Reflections on the Midway

On the edge of a small town, a carnival appears for one night only. Its lights hum like captive stars. Its music drifts through the streets like a memory that doesn't belong to you. And at its heart waits the Hall of Mirrors; where every reflection is alive, and every lie has teeth. When best friends Lena and Aaron follow a flyer into the carnival's Midway, they expect cheap tricks and cotton candy. Instead, they find themselves hunted by grotesque versions of their own faces, stalked by carousel horses that bleed, and trapped in a maze that rewrites memory itself. Each mirror offers a new horror, each booth a test meant to strip them of what makes them human. But the carnival isn't just after screams. It wants an audience that never leaves. It wants performers who can't escape the stage. And it is patient. To survive, Lena and Aaron must shatter more than glass; they must tear through the carnival's mind, break its sentence, and deny it the applause it craves. Yet every step closer to freedom costs them a piece of themselves. And even if they win, the night doesn't forget. The carnival ends only when you stop watching. The Hall remembers forever.