{"id":47102,"date":"2025-03-31T23:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T03:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=47102"},"modified":"2025-04-01T02:20:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T06:20:50","slug":"horror-creative-lydia-manson-interview-women-in-horror-month-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/31\/horror-creative-lydia-manson-interview-women-in-horror-month-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Horror Creative Lydia Manson Interview [Women in Horror Month 2025]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Meet horror creative Lydia Manson:<\/p>\n

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To start, please introduce yourself:<\/b><\/p>\n

Hi I am Lydia Manson! I live in a small town in Upstate New York and have been acting for almost 5 years now. I am interested in acting roles of all genres but my heart\u00a0always brings me back to Horror. I have been lucky enough to travel across the US for filming, movie premiers and even to different Horror Conventions where I get to meet people who have supported me in this endeavor and to me, that has been the craziest part. Never in my life did I think I would ever have people coming up to me at a table just to meet me, it still blows my mind and I can’t wait for the next chance! As much as I love acting, recently I have been taking on more roles behind the camera. I was able to be Assistant Director for the upcoming film “Camera X” directed by Loren Lepre. I want to learn as much as I can about all aspects of film making\u00a0and maybe even write my own script soon.<\/p>\n

What is horror to you, what makes a work of art one in the horror genre?<\/b><\/div>\n
To me, horror is anything that takes us out of the security of our own mind. It makes you feel uneasy and sends a chill down your spine. I think horror films get a bad rep sometimes because people believe it’s just all blood and guts, but some of my favorite horror films don’t have any of that. There are so many subgenres of horror and to me the ones that scare you through your psyche are the real works of art in horror. Some of my favorites that I find to accomplish this are Psycho, The Bad Seed, and Whatever happened to Baby Jane. All of these films have left their mark in history for several reasons and not one of them is because of kills, blood, or just straight gore. Psycho, yes is known for the shower scene, but to me it’s not because of the knife and the blood but rather how Hitchcock chose to portray this kill, but at the end of the day the part that haunts you the most is “Well, a boy’s best friend is his mother”. The Bad Seed is scary because who would ever suspect a little girl with golden braids and tap shoes to commit such heinous things. Rhoda is responsible for the death’s of not only adults around her, but also her classmate and we don’t really see any of it so we imagine the little boy drowning and the handyman being burned alive. Whatever happened to Baby Jane became a work of art in and of itself for several reasons. It showed that you didn’t need young, fresh actresses to make a film. Joan and Bette had the experience and knowledge to bring these characters to life in such a way that you almost don’t want to know what they will do next but you can’t take your eyes off of them. To me, artistically, Joan spinning in her wheelchair is perfection, you start to spiral with her and to me that is true horror.<\/div>\n
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What made you want to work in horror?<\/b><\/div>\n
It’s funny because looking back, when I started in this industry I never thought any of this would happen. I was always interested in the dark and macabre but I kind of “fell” into acting. A friend of mine was cast in an Indie Horror film and I followed just to support her, they ended up needing a few more actresses and I was able to be cast in my first role. I grew up watching Nightmare on Elm Street, Bride of Chucky, The Bad Seed, and so many more horror films that I think I was just naturally drawn to continue being involved in horror films, hoping that maybe I could be the reason someone has to leave their light on at night. It is a pipe dream, but a dream nonetheless and who knows what could happen.<\/div>\n
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Where do you get your inspiration?<\/b><\/div>\n
I get my inspiration from watching these amazing films and trying to figure out if there is so to say a formula to taking ordinary things and showing them in a light that haunts us. I find inspiration from the actors and actresses I have been blessed to work with on set and being able to watch them grow as artists. The good thing about social media is I can see all the new and exciting things everyone is doing which makes me want to create more and more. Your inspiration should never start and stop with “Action!” or “Cut!”<\/div>\n
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What would you like your legacy to be in the genre (or elsewhere)?<\/b><\/div>\n
