The darkness gathers.  The wind moans.  A chill mist rises.

One light shines from a window in a distant dwelling.

And within that dwelling,  somewhere in Southern California, “Spooky Webmistress” plies her craft.

Webmistress, as mentioned in our previous post, is a creative groundbreaker.  In 1998, she created the Internet’s first interactive virtual haunt.

Today, her creation, Frightbytes.com, continues to raise goosebumps, evoke the eeriness–and provide a lot of fright-themed fun for anyone who visits.   She doesn’t just tell a horror story–she designs one where your decisions directly affect the outcome.  And while you’re immersed in fright, look for Webmistress somewhere deep in the darkness. Like horror master Alfred Hitchcock, she often appears in cameo roles, in her creative work.

For Halloween 2020, Webmistress has “brewed” up a brand-new interactive story, “The Dead of Night“.  In addition, visitors can check out her earlier stories, along with Halloween games and mazes, Halloween history, and even information on ghosts, Halloween superstitions and Ouija boards!

Over Coffee® caught up with Webmistress to discuss all things creative, spooky and interactive.  Here’s the second half of our interview with her.

 

What’s been your favorite fun “cameo role” in Frightbytes’ online-haunt stories?

Webmistress: I enjoy creating all of them.  It’s just a fun way to interject the persona of Frightbytes by letting people catch a glimpse of the Spooky Webmistress in action, which is mostly napping.  it’s a way to add some personality and a little interaction with visitors that may be surprised to stumble upon her.

What is the creative process like for you, when coming up with an interactive story like your new one, “The Dead of Night”?

Webmistress: It all begins with some sort of inspiration.  It starts with the seeds of most ordinary things–an image, a horror quote, a feeling that comes over you.  I always say, “write it down”, but rarely do I take my own advice.  Inspiration and ideas can be fleeting.  I’ve lost many good ideas for a story or plot twist by not taking the time to make note of it.  My process is to simply sit down at the computer and begin to create room scenarios in the form of text and graphics.  Creating my haunts is an unknown journey for me.  It has been like that for the entire lifetime of Frightbytes.com, which is 22 years this year.  Instead of writing pages for a book, I create “rooms” and “doors”.  Even when I don’t know where each will lead.  Being the hard-core gamer I am, my creative process is like playing a strategy game or building a puzzle.  Back at the beginning in 1998 was the only time I actually created a flow-chart because the stories split off into different paths.

Miss Grul (in “The Dead of Night”) has touches of (Dickens’) Miss Havisham and some real-life villains.  Is she a composite or inspired by an actual person (whom we won’t name, to protect the guilty)?

Webmistress: Miss Grul materialized out of the mist.  My stories unfold for me as I create my “rooms” of the virtual haunt.  Characters are created as needed and some are stronger than others and begin to play an integral part of the virtual haunt story or end up becoming the story.  Miss Grul was a character I enjoyed imagining and building into the wicked and obsessed creature she was.

You’ve drawn on a lot of common fears for “The Dead of Night”–including clowns!  Is there anything that scares you, that you work into the story?

Webmistress: What scares me most is the feeling of being trapped and helpless.  In Dead of Night, you are trapped in a dreamstate that will eventually drain the life from you while being pursued by something you are unable to fight.

A little known fact – the Salems Marsh Asylum story was actually inspired by my own experience of a dark energy that terrorized me in the dead of night for a long period of time. It made me feel trapped and very helpless. That experience has carried over into several other stores because of its impact on me.

Frightbytes is also about a lot more than simply a virtual haunt. Your games, especially “The Miserly Man”, would be fun for a Halloween party. What will Halloween be like at your house?

Webmistress: My Halloween will be very quiet. Horror movies and popcorn are in the plans as well as playing some scary video games or working on a jigsaw puzzle.

And (on Frightbytes.com), you include three actual ghost stories, which you say are true? Would you share the story of “Chester” which really seems to go against Hollywood-style ghost stories?

Webmistress: Chester was a brief presence in my life when I was very little. My parents chalked him up to being my imaginary friend, but I’ve never forgotten him or the emotions I picked up from him.  (Those) have been retained in my memory after 60 + years. He only appeared to me a few times but I recall a tall, thin man, 40ish, dressed in old style clothing. He felt like a kind gentle soul but very lost and confused. We never spoke but there had to have been some level of communication since I can recall it so vividly even now. I’m sure he finally found the way to move on. I’ve had other experiences since posting those. My posted ghost stories are indeed my true ghost stories.

I’ve always felt a little sorry for ghosts. If people think they have one, they try to get rid of him/her – as a spooky webmistress, do you think that’s absolutely necessary?

Webmistress: It depends on what type of ghost haunting you have. I’ve experienced both beautiful experiences with the paranormal as well as a very dark, ominous entity experience. I for one would like to come back as a ghost. I’m very attached to my house and hope I would be able to co-exist with whoever occupies it next. I’m pretty quiet and tidy so would be a good housemate and I certainly would NOT be an evil ghost.

You’ve also included a great history of Halloween, and some superstitions, on Frightbytes.com. Are there any there that you absolutely would believe (as many of us, even knowing we might be silly, won’t walk under a ladder)?

Webmistress: One of the superstitions I like is “If you go to a crossroads at Halloween and listen to the wind, you will learn all the most important things that will befall you during the next twelve months.” Everyone who hears or reads this should try it this Halloween. I know I will!

What’s next, creatively, for you with Frightbytes.com?

Webmistress: Several years ago I began a story called The Lost Mansion. I created a great deal of content for it but was unable to advance with it. I started it as a Flash story but as covered in another question I was unable to continue creating using Flash. I’m hoping to revisit that project and want to see it completed in the future. There is still other content that needs to be converted from Flash too, so I have plenty to do. I have also begun a story with my fiend, I mean friend, Benjamin Fouche’. We are attempting a corroborative story. I would like to give a shout-out to my biggest fan of Frightbytes. Ben and I began corresponding about 8 years ago because of Frightbytes.com. Ben and his family now refer to me as “Spooky Grandma”. At the ripe old age of 21 he has already published multiple books and has composed several gothic music albums. He is the Webmaster of Spookinite.com and someone with a very, very bright creative future!

(Editor’s note: Another amazing website to check out, for Halloween or anytime you’re in the mood for top-notch Gothic stories and music!)

If people could only get one thing from you, about innovation, creativity and making a difference, what would you have them take away from your work?

Webmistress: Frightbytes has been a labor of love for 22 years. One of the greatest rewards that comes back to me is hearing that kids who came to Frightbytes for Halloween years ago are now visiting with their own kids. If you find yourself thinking “I’d like to be able to do that” then by all means try. A treasure trove of information is out there waiting for you to find it. No matter what means of expression you chose, having a creative outlet is never a waste of time. When you create something you never know who you may inspire. Also if you run across content or product you really like take the time to leave a short message to the person that made it, if possible. Most creators crave the feedback. It lets them know if they are going in the right direction, or if they need to make a correction. Most of the time it’s the sound of crickets so feedback is important. Feedback keeps us motivated to improve our craft.

Thank you, Spooky Webmistress, for your time, for an amazing interview AND for the creative inspiration!  Happy Halloween!

 

If you’re “hungry for a little fright”, to quote Frightbytes directly, be sure to visit and explore “The Dead of Night”, along with the previous stories and content.  It’s a scary good time!

This is Part Two of.a two-part series.  Here’s our link to Part One.