Podcaster Profiles: Monique & Amy From Another F*cking Horror Podcast

 

Podcaster Profiles has a simple goal: highlight, spotlight, focus on: the indie podcasters who are the heart and soul of podcasting.

In each article, we'll ask the person being profiled why they became involved in podcasting, how did they become skilled, review their public bio, tell us something not in their public bio, any passions other than podcasting, and their future plans in podcasting, and in life.

In this edition, we're excited to profile Monique Sanchez and Amy Traydon from Another F*cking Horror Podcast.

 Before we begin, let me opine and say how much I admire Monique and Amy. They're successful entrepreneurs, enterprising business people, wildly creative, and superb indie podcasters. Plus, their podcast alternately scares the shit out of me and makes me laugh

 Another F*cking Horror Podcast launched on Halloween in 2020 and has already completed more than 150 episodes. I love shows that bend or twist genres to their specific thematic premise, or, in this case, build a club sandwich of genres, with true-crime interacting with the supernatural, with a decadent dessert of satire and comedy.

Another F*cking Horror Podcast combines true crime and paranormal stories with comedy to create a unique listening experience. Each week, co-hosts Monique Sanchez and Amy Traydon deliver a fun and expletive-filled spin on lesser-known true tales of murder, mayhem, and things that will leave you saying, “what the actual f*ck?” 

The co-hosts definitely have a "peanut butter and jelly" type chemistry, and they play off each other nicely.

Co-host Monique Sanchez was born in Miami Beach to Cuban parents who dreamed of having a daughter who would one day marry a Cuban Catholic doctor and become a refined lady of high society. To the dismay of her mother, Monique eventually moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting. For over a decade, the award-winning actress has appeared in various film, TV, and theater productions including, Law & Order and the hit Off-Broadway show and New York Times Critics Pick, Drunk Shakespeare, for which Stagebuddy called her performance “extraordinary.” 

NOTE: Photo Credit For Monique & Amy: La Photographie

Amy Traydon was also born in Miami, but moved away when she was five and instead grew up in the middle-of-nowhere in north Florida surrounded by dogs, cats, chickens, ferrets, and a wild squirrel she befriended.  She technically has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, but realized that spending the rest of her life stuck in a laboratory wasn’t for her. After working in sales at a tech company in NH, a brief stint as a DJ in NYC, and running a legal cannabis farm on a weird, little island off the coast of Seattle, she returned to New York to work in events where she eventually met Monique Sanchez, who introduced her to the glorious world of true crime and paranormal podcasts and suggested they start one of their own. 

The co-hosts ask listeners: "Is it safe for work? Should you listen to it in the car with the kids? F*ck no! It’s “Another F*cking Horror Podcast.”

I asked Monique and Amy: "I've read the public bios, and you met each other in NYC. But how and when? Starbuck's? Arrested for loitering near Penn Station?"

"It was the summer of 2020," Monique begins. "We were deep in the pandemic, especially in NYC. Prior to the madness, I was predominantly a theatre actor whose side gig was managing live, in-person events – so, when the world shut down, I was EPICALLY unemployed.  Then the marketing company I work for offered me the opportunity to manage a month-long brand activation at a pop-up drive-in movie theatre (remember when drive-ins came back for a hot second?)  Given that it was like the fourth job I had been offered that entire year, I jumped at the chance to do it.  I was managing the activation and was going to have three production assistants working with me-all of whom I had never met. One of whom was Amy.  Fun fact, the first day of the gig was July 9, which just so happens to also be Amy’s birthday!"

Amy's recollection about how they met is similar: "We actually met on my birthday of all days! We had both worked freelance gigs for the same company for several years and had heard of each other but had never actually met before. Then in 2020, we were scheduled to work together on the same program for a month. We got to talking and immediately hit it off! On the first day, Monique mentioned that she was listening to a podcast on the history of the lobotomy and I immediately said (possibly yelled?), 'You know the guy who invented the lobotomy won a Nobel Prize? I will never get over it!' We realized that we were fascinated by all the same strange, slightly morbid things, immediately became best friends and spent the next month being obsessed with each other. I talked about her so much that my boyfriend (now fiancé) texted Monique at one point and told her to 'get her own girlfriend.' To which Monique responded 'fight me for her.' We’ve been best friends and psychic sisters ever since!"

