldonchev went punk and that got him a ticket to the Pumpkin Harvest with a couple of SBI shares.

From the story post.

An excerpt:

From the top of the giant ant-like machine a ladder was thrown down towards hand outstretched and eager to grab. Peshka was the last to go inside the thorax-resembling part of the hull. Aslu and her paramilitary unit of children had already taken their places and were fastening their seat belts across their chests. Only Vanya preferred to be left dangling from on safety handle to another along the walls and ceiling, as the Crawler marched on six legs through rocks and shallow gorges, through overgrowth and fallen trees. The others cheered for him and some envied him but none of them would dare try such a thing again. They were hardly keeping down their vomiting reflexes as they were.

I sincerely hope each of these writers will enter another farmpunk fiction contest. They are all good writers and deserve an honorable mention.

Get your weird lit on:

The Biblical Legends Anthology Series