Although an invasion of the living dead is a pretty far-fetched proposition, that didn’t stop creative young writers from creating local narratives about a potential zombie apocalypse this summer.
The Smithers Public Library’s summer teen writing contest was titled Zombies in the Valley. Stories were limited to 600 words, and, to make things more intesting, had to contain five specific words. Those words were rotten, toothache, limousine, mountain and office.
Allison Inderbitzin, 15, this year’s contest winner, said the list of words made for a bit of a challenge.
“It was hard. Some of the words were so random, like limousine. How would you incorporate that? But I tried,” she said.
Inderbitzin’s story is titled Sacrifice. Her story is written in first-person format, with the narrator dealing with an unexpected occurrence after the zombie apocalypse, that finishes off with a classic short story plot twist.
“I like stories with a sad, ironic ending. I wanted to kind of incorporate that,” she said.
Inderbitzin said she reads horror, supernatural and fantasy books, so writing the zombie story was a natural progression in the writing she regularly does in her spare time. Some of the books she cited as influential include Stephen King, the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series. She’s also gaining a similar taste in cinema.
“I used to not like horror movies, but now I’m kind of getting into them,” she said.
The second place story was Zombies in the Bulkley Valley, by Silken Lawson. Runner-ups were Zombies in the Valley, by Evalin Meima, and The Zombie Haunting by Loanne Bannister. To read the top four entries, visit http://bit.ly/qxiFIs.