We discussed their foray into podcasting, with Monique explaining: "Now, I’m the type of person who needs background noise to focus-and I find podcasts are great for that. And given that I’ve always had macabre tastes and morbid fascinations, the audio content I consume tends to be of the paranormal and true-crime ilk."

"So, I was in the middle of Last Podcast on The Left’s multi-part series on the history of the lobotomy (I know-but it really is a fascinating series. The boys do a great job with it. Highly recommend them, if that’s your jam). I don’t remember if Amy, who at the time had never even listened to a podcast, asked me what I was listening to, or if I just volunteered that information to an unwilling participant. Either way, I told her what I was listening to and without skipping a beat, Amy goes, “You know the guy who invented the Lobotomy won a Nobel Prize?” and I was like WHERE THE F*CK HAVE YOU BEEN MY ENTIRE LIFE???  And the rest is history."

When I asked about how the concept for the podcast evolved, Monique explained: "So, the job we were working on was the type of gig where you showed up, set everything up, and then had like four hours of down time before the event actually started.  This drive-in was in the middle of nowhere in the Bronx so there wasn’t anywhere we could really go. So, we would just hang out and talk."

Monique continues: "We quickly discovered we were kindred spirits as our conversations often turned to true-crime and the supernatural, with me sharing my must-listen-to episodes of various true-crime podcasts and Amy sharing, despite her healthy skepticism, her deep desire to have some sort of alien/UFO sighting or encounter.  They were the 2 topics we found ourselves naturally drawn to and discussing regularly.  So why Sophie’s Choice it, when we can just talk about both?  It is our show after-all. We can talk about whatever the f*ck we want."

 Then I ask how did you start the podcast four years ago? Technical knowledge? Recording space? Financing? Equipment?

 Monique says: "We had one thing: Audacity. We didn’t have any sponsors or money. When I proposed making this podcast, the very next thing I said to Amy after she accepted was, 'Also, I don’t know how to make a podcast.'  And the thing is,  four years in, I still don’t. Amy is the brains of this entire operation. Despite also never having made a podcast, Amy was so eager to jump in and just figure it out. Her fiancé, Jonny, had recently bought recording equipment for some projects he was working on so it was with that that we recorded in her apartment in Bay Ridge. In addition to researching, writing, and recording a story every week, Amy is the one who edits and releases the episodes. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, without Amy, there would be no Another F*cking Horror Podcast. I just scream into the void about murders and ghosts.

Amy recalls that, "Podcasting started out as something of a Covid 'hobby.' When Monique suggested starting one, I absolutely loved the idea! Getting to talk about all the weird, morbid things that fascinate me with my bff? Sign me the f*ck up! Fortunately, my fiancé had a bunch of equipment already and we recorded our first episodes in my apartment in Brooklyn. I taught myself how to use editing software to produce our episodes but Monique is really the brains behind all our creative aspects. She came up with the name for the podcast and our sign off, writes all our episode descriptions and generally handles anything creative. "
 

Amy continues: "I designed our cover art and eventually our website. (But again, content-wise all Monique!) We do everything pretty much just the two of us and it’s very much a team effort. (Despite how much credit she likes to give me, lol.) She also handles our social media account which is something I am absolutely terrible at, so while she says there wouldn’t be a podcast without me, I always say, we wouldn’t have a podcast or the amazing community of fans we do without her! We’ve also had some help from friends along the way of course who gave us advice on how to improve our audio quality since our first episodes (thanks, Filip!) and gave us direction and kept us focused on the steps we needed to take to grow the podcast (I’m talking about you, Brad!) We’re still mostly self-financed but are also lucky enough to have been supported by all our wonderful fans’ contributions through Patreon. Link: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=117881536."

