Interview: Fright Bytes’ Lianne Spiderbaby

She has worked with some spectacular talent on the show and shares some exciting news about the show’s future with us. 

Shock Till You Drop: Tell us about Fright Bytes.

Lianne Spiderbaby: I started the show with a friend of mine, named Jay. Jay already had a show on YouTube that reviewed DVDs and video games. His show was and still is very popular. He asked me to come on the show because he was reviewing The Walking Dead on his show and he wanted a horror specialist, so he invited me. At the time I was writing for Fangoria. I came on the show and did the review with him. I was getting a lot of comments from his fans saying that he should have me on the show more. The show is watched mostly by boys from 13-15 and I ended up being kind of popular. So, Jay suggested that we do our own show where we did horror related stuff, only. That seemed like a good idea to me. I was conscious of the fact that having an image attached to my name would be helpful for me if I wanted to be in horror journalism. And, that wasn’t something that Fangoria was really giving me. But, it was something that I knew to be important from being with Rue Morgue. They made sure that everyone knew what the writers looked like and they all had a presence. Jay and I decided to do it and Jay was filming it and editing it. I had a friend of mine who is a film director volunteer to do the intro for the first episode, which was the Scream 4 episode. We decided to review Scream 4 and we put it up the night after it was released. That episode had 1,000 views, overnight. It was really successful; the production value was high, because we had my director friend do the intro. More than anything else, it was fun. I always liked acting in high school, so it was a great experience. Then, Jay ended up getting really busy with his other show. We were living in different cities and it became difficult. We decided amicably to part ways. Then I started taking control of the show. I brought my brother, Steve Mac, along, because he is cooler than me and he knows a lot about horror movies. 

Shock:  What’s next for the series?

Spiderbaby:  I’m relocating to LA, so there are all sorts of new things coming up with the show! We are trying to branch out a bit and cover genre film, as well as horror. I’ve got another director friend of mine who is directing another introduction. I think people enjoy the introductions and it adds to the production quality of the show. So, I work hard to get people involved. Moving to LA in general is going to make Fright Bytes that much bigger because there is so much more there that I can cover. I expect to have more episodes, more often. 

Shock:  Do you foresee going to a more regular broadcast schedule for episodes of Fright Bytes after relocating? 

Spiderbaby:  It’s definitely something that I’ve thought about. But, because I still have a day job it’s difficult to commit to a schedule. It’s still sort of in between stages of being something that I do for fun and something that I do as a job. It’s rapidly bridging the gap, though. I expect the episodes to be more frequent when I am in L.A. I would hope that the episodes will come out once a week or once every other week. However, it will still be a matter of what I am doing to make ends meet. It’s always been subordinate to my schedule.

Shock:  After you relocate to LA, will you still be collaborating with Steve Mac?

Spiderbaby:  My brother will still be involved at some capacity. I think he does a really excellent job. But, I think when I go to L.A. I will also have guests co-host. I like bouncing ideas off someone else. I think it makes for a better review when we are reviewing movies. It also takes some of the pressure off if I have a partner. I’ve talked with a few of my friends in L.A. about collaborating. Several people have said they would be interested in co-hosting. Rebekah McKendry has offered. I think it would be cool to do a couple of episodes with her. I’ve worked with her through Fangoria. Ryan Turek has also offered to co-host with me, now and then. We’ve been friends for a long time, so that will be a lot of fun. Ryan is a genuinely smart person who always asks great questions in interviews. [Editor’s Note: I did not pay this incredibly sweet woman to say such things. – RT]

Shock:  What do fans of the show have to look forward to?

Spiderbaby:  Lots! Quentin Tarantino is going to be collaborating with me on a few episodes. He is going to be working with me on a “Women in Prison” episode. So, stay tuned for that. The relocation will open a lot of doors. We will have some horror directors directing intros for the show. In June, we’re doing a special episode for the release of Prometheus. My friend, Brian Clement, who is a Fangoria award winning director, has put together an amazing episode introduction for us. That will go on our channel June 9th, at the latest.  We’re really looking forward to that episode, the introduction looks amazing.  I was in a space suit for most of the shoot, and I had an alien wrapped around my ankle. Viewers will want to check it out, for sure! There’s a lot more beyond that, so stay tuned! 

Here is the newest episode of Fright Bytes:

Here is a look back at the Zombie episode:

You can see more from Lianne at www.liannespiderbaby.com and follow her on Twitter @liannespider.