Interview by Jessica Brainard
(Scared Stiff Reviews thanks Jessica Brainard and True Indie TV on Facebook for their contribution and interview.)
Article about Scary Tales the Series: TV has always had a history of horror anthology series like the Twilight Zone. Nowadays we have a modern version of the Twilight Zone with Scary Tales the Series with all different creatures like Bigfoot and Aliens. In this interview with the series creator Geno McGahee he talks about creating the series and his love for alien films and horror films.
JB: How did you come up with the idea of Scary Tales the Series?
Basically, the word was out that streaming services were looking for a series instead of features and I came up with the idea of Scary Tales the series. It came from my love of shows like The Twilight Zone, Tales from The Darkside and Tales from the Crypt.
JB: I Have never seen a horror anthology series for grown I have seen some horror anthology movies. I have seen two different horror anthology shows for kids which are Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark.
I have read the Goosebumps books and seen the two Goosebumps movies. I really enjoyed them and my daughter has a collection of the books. I might be too old to really appreciate the books.
JB: I know that they did a new Twilight Zone series with Forest Whitaker. By the way I have a book of Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Forest Whitaker was in the movie version of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
I have never seen The Twilight Zone series with Forest Whitaker. I just saw it advertised, but I have heard good things about it.
JB: Let’s talk about the four episodes that stand out which are The Blind Date, The Babysitter and the Muffin Man and The Visitors.
Well, the Blind Date was a lot of fun. We had a lot of laughs. It talks about how weird online dating is and the dangers that come along with it. There are some creeps out there and you have to be careful.
JB: Interesting, let’s talk about the episode The Babysitter.
I am a big fan of Bigfoot and I always wanted to include one in something that I filmed. The sorry of The Babysitter is a great tale. I had a lot of fun with it. I was able to add a lot of commentary about different generations colliding. I liked creating the edgy teenager that outsmarts the babysitter.
JB: It reminded me of the movie The Babysitter with Alicia Silverstone.
Same thing. The Babysitter with Alicia Silverstone was a perfect role for Alicia Silverstone. She played similar types that tempted men. In my version of The Babysitter, you have a snarky sarcastic 15-year-old who is smarter than the guy who is babysitting her. There’s other surprises and I tried to shock the audience the best that I could.
JB: Let’s talk about the episode of The Muffin Man.
It came from a friend, Rick, and he bothered me about this true story about a killer in the city called “the Muffin Man.”
JB: Let’s talk about the episode the Visitors.
I always wanted to do stuff with aliens and Area 51 stuff. I have watched documentaries from jump that concerned aliens. So, I used some real accounts and stories into that episode and it led to some fun and silly moments. Behind the scenes, the aliens were dancing and we were all having a good time.
JB: I love alien movies. I have been into them since I saw E.T. or My Stepmother is an Alien as a kid.
Did you love the aliens?
JB: What made you realize that you liked aliens?
As a kid, I liked mysteries and aliens are mysterious. I tend to think that they exist and that they are visiting us, but even if they’re not, I love the mystery. People debate this, but it’s fun no matter where the truth lies.
JB: How long have you been into horror movies?
Since I was a kid, my parents had HBO and I watched horror movies at a young age. I watched A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13TH, CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS and a lot more before I was 13. It’s in my blood.
JB: How long have you known about YouTube?
Since it first came out. When it first came out it was a ghost town. I uploaded a movie trailer for EVIL AWAKENING, my first movie, I made and it got a lot of views since there weren’t too many videos on YouTube at that time, compared to what we see now at least
JB: When did you first know about making content for the web.
Well, I have to say Tubi is a blessing. For filmmakers Tubi is your bread and butter. I am very stoked about the amount of views that I’ve had over the years for my films with Tubi.
JB: What are your favorite web series or web shorts?
My favorite current web series are The Why Files. I liked the Angry Video Game Nerd and Nostalgia Critic. I tend to spend my free time on YouTube.
I had a nice time talking to Geno McGahee about Scary Tales the Series. I am so honored that I got to talk to him about aliens and alien movies since two of my top five favorite movies are alien movies.
WATCH SCARY TALES THE SERIES ON TUBI FOR FREE – CLICK HERE
By the way I made one mistake. I forgot to mention the episode The Guy which I did like, and I mentioned the Muffin Man episode which I didn’t like. So, I would like to give a shout out to the cast of the episode of The Guy.