Monique talks about why she got into the acting and show business: "I grew up feeling deeply misunderstood.  I’m a middle child, only daughter, first generation American of Cuban descent.  That comes with a lot of baggage and a lot of opinions as to who I 'should' be: namely, a 'lady.' Someone who doesn’t rock the boat, doesn’t have big feelings or contradictory opinions, doesn’t like macabre things, and definitely doesn’t curse. But try as I might, I never felt that I aligned with that perceived ideal, so I spent a good portion of my life feeling out of place and that I was too much. So, I found refuge in film and TV.  And it was in watching and falling in love with these other characters that I not only found an escape, but also came to better understand myself.  So, initially, I was drawn to acting because it gave me the opportunity to be someone else.  Not only that, I quickly learned that on stage, I could not only express all the feelings and be as messy and imperfect as I wanted, but that it was actually encouraged!" 

 When I ask Amy, "Is there anything you haven't done? You've been a squirrel whisperer, chemist, crab farmer, event planner, and salesperson? How did these life experiences prepare you for the podcast?"

 Amy thinks for a few seconds and replies: "Hmm…I haven’t been a cult leader yet, lol. But I’ve definitely had an eclectic mix of jobs in my life! I really enjoy learning new things and for me, the best way to do that is just to jump in and give it a try. I always approach every job as an opportunity to learn something, whether it’s a new skill or just something about myself (like dear god, I hate sales and don’t want to do that ever again.) But working in so many industries has given me a pretty diverse range of skills and knowledge and while I don’t know if any of it really helped with the podcast specifically, it did  teach me that just because you don’t know how to do something yet, doesn’t mean you can’t! I’m constantly saying “we’ll figure it out!” because even if I don’t know how, someone out there does and fortunately, we live in a world where how-to blogs and YouTube tutorials are literally at the tips of our fingers, so it’s easier than ever to teach yourself how to do something you know nothing about."

 When I ask, "Where do you want the podcast to go?"
 
Monique doesn't hesitate: "World domination. Obviously."

Amy seconds that goal with more detail: "And this is why I love Monique! World domination would be pretty awesome but at the very least, we’d love to be able to do the podcast as our full-time jobs. It’s also a not-so secret dream of ours to be able to do our own Celebrity Ghost Stories type of show. We both watched it and were obsessed! In fact, one of the things we bonded over at first was our mutual love of the show. It’s off the air now, but it would be so much fun to be able to bring it back with new celebrities and all kinds of paranormal stories instead of just ghosts because I absolutely live for a celebrity alien story!"

Monique Sanchez and Amy Traydon are the epitome of indie podcasters -- wildly creative and innovative; hard-working; savvy business people; enterprising entrepreneurs, and a credit to the independent podcasting community. 


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After four years of exploring the world's most bizarre crimes and supernatural mysteries from their respective apt studios, hosts Monique Sanchez and Amy Traydon are ready to bring their unique blend of humor and horror to a live audience with its first-ever live event: “A Cute & Creepy Weekend with Another F*cking Horror Podcast from November 1 – 3, 2024 in Tarrytown, NY.

"We’re really looking forward to getting to interact with our fans in person and giving them the opportunity to finally meet each other! We’ve discovered this wonderful, supportive community of amazing people who are just as passionate about all things paranormal and true crime as we are, but we’ve never had the chance to all hang out together and share our interest in the macabre. With our Cute & Creepy Weekend, we have two whole days to get to know each other and have some fun, spooky adventures along the way," said Amy.

Co-creator of the podcast, Monique added, “Amy and I have put a lot of thought and care into making our first live event the kind of spooky, once-in-a-lifetime experience that not only we ourselves would want to attend, but that our amazing listeners deserve.  And we’re just so excited to share it with everyone!”

Check out the show if you've not heard of this podcast, and then consider attending their  "Cute & Creepy Weekend" from November 1 – 3, 2024 in Tarrytown, NY. 

The event will feature:

·        3 days/2 nights in a private luxury suite

·        Aura Photography from Inner Light Aura

·        An intimate welcome dinner in a Victorian Library

·        A live séance held on the Day of The Dead by a psychic medium from New Orleans

·        A private tour of the famed Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

·        A spooky slumber party, complete with games, with your two hosts

·        The first-ever live show of Another F*cking Horror Podcast

·        And more

Tickets for “A Cute & Creepy Weekend with Another F*cking Horror Podcast” are on sale through the show’s website.

I'll be there. Hope to see you and meet you there!