The vast stretches of lone trees and wild grass of the rural countryside lures the ego overboard, pulling consciousness off course into addiction, delusion and seduction’s disintegrating madness. You barely pull yourself home from there every evening, the sun telling your time, the birds your weather forecast. One day you might not return home at all.
From the Mud is a Midwest gothic inspired horror romance set in a solitary countryside occupied only by two small towns and stretches of untamed nature. You play a troubled cowboy/girl/puncher who‘s ground deep into a maddening, repetitive routine that a string of deaths suddenly upends. The sheriff of the neighboring town along with a driven journalist and an old friend whose bridge you’ve long since burnt comes to town having heard the news. As you’re hunting for the culprit and running from yourself, your quiet life on the ranch is disturbed, forcing you to keep your cards close and choose your company carefully. But the most pressing matter proves to be whether you can trust your own mind.
From the Mud
☆ Interactive fictional psychological horror written in choice script
Features
Play as either a man, woman, or other
Choose your appearance from overall features to minor details
Experience nuanced romance as either straight, gay, or bi, or forgo romance altogether
Choose whether you’re religious or not in an overly christian rural town
Experience the world react differently towards you depending on who you identify as
Get wrapped up in the chaos to solve the mystery of several murders
Lose touch with reality and slowly question everything around you
Remember: you have to choose to get better
Reject the possibility of unnatural forces at play, or believe
Rot in a jail cell
Ride a horse!
Play a game mostly not driven by numbered stats but meaningful actions and a fuck ton of trackers
Demo! | pinterest | forum thread
Advisory for the story so far: death, gore, profanity, substances
Basics about some of the important RO characters and other below
The Sheriff ☆ Zachariah “Zach” Mallory ☆ a man in his mid thirties
Sheriff Mallory works from his office in Two Rocks, and though his occupation means working closely with other people and seeing to their needs, it would be indolent to describe him as being good with people. At all. Being abrasive and ill-natured, the man does, however, suit the role of authority well.
When the angry crease on his forehead soften, you might find there is something else within his tired eyes.
The sheriff has dark brown, chin-length hair and a matching little effort short beard. His sand-colored skin is sun-kissed from being outside, the circles under his eyes almost a purple kind of shade. Under a heavy set of brows sits a pair of dark blue, almost stormy gray eyes. Standing at an imposing height, Mallory is nigh refused anything, and can’t be forced to wear the ugly uniform his rank requires. Instead, he sports a simple white fitted t-shirt and a pair of well-loved denim jeans.
The Journalist ☆ Candy Tillman ☆ a woman in her early thirties
Working for the local news station in Two Rocks, Ms. Tillman has through work experience and excellent mentoring from her predessessor become a hound chasing stories and truths. She is both idealistic and romanticizing (that which shouldn’t), and yet entirely unsusceptable to bullshit.
When her facade falters who will accept her then?
The woman with the sweetest name has blonde hair that falls to the middle of her shoulder blades, which she loves to blowout. Her tan skin is contoured by a natural style of makeup, her small, light blue eyes painted. Candy is average height, reaching taller stature with her go-to minimalist pumps. The journalist prefers simple, feminine silhouttes of clothing, keeping up with the times.
The Best Friend ☆ Blythe Abel Goodwin ☆ a woman in her mid twenties
Blythe is your best friend who you grew up with in Ashley and who stuck around when everyone left, though you know she would’ve loved to leave just as much as you once did. In response to the death of her dreams and the narrow-minded opinions of the general inhabitation of the area, she has defiantly become a person of unique and unpredictable character.
You’ve known each other through thick and thin, but is there a side to her yet to be discovered?
Your childhood friend is a contrast-filled woman just under average height. Long, black, cascading hair falls from her head down to her mid-back. Choppily home-cut bangs frame her small face. Her fair skin turns rosy in the cold. Blythe’s almond eyes that are sometimes obscured by a pair of reading glasses, are hazel. She wears whatever the fuck she wants.
The Colleague ☆ Ford Wiley Mallory ☆ a man in his early twenties
Ford Wiley is the younger half-brother of Sheriff Mallory and your colleague on the ranch. Working there only half-time, the younger Mallory is dedicated and driven only in the field of his passion; music. His band has only ever played at the local bar, though. Reserved and perhaps somewhat more thin-skinned than most living out on the countryside, Wiley makes do with refreshing optimism.
Whether this optimism is genuine or fabricated is yet to be revealed.