I never thought that I would achieve anything that would be a legacy so this is a tough one for me! I am a huge advocate for Mental Illness, I myself suffer from severe depression and anxiety and I would hope that if anything I could show people it’s ok not to be ok, you can still accomplish things through your suffering. I would want people to realize that their illnesses don’t define them. I know this will sound cliche, but if my legacy is just 1 person realizing they can do whatever they put their heart and mind to, then that would be enough for my dark, but kind soul.<\/div>\n
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What is Women in Horror Month to you and why is it still important this many years later?<\/b><\/div>\n
Without women there would be no Horror. Friday the 13th was about a mother getting revenge for her son. Halloween solidified the final girl that we all strive to be me. Would we have enjoyed Psycho if he just killed Marion? No, it scared us because he followed the voice of his mother. Society has always shown women in the light that we should just give birth and be subservient and yet women in real life have done extraordinary things like lifting the impossible to save their child so it makes sense that horror shines a light on the strengths that women have. We can be ruthless, heartless, strong, and murderous. Women in Horror month only started 15 years ago as a grassroots movement to show that we, as women, could not only star in horror films but also write terrifying stories and direct petrifying scenes. These actions alone show the importance of Women in Horror Month and I can’t wait to see what the next 15 years bring.<\/div>\n
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Who are some of the Women in Horror who you look up to and who do you want to bring attention to in your field or others?<\/b><\/div>\n
I think I\u00a0might take a different approach to answering this question if that\u00a0is ok with you. Women in Horror to me doesn’t just mean the actresses, producers, directors and so on, but also the female characters who are portrayed on the screen. A few of those characters I look up to are Carrie White, Tiffany Valentine, Clarice Starling,\u00a0Jennifer Check and Sylvia Ganush. All strong characters that without them, their films wouldn’t exist. I have worked with so many amazing women these last few years and a lot of them do not get the credit they deserve for their passion and hard work in the indie horror scene. One woman in particular I\u00a0would love to bring some attention to would be Xhyette “Sushii” Holder. I met Sushii about 4 years ago on set and we actually didn’t talk much at all,\u00a0then we both ended up on another film that unfortunately we both had a very bad experience on. However, that terrible experience brought me my best friend. Sushii is probably one of the hardest working women I\u00a0know and I think that not only is she a wonderful\u00a0actress, but also just an amazing\u00a0person overall and\u00a0even if our friendship were to fade (knock on wood) I would still sing her\u00a0praises because she has earned it but also deserves it.<\/div>\n
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What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?<\/b><\/div>\n
I am grateful to say I am working on a few things right now. The first is “Hellsgate” written by Aaron Hawkins and is the story of a present day murderous cult. I not only play the character of Kelly but I also am Assistant Director. We are currently crowdfunding to bring this film to life and any support is amazing. The second is an upcoming Vampire horror comedy written and directed by Ty Cheman called “The Lady of Castle de la Morte”, I can’t wait to film this in June!\u00a0 I also will be acting in the new found footage film “The FairField County Four” starring Joe Bob Briggs directed by Joshua Brucker, and the new independent series “The Red Huntress” as a flesh eating Gargoyle! Thank you to Keith Groyon for not only creating and directing this series but for directly asking me to be involved which is always a huge honor. Next year I was asked by William Instone to be in his upcoming film “Goldilocks”. I met William at a convention a few years ago and couldn’t be happier that he asked me to be a part of this production. Each of these films have their own Facebook page\/group that I would love to bring more support to, so if anyone would like\/follow it would mean the world to everyone involved!<\/div>\n
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Where can readers keep up with you?<\/b><\/div>\n
Are you sure anyone wants to keep up with me after I rambled on so much, ha-ha. I would love to invite anyone to follow me on Facebook under “Lydia Manson”, as well as both Tiktok and Instagram under the handle LydiaManson88.<\/div>\n
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Thank you so much for this opportunity and I hope that more people support independent horror and show “Hollywood” we are a force to be reckoned with!<\/div>\n
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