There’s the blood, the plastic fangs, and the spilled popcorn. However for Sarah Webb, aka Scarah, Damsel of the Doomed, she makes it work — one ghoul at a time. Because the face of HorrorWeb, an Austin-based shriek-your-head-off manufacturing firm, Webb creates movies selling native occasions and initiatives nationwide whereas staying plugged into the broader horror scene because the model grows.
Whether or not reviewing films from her bathtub or starring in her horror characteristic, Webb is busy residing in a perpetual spooky season. She additionally fronts a horror-themed rock and roll band referred to as The Immortalz. After I caught up together with her in her Halloween-themed workplace/bed room—embellished with pumpkins, skeletons, and nods to ’80s slashers — Webb had a lot to say about conserving the content material creepy between Halloween seasons. Her canine, Gomez (named after the Addams Household patriarch), made a number of cameos throughout our chat.
Webb didn’t get up one morning like most of us and determined, “I’m going to point out folks obscure horror films!” There was just a little extra to it. After working as a radio DJ and later as a speech pathologist on the Texas College for the Deaf, she wished extra. A well being scare pushed her towards new experiences.
“I missed out on lots of life,” she says. “So, I began saying sure to all the things.”
The primary “sure”? Mitch from Gore Noir journal wanted a bunch for his recreation present Splattergories. She volunteered. That led to internet hosting gigs at horror conventions, and shortly after, HorrorWeb was born.
The Start of Scarah
As HorrorWeb took off, so did Webb’s horror host persona, Scarah Damsel of the Doomed. “I began doing interviews with folks within the horror neighborhood,” Webb explains. “I hosted a present referred to as Tub of Terror, after which we made a film.”
The HorrorWeb crew is affiliated with Austin’s Bat Metropolis Scaregrounds, dwelling to three haunted homes on 15 Acres of Concern. Sooner or later, whereas filming on the newly constructed Citadel Orlock, Scarah was born. “I used to be dressed as Scarah, holding a candelabra as they filmed me strolling by the citadel,” Webb remembers. “That little little bit of footage sparked our first quick movie, Witch’s Cut price.”
Since then, Webb has written her characteristic movie. “It’s not a straight-up slasher,” she says. “It’s positively impressed by Elvira, however not fairly as campy.”
The Enterprise of Horror
The horror neighborhood isn’t simply passionate — it’s a $20 billion juggernaut. Haunted sights rake in $500 million yearly, Halloween spending tops $12 billion, and horror movies reliably pull in $1 billion yearly on the field workplace. Horror-themed video video games like Resident Evil and Lifeless by Daylight usher in one other $2 billion, whereas collectibles add one other $300 million. Horror is massive enterprise — and Scarah is browsing the ghoulish wave.
And that’s not even counting social media. TikTok’s #HorrorTok boasts over 42 billion views, whereas YouTube channels like Lifeless Meat pull tens of millions of views per video. On Instagram, horror cosplay and spooky aesthetics dominate timelines, and horror-related tweets spike 300% each Halloween season.
For Webb, it’s all about staying linked to this huge neighborhood whereas continuously evolving.
Halloween Roots and the Energy of Scarah
For Webb, her love of Halloween began as a inventive escape. “We didn’t have a lot cash rising up,” she explains. “Christmas was nice, nevertheless it was all the time form of melancholy — you’d get a few presents and needed to be proud of what you bought. However when Halloween rolled round, in the event you had been inventive, you would make a fancy dress and be no matter you wished.”
Her earliest horror reminiscence? Watching Night time of the Residing Lifeless when she was manner too younger. “I’m from the technology the place your mother and father simply left you dwelling with the TV,” she says. “My older brother thought it was a good suggestion. It scared the shit out of me, however I liked it.” By third grade, she was already studying Stephen King.
The Realities of Being Scarah
Constructing Scarah right into a recognizable character took time. Within the early days, Webb styled herself to match whoever she interviewed. As soon as, she painted her face to seem like a watercolor portrait whereas interviewing artist Dale Carroll. One other time, she dressed like a vampire for an interview at The Glass Coffin, a vampire-themed bar. Finally, she realized she wanted a extra constant look.
“Sooner or later, I used to be like, Man, I must cease dressing for different folks and model a personality that’s recognizable.” That recognizable model comes with its challenges, although. The connection her followers really feel is real, nevertheless it generally crosses boundaries. Webb remembers one stalker incident that also rattles her.
“I assumed I wanted to answer each ‘Hey, what’s up?’ in my inbox,” she says. “One girl would continuously remark and ship messages. I’d coronary heart her feedback, however I didn’t understand how obsessed she was. Sooner or later, she obtained on a Greyhound bus, traveled 5 states, and confirmed up at my home. We discovered her sleeping in my bushes.”
The Way forward for Scarah
For Webb, the longer term is about rising Scarah and creating new content material. “I need to proceed internet hosting occasions,” she says. “I like doing homicide thriller nights at Doc’s Drive-In and need to convey again Tub of Terror as an online sequence.”
Her focus can be on increasing her social media presence. “Instagram works greatest for Scarah proper now, however my private Fb web page has probably the most followers, which is bizarre,” she says. “Finally, I need to promote extra merch — T-shirts, issues like that — and perhaps begin monetizing my content material so I can reinvest within the character and preserve constructing.”
And that’s the plan: to maintain constructing, rising, and leaning into the horror neighborhood that has embraced her. For Sarah Webb, the world of horror isn’t only a style; it’s her dwelling.
Finally, Scarah is extra than simply blood, tears, and Halloween vibes. She displays on all the things that makes the horror neighborhood particular: creativity, connection, and the drive to construct one thing greater. In a world the place consideration fades with the flick of a thumb, Scarah’s spooky kingdom retains rising.
And for Sarah Webb, there are many screams left to return.
