Few creators have captured the imagination of horror fans online quite like Spencer Lackey, whose short, unsettling videos have turned the everyday into pure nightmare fuel. With millions of views across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Lackey has become a defining voice in the next generation of digital horror storytellers.
For our November 2025 digital cover story, Dread Central spoke with the creator and filmmaker to discuss the evolution of digital horror content, his influences, and his journey in bringing his scares to the big screen.
Dread Central: How do you usually introduce yourself in a new setting? How do you explain what you do creatively and professionally?
Spencer Lackey: It’s always a bit of a challenge. The sentence I’ve landed on is that I create narrative short horror videos on social media. If the conversation goes deeper, I explain that I’m using these platforms to reach a wide audience as a way to eventually transition into filmmaking—making horror movies.
Dread Central: Some of your peers are changing how people see influencers and content creators—like Curry Barker with Obsession or Chris Stuckmann with Shelby Oaks. Are you starting to feel that shift?
Spencer Lackey: I’m so excited about those films. You’ve got Curry Barker with Obsession, Zach Cregger with Barbarian and now Weapons, and they’re all proving that digital voices can make incredible horror films. I think Curry’s success at TIFF and the buzz around Obsession gave a lot of us digital creators a boost. It almost feels like he’s bringing us up with him. When one of us transitions into film successfully, it reflects well on the rest of us and helps open doors.
Dread Central: Do you think people were unfairly stereotyping this new wave of talent before?
Spencer Lackey: Maybe a bit. I’ve been lucky—people have responded positively to my videos—but I think there’s definitely been a shift. Industry folks are starting to take digital creators more seriously. Sure, there’s a difference between making a TikTok and making a feature, but a lot of the same creative muscles are being exercised. When you’re making videos that have to engage people quickly and consistently, you’re learning how to build tension and connect with audiences. Producers are realizing that.
Dread Central: Let’s talk about your creative style. Forget professionalism for a second—how do you personally describe your creative process?
Spencer Lackey: It’s pretty instinctual. I have a routine when I make videos, but I’m not planning what it’ll look like. I’ll come up with an idea—or just improvise—and start filming. In editing, I add filters or effects and try to tell a simple, scary story. What happens in the end just kind of happens. My influences are people like James Wan, Stephen King, and Mike Flanagan, but really, it’s about asking myself: what scares me right now?
Dread Central: Your videos feel very primal—like the kind of fear you get when you’re alone in the dark and imagine a face at the window. Are those moments what inspire you?
Spencer Lackey: Totally. That’s literally how I come up with ideas. I’ll pick a room in my house, stand there in the dark, and wait until I freak myself out. It’s like weaponizing my own intrusive thoughts and anxiety. I’ll see something—like a shadow or a window—and backtrack into a story from that image. It’s usually very simple: someone sees something, investigates, and things spiral from there.
Dread Central: A lot of horror professionals—myself included—come from anxious childhoods. Does that resonate with you?
Spencer Lackey: A hundred percent. I think most horror fans were probably traumatized by something they saw too young. For me, horror has always felt cozy because it lets me experience fear in a controlled environment. I deal with anxiety and OCD, and horror gives me a safe way to confront those feelings. Like Mick Garris says—horror fans might love blood and guts on screen, but when it happens in real life, we’re the first to pass out. That’s me to a T.
Dread Central: You mentioned Mick Garris. How did you first encounter his work?
Spencer Lackey: Mick Garris was my introduction to horror. My dad bought me The Shining miniseries—Mick’s version, not Kubrick’s—when I was ten. He thought it was the edited-for-TV version of Kubrick’s movie. I watched it on a family road trip, and when the scene with the woman in Room 217 came on—played by Mick’s wife, Cynthia Garris—it absolutely destroyed me. I couldn’t go into bathrooms for weeks. But that was it. I was hooked. After that came The Ring and a bunch of other movies that scared me in that same deep, stomach-drop way.
Dread Central: Let’s talk about your filmmaking. Tell me about You Are Here.
Spencer Lackey: About six months into making TikToks and Instagram videos, a mentor told me that if I wanted to move into the film industry, I should make a short film and send it to festivals. So I did. A year and a half later, You Are Here—our seven-minute liminal-space, nostalgia-core short—finished its festival run. Horror shorts really find an audience there. My fiancée and I are now developing a feature version of You Are Here. She wrote the script—she’s an incredible writer—and we’re showing it around. I’d love to be directing horror films full-time five years from now. That’s the dream.
Dread Central: Last question. Let’s say Blumhouse comes calling and gives you carte blanche to tackle any franchise. What are you remaking or continuing?
Spencer Lackey: The Shining. Of course. Though honestly, someone like Mike Flanagan would probably do it better. Still, that would be the dream. That movie ruined me—I’d love to ruin myself all over again. I’d follow the Stephen King and Mick Garris path. It’s not just scary; it’s about alcoholism, family, and love overcoming demons. It’s a powerful story, and I’d love to explore it in a new way.
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