I knew I had arachnophobia, I knew these spiders were going to freak me out... and yet I still played this.
Lurking is very creepy little horror game, I'm so impressed with what you've been able to create here. I haven't seen someone do the pet spider premise in a game before but it works so well, from the moment the game started I was immersed and eager to see where it went. There were a few moments where I was unsure what to do or where to go, though part of that may have been me overthinking things (I spent a lot of time wandering through the building to see if I could find a knife or match or something to get rid of the web, it took far too long for me to try just walking through it). Loved the setting, the flat and the building felt suitably uncomfortable and I liked how the state of the MCs flat gave subtle clues about the state of their life. The animations on the spiders are wonderfully unsettling, exactly that scuttling motion that makes me freak out so much. Also huge props for the sound design, I love how quiet this game is. There are barely any loud noises which only makes all of the little sounds stand out even more, creating this really uncomfortable ambience that really had me hooked.
If I had to give one criticism it did feel a bit too fast paced. I know it's a short game but from the description and the initial set-up I thought there was going to be a bit more time spent on the feeding routine, maybe seeing the changes in the new spider or even showing something happening to our existing pets, especially with the nightmare sequence acting as a great way to create a sense of unease (as well as giving the MC some development with that line afterwards, was very intrigued by that). Going straight from getting the spider to it escaping was a good shock and definitely added some dread when trying to leave, but I would have preferred a bit more tension build up. If you are considering expanding the game then that is something I'd love to see, but I will also admit that is a personal preference and it certainly didn't stop me from enjoying the game.
Overall this is a fantastic game, very glad I gave it a go. Will see how long it takes that giant spider to show up in my dreams.
Also as a snake lover I was very happy to see Stan, more Stan please.