Very cool concept. Its a good think your not squeamish when it comes to spiders. I don't think I'd be able to handle looking at those reference images all day. :P Looking forward to seeing this one completed :)
hoggboy: i kinda drew the same conclusion as well. hehe. looks a lot like her. anyways, i think the half woman, half spider thing would have been a lot more interesting, but it's up to you of course. looking forward to seeing some progress!