is a supernatural thriller Webtoon by lilredbeany, which began in July 2021.Ashlyn is an introverted loner who has no friends, and she likes it that way. Her life changes forever after her class takes an overnight field trip to Savannah, Georgia. Her assigned group winds up taking a tour of the Sorrel Weed House, said to be one of the most haunted houses in a city proud of its ghost stories. When in the basement, she sees a strange phantom. She thinks it's just a hallucination, but the others seemed to have seen it too.
That night, at midnight, the skies turn red, everyone else vanishes, and the phantom attacks them in their hotel. They barely escape and await rescue in another room, only to awaken as they were before a few minutes after midnight, with their injuries gone but the affected areas being very sore.
The gang soon figure out that every night at midnight they wake up in an alternate dimension, where they are the only humans present and they must fend off phantoms that want nothing more than to kill them. Moving things in the waking world can affect them in the shadow world, but the reverse is not true. They decide to take advantage of this to build a safehouse in a junkyard filled with abandoned school busses until they can build up enough resources to safely journey back to Savannah and hopefully figure out a way to break the curse.
Provides examples of:
- Action Survivor: All of the kids have to develop into this so they can stay alive during their dreams at night.
- After Action Patch Up: A non-romantic example, Ben tends to Ashlyn's scratched arm after the kids are safely holed up in the hotel room. She doesn't handle the antiseptic well, and Aiden gives her a towel to squeeze during the pain.
- Ammunition Conservation: At the moment, the kids have a limited amount of bullets, so they're forced to only use their rifle in case of an emergency.
- Artistic License – Geography: Alto, Georgia, the town the kids live in, is a real town with a real school bus graveyard nearby. It's only about 4.5 hours away from Savannah, not eight like in the comic. Even the most furthest point in Georgia away from Savannah is only about 5.5 hours away.
- Big Brother Instinct: Taylor and Tyler are twins, but when Tyler hears Taylor scream during the first night with phantoms, he immediately runs to her aid.
- Aiden is very protective of his cousin Ben. Despite his lack of social skills, he's very aware of his cousin's past traumas and careful about not triggering Ben.
- "Be Quiet!" Nudge: Taylor elbows Tyler in the side after he whispers that Ashlyn and Aiden's private conversation was "cringey".
- Boom, Headshot!: Logan has sniped two phantoms this way.
- Brand X: Instead of Heelys, it's "Wheelies".
- Bully Brutality: In middle school, Ben's bully, Shane, strangled Ben just enough to damage his vocal chords so he can't sing anymore.
- Challenging the Bully: Logan puts the self-defense he's learned to good use against Barron, after the latter gets mad about Logan calling out his manipulation tactics.
- Creator Cameo: Red's Author Avatar has appeared briefly as both the face painter in Savannah, and later as a bowling alley patron in a flashback.
- Dark Is Evil: The phantoms are black, and the shadow dimension is pretty dark and dreary, too.
- Didn't Think This Through: Played for laughs when Ben stabs the phantom the kids pin down while Aiden is underneath it, causing him to get covered in the creature's black blood.
- Dream Land: Where the students are transported to every night. It looks like their world, but phantoms are everywhere and trying to kill them.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Aiden points out that Ashlyn's altered shadow could be proof of their situation, and it's lampshaded by Tyler.Tyler: Wow- so he does have a brain. Who knew?
- Genre Savvy: The kids quickly realize that the best they can hope for if they try to tell anyone else about what's going on is getting put into a psych ward.
- Half-Identical Twins: Taylor and Tyler look quite alike, although their personalities are vastly different.
- Hard Head: Played with. Ashlyn gets a concussion when a phantom smashes her head against the porch roof, and isn't very useful for the rest of the mission. However, injuries gained in the shadow dimension heal quickly, and aren't present in the real world save for the pain.
- Harsh Word Impact: As Ashlyn bluntly lists out Aiden's negative traits to him, the speech bubble goes through his chest and blood leaks from his mouth.
- Heartfelt Apology: Aiden apologizes not once, but twice after his recklessness causes Ashlyn to get attacked by a phantom, get a concussion, and almost die. She doesn't blame him for what happened though.
- Home Base: The school bus graveyard.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Tyler, by a tree of all things.
