New Fairy Tales Skins from the Steam Workshop: The Strangest Stories of Call to Arms-ory
It’s been a month since we last checked in on the Steam Workshop, and Valve still hasn’t said a word about when the Call to Arms-ory entries will actually make it into the game. There are two obvious windows, and both make sense. Halloween is just around the corner, and the darker side of the fairy tale contest would slot right into it. Then again, Christmas is a season built on storytelling, and a collection like this would feel just as much at home there.
While Valve keeps everyone guessing, the artists aren’t slowing down. New entries under the Fairy Tales tag keep showing up almost daily, and the longer the contest runs, the looser the definition of a “fairy tale” gets. The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen are still well represented, but they now share space with Japanese folklore, Mexican holidays, and stories the authors simply made up themselves.
Those off-script takes are what we wanted to focus on this time. Every skin below was uploaded specifically for the contest, but not many of them are what you’d call a bedtime story.
USP-S | Forest Guardian
- by kadzor
A forest guardian spirit in the shape of a white beast takes over the entire grip: long muzzle, dark nose, and red eyes staring straight back at whoever’s holding the pistol. Streaks of white and pale blue sweep across the slide, reading as both fur and wind. The suppressor belongs to the night forest itself, with hot pink blossoms opening up on black branches. Their orange centers are the only warm notes in an otherwise cold palette.
The author’s description is a single line: he’ll keep you safe on your journey, as long as you’re brave enough to keep going. That’s the setup of just about every woodland tale out there. A traveler, a dark forest, and a creature that could turn out to be a friend or a test.
MAC-10 | Snow White 2079
- by chackfree
Snow White, reimagined as cyberpunk. The heroine, in a visor and with a cybernetic arm, is stretched out along the receiver next to a glowing phone screen showing hundreds of missed calls. At the base of the magazine sits a can of apple soda. The poisoned apple has become an energy drink, and it might be the best detail on the whole skin. The 79 on the side is a nod to the year in the title.
It’s a genuinely unusual take, and a good chunk of the community will love it. Whether Valve will is another question. What do you think?
AK-47 | Night Parade of a Hundred Demons
- by XSAR
This skin is dedicated to Nurarihyon, the cunning and mysterious leader of the yokai. The title points to the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, or hyakki yagyō (百鬼夜行). According to Japanese folklore, on certain nights a procession of spirits marches through the streets, and any mortal who crosses its path is in serious trouble.
The whole rifle is done in a style that recalls woodblock prints. Nurarihyon himself sits on the receiver, pipe in mouth and earring in place, with a red-faced masked demon beside him. A scaled monster coils over the magazine, and the stock is taken up entirely by a thick tail twisted into gold spirals. Copper and gold trim around the edges turn the AK-47 into something closer to a ceremonial object. It doesn’t look much like a classic fairy tale, but the atmosphere is incredibly dense, and it’s the kind of skin you’ll want to study piece by piece in inspect.
AWP | Nutcracker 3
- by JKKKDL
This is the AWP for cracking opponents like walnuts. There’s no toy-themed AWP in the game yet, and this one covers that ground in full: a red body, toy blocks spelling out A, W, and P on the stock, and a painted scope trimmed with gold flourishes.
The real highlight is the Nutcracker himself. His face is laid across the receiver so that his jaw lands on the magazine. When you reload and the mag drops, his mouth swings open just like the real wooden toy. It’s a simple trick, and it’ll pay off every single round.
UMP-45 | CrossTales
- by 🌸🔥Pet3d🔥🌸
The design draws on crosswords, old books, playing cards, and the metal armor of ancient fairy tales. The receiver is lined with rows of tiles bearing blackletter characters, with a crown and a number hidden among them and card suits tucked into the corners. Everything else is brass, as if the gun came straight out of a royal armorer’s workshop.
The nicest touch is the lacquered finish on the tiles. They look like they’ve been pressed thousands of times, and that wear is exactly what makes the skin feel genuinely old rather than just styled to look that way.
Sawed-Off | Huff & Puff - Bacon Edition
- by PlayerOne
The Three Little Pigs, no subtlety required. The pump is given over to the pigs against a brick wall, while the receiver belongs to the wolf, jaws wide open and one yellow eye glaring. The stock carries on with his gray fur.
What won us over is the reload animation. The pump slides back toward the receiver, and with every stroke the pigs get shoved straight into the wolf’s mouth. It’s clever and well executed, a case where the gun’s own mechanics become part of the story.
UMP-45 | Crimson Fable
- by XimiK
Little Red Riding Hood with a horror twist. The body is wrapped in a cracked bark texture, with the girl in her red hood and a wolf with glowing eyes peeking out from behind a tree. Engraved silver inserts and red rubber grips balance out the darker elements.
The pattern shifts from one skin to the next, and plenty of players will be hunting for the version with Red and the wolf dead center. The one real downside is the weapon itself: the UMP-45 is about as unpopular as guns in this game get.
USP-S | Golden Bargain
- by h0rds
A really well-thought-out piece with a great Workshop presentation, framed as a spread from an old storybook. The finish is dark ink on warm ivory, with a golden thread winding through the entire design. Wheat wraps around the suppressor, the deal takes shape beside a spinning wheel, and on the grip a small figure dances by the fire, certain no one knows his name.
The story is easy to place: it’s the Brothers Grimm’s Rumpelstiltskin, where straw is spun into gold and the true price of the bargain only comes out at the end. Every detail tells part of the tale, and one secret changes how it ends.
P90 | B Enjoyer
- by pirania_pl_
The author flipped the brief and wrote a fairy tale from scratch, starring the ultimate B-rush enthusiast. The result is genuinely funny: the hero is a situation that plays out on every server, every single day.
The format was chosen deliberately, too. As the author puts it, American culture is relatively young, so Americans had to invent their own heroes and legends, and that’s how American comics came to be. The P90 is styled as an issue from “CS Comics Group,” complete with WOW and BANG sound effects, bananas, a chicken, and on the stock, a determined hero in a balaclava pointing his squad toward victory.
Dual Berettas | Amor Eterno
- by Mugiwara
Amor Eterno is a story told in two parts: a love that neither death nor time could erase. Mexican culture is a natural place to look for that, and the imagery here comes straight from the Day of the Dead. One pistol shows a gentleman in a hat with his face painted as a skull, the other his lady in a crown of roses. AMOR and ETERNO on the slides only form a single phrase when you’re holding both guns at once.
What we liked most is how the skin uses the Dual Berettas. The two pistols are different rather than mirrored, as we’re used to seeing on this weapon, and that’s exactly what makes them a pair.
Alex
Alex is an author and esports observer with more than seven years of experience. He specializes in analyzing new releases in the world of computer games, gaming services, and in-game economies. Alex shares practical experience and an expert perspective on the development of gaming, helping readers understand complex mechanics and stay up to date with the latest news.