Your part-time cowboy coworker has long, wavy brown hair that he sometimes makes an effort to style, and otherwise lets it live its own life. He and his half-brother have little in common, appearance included; Wiley has olive skin covered in freckles. His eyes are dark brown, and he is of average height. The musician’s clothes consist of unwanted (by himself) hand-me-downs from Zachariah and ill-gotten items.
The Old Friend ☆ Sawyer “Saw” Brennan ☆ a gender selectable person in their late twenties (m/f)
You grew up with Sawyer along with Blythe, and the three of you braved your childhood and youth in this godforsaken place for years. But they left when things got hardest, and you haven’t been able to get past it even after all these years. Over the years Sawyer has been away they’ve grown into a person you barely know anymore, and you struggle with their sudden return.
Will you be able to understand and forgive them for leaving?
Sawyer has inky brown curly hair, worn long (f) or short (m) and loose, carefully taken care of and styled. They have warm brown skin and sharp eyes to match. Your old friend is tall, fitting their frame into oversized graphic t-shirts and either color matched sweats or baggy jeans.
My intentions with this game:
It is not supposed to be a beautiful story, it is supposed to be ugly. Writing this game in the way I am is my taking a step away from perfection and seeing where my unpolished writing takes the story. I have been ruled by fear of inadequacy and a desire for ‘perfect timing’ long enough. If I continue to wait for the ‘right moment’ to create, I will end up not creating at all. My only desire now is to simply create, and continue doing so until I have something to show for it.
Story is written and coded by me
Credits to Cole Meanor for the beautiful photography done for the headers!
I swear I didn’t mean to ghost this, finishing school knocked the wind out of me. I’m going steady with chapter two, for which I have settled on a title giving you a little sneak peak of what’s in store: Butchers and Priests.
Keeping up my writing has been hard so I debated for a long time if I should run a smaller project on the side, which I can switch to when I get stuck. That way I won’t stop writing entirely and keep my mental muscles warm. This does not mean I will take from my dedication to From the Mud. You might hear more of this at a later time <3
I heard this song for the first time a couple weeks back and my brain just started associating it with them lol. I imagine it’s on a random tape they found and it’s the only song that doesn’t skip when they put it in their truck’s shitty cassette player.
Hello! In honor of me turning 18 yesterday can I get a snippet of how the Ro's where at that age??
Sure and congratulations!
Candy: she was still a quiet, lonely girl. She first really bloomed in college. Tillman was independent though, and fended for herself. Even if she didn’t have to. Gentle and kind, not yet driven by her burning passion for the pursuit of the truth. She got teased in school.
Blythe: she felt lost, yet headstrong. She had lost sawyer a few years before when they moved away, and you’d disappeared out onto the ranch. She got involved with new people and new trouble. She knew no bounds. You’ve yet to reel her in.
Zachariah: he was a lost cause, most thought. His teachers had given up on him, he refused to listen to anyone even remotely trying to exercise authority over him. Criminal, almost got thrown out of school. He used to dress more alt when he was still a teen
Sawyer: Determined to see the world, adventurous. They didn’t care much for anyone’s opinion anymore, they knew they would be away soon enough. They became quiet and reserved around you, as if to protect themselves before cutting you out of their life.
Ford Wiley: a trouble for the teachers, never paying attention. Most of his time was spent writing lyrics and humming instead of listening to the lessons. He was a good kid though, happy and proud.
I don’t know if this is the answer you were looking for, otherwise you’re welcome to clarify!
Monthly update (I guess I can’t call it a weekly update anymore lol) 22/7/25
Im not dead guys I’m just enjoying summer vacay. Currently I’m working on chapter two which is way more exciting than fixing bugs and expanding chapter one since that’s all known territory. Both for me and you. In chapter two you’ll meet the sheriff and a few more new characters including a ranger, expanding the catalog of names to remember lol. This chapter is going to be the beginning of the horror, where I will prove whether or not I can make it properly scary😨
Just finished the demo and it was 100% the best thing I've read all night! The atmosphere is beautifully haunting and I can't get over how much detail you added to the MC's life on a ranch
I loved your writing, all the characters have such a strong presence in who they are in the story that It's impressive. You managed to give them all so much weight in just the first chapter that I can't wait for more<33333
Aw thank you so much! I often overthink about what to add and how much so I’m glad it’s well received <3333
I can’t wait to get back to writing, be another kind of nerd than a school nerd.
Went through my old notes on my phone today cause I got so much shit in there that needed to be DELETED, I stumbled upon my first outline for From the Mud, written rather boiled down. It was so much fun, I used to write out strings of conversation that I imagined for the scenes, and they’re still brilliant! I can’t wait to get them into the actual game xP
