Page 5 of Carnival of Crows

The midway stretched into the darkness. The Ferris wheel turned so slowly it almost looked still. For now, orange bulbs traced every spoke. It wouldn’t be long before any trace of light left the park. The thought filled my stomach with excited anticipation.

I was thankful I got a chance to see a small glimpse of the park before it was consumed by darkness. Fog curled around the tracks of the park’s only roller coaster. It was wooden and creaked even when I was a child.

For just a second, I could almost picture the park as it had once been.

Children running with balloons, parents carrying oversized stuffed animals, teenagers holding hands beneath strings of lights. Then the music warped again and the vision vanished.

“Luci?”

I turned.

A woman dressed as a lion tamer smiled warmly at me.

Her fitted crimson jacket was trimmed with gold braids, black leather gloves disappearing nearly to her elbows. A coiled whip rested easily against one hip, though something told me she could command a room’s attention without needing to crack it.

Recognition flashed across her face.

“Hi,” she said, as she stepped forward. “I’m Cassie. You spoke to our social media manager, my sister, Sidney earlier this week.”

“Oh hi!” I said, switching into professional mode. I had been admiring the space as a fan, but at the end of the day, I was here for work. Sidney had comped our entire VIP experience in exchange for a review. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

“I’ve watched your videos for years,” Cassie admitted and immediately heat climbed into my cheeks.

Truth be told, I never expected my account to turn into what it had. I was just a horror nerd who liked ranking haunted attractions and arguing with strangers about how practical effects would always be cooler than CGI. Now people planned road trips around my recommendations.

I hated the word influencer. It made it all sound calculated. Like I sat down one day and decided to manufacture a brand from thin air. In reality, I just loved slasher movies enough to talk about them to anyone who would listen. Somehow, that snowballed into movie premieres and attending horror conventions as “media.”

I’ve gotten to meet actors I’d grown up watching and been offered brand deals that have paid off my mortgage for the rest of this year and six months of next year. Sometimes, I looked at my bank account and wondered how the hell talking about fake blood and rubber monsters had become my full-time job. I never pitched myself to anyone, never cold messaged anyone asking for perks or freebies, never begged for partnerships or collabs… they always came to me.

“Then you know I’m a local girl,” I started. “I came here a lot as a kid before it closed down. What you guys have done with the place… my mind is already blown and I haven’t even gotten to see the full extent of the park.”

Cassie’s grin widened. She smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from her jacket.

“I won’t keep you,” she began. “I just saw you and wanted to catch you to say thank you for coming. Sidney has been ridiculously excited all week.”

“I should be thanking you,” I said. “All of you. It was so kind to allow me to visit, but to let my friends tag along too?” I glanced over to where the ladies were standing, trying not to make it entirely obvious they were watching Cassie and my entire interaction. “Just, thank you.”

Before she could answer someone called her name. She turned toward the photo backdrop where the masked pumpkinhead who was flirting with Catherine had called out to her.

“Duty calls,” she said. “Make sure you guys grab a photo before you head out!”

When I made my way back over to my friends, I pointed to the photo area.

“I was told we had to make sure we grab a photo before we head out,” I told them, referring to Cassie’s comment.

“Who was that?” Mary asked.

“She obviously knew who you were,” Amber noted.

“Our little superstar,” Catherine teased.

I rolled my eyes. They were great friends for a multitude of reasons, but I loved them the most for keeping me humble. Despite my newfound viral identity, the girls treated me exactly the same… if anything they made a joke out of it more often than not. And not because they thought it wasn’t amazing, they made sure to let me know that too, but because I was simply just their friend that loved spooky shit all year long.

As we made our way to the line, I explained who Cassie was and took advantage of the great people watching at the photo backdrop. One by one, guests posed with the Graves family. Some smiled. Some screamed dramatically. Others pretended to faint. Every photo looked almost identically theatrical.

Then it was our turn.

I stepped forward and forgot how to breathe.