This short film was my foray into experimental, avant-garde horror—set entirely in an all-black studio transformed into a child’s bedroom using nothing but imagination, bedsheets, and suspended toys. The core idea revolved around three children telling ghost stories inside a tent they built themselves, unknowingly inviting something sinister into their fragile safe space. There was no actual “room”—the illusion of a bedroom was created using hanging stuffed toys with unsettling smiles, abstract spatial emptiness, and a glowing tent that stood unsupported, rigged invisibly with fish wires and ropes, echoing the creativity of childhood play.

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The lighting was deliberately minimal: just a table lamp and fairy lights inside the tent, casting a warm, eerie glow against deep blacks. I avoided cool tones entirely, opting for warm oranges, yellows, muddy greens, and reds to reflect both childhood nostalgia and creeping discomfort. The set design, though deceptively simple, was intricate in its symbolism—blending innocence with dread in a surreal, atmospheric world.

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Every element was crafted to immerse viewers in a dreamlike horror. And fittingly, at the film’s public screening, the building’s power went out right as the film ended—followed by an actual earthquake. The entire audience ran out screaming. Safe to say… the horror spilled off-screen too lol.

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Directed, Edited, Production Design & Art Direction by yours truly​

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Shaitaani Khema