- Important Haircut: Ashlyn nearly gets caught while trying to escape a phantom due to her long hair, and she cuts it afterwards. Her braids are intact in the waking world, but her shadow shows the change.
- In-Series Nickname: Aiden often calls Ashlyn "Ash" and Tyler "The Halfwit". Meanwhile, Tyler and Taylor often call each other "Ty" and "Tay".
- Jerk Jock: Played straight with Barron, and very downplayed with Tyler. They're both on the baseball team, but while Tyler is a hothead, he's nothing compared to Barron's manipulative bullying.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Ashlyn's mom lampshades that the reason why the Jeep's keys aren't in place for the kids' mission is for the author's whim.Emma: Hey honey, you have the key to the filing cabinet, right?
Mike: Yeah, it's on my keychain.
Emma: Can I borrow it? I need a document for work and because the author needs a reason for you to grab your keys, it's trapped in here. - Manipulative Bastard: Aiden accidentally invokes this. He comes to Ashlyn’s house uninvited, tells her parents that they’re friends, and even brings up the field trip Ashlyn is determined not to go on in front of them, so that way she’ll have to go. It’s implied he doesn’t mean to be malicious, and really just isn’t good at working with other people.
- Meaningful Name: Ashlyn's surname, "Banner", matches how she's (unintentionally) become the leader of the group of teens.
- Mood Whiplash: The series can go from comedic high school story to a nightmarish Dreamland where the main characters can easily die very quickly.
- New Transfer Student: Aiden and Ben are new students. Played with, regarding this takes place at the beginning of a school year.
- Nightmare Face: The phantoms and their smiles.
- No Social Skills: Both Ashlyn and Aiden, to different extents. Ashlyn is extremely introverted and doesn’t want any friends in the first place. Aiden meanwhile wants friends, but the way he goes about it is very pushy and even rather creepy.
- Parental Neglect: The details are still unknown, but so far it seems the twins' mother struggled to take care of them when her husband died.
- The Door Slams You: When the guys hear the girls scream in the hotel, Tyler swings his room door open and whacks Aiden in the face.
- The Quiet One: Ben, Aiden’s cousin, hasn’t spoken a word. This is because he doesn't like how his damaged voice sounds.
- Two Girls to a Team: Ashlyn and Taylor.
- Running Gag: Ashlyn’s a ballerina, and she’s able to contort her body in positions most people can’t. She nearly scares the crap out of Taylor when she opens the door to see her in such a position.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Gender inverted with Ashlyn and Aiden. She’s introverted, quiet, smart, and is able to plan her way around the phantoms. Aiden is hyperactive and extremely determined to become her friend.
- Security Cling: Aiden does this to Ashlyn in the beginning as the group is about to get slashed by a phantom.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Ashlyn, the main character, is a redhead with green eyes and freckles.
- Stalker with a Crush: Played with and played for laughs with Aiden. While it’s unknown if he has a crush on Ashlyn, he goes to very extreme lengths to become friends with Ashlyn, which she finds annoying.
- As of Episode 40, the crush part seems likely.
- Stress Vomit: Tyler does this after the harrowing ordeal of securing the jeep, but it's toned down with Rainbow Puke.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Ashlyn was planning on skipping the field trip until Aiden intervened. She easily could have avoided getting cursed like everyone else if things had gone her way.
- Later subverted as it seems that the portal in the Sorrel Weed House was meant to trap them in the alternate dimension completely, rather than link them to it. It seems like Ashlyn's presence actually saved everyone from being stuck there.
- Weakened by the Light: The phantoms lose their form if they get too close light, making flashlights a very handy weapon.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 38 reveals that the alternate dimension is called the Void, the tour guide is part of a gang that had every intention of trapping the kids there, the kids were supposed to be fully stuck there, Ashlyn's parents can sense the phantoms in the alternate version of their house, and Ashlyn's birth may be tied to them too.
- The season one finale is a doozy. The shadow dimension's environment can completely change from the real world; bigger, more dangerous monsters exist besides the human-sized phantoms; and Tyler is fatally wounded.
- Would Hurt a Child: It's later confirmed that the tour guide had every intention of feeding the kids to the phantoms, and she's surprised that they didn't wind up fully trapped in the other dimension.
