Even the Podcast is Afraid

Even the Podcast is Afraid covers the real-life & fictional horrors of true crime, the paranormal, and the unexplained. Giving you a researched and comedic approach to serial killers, cults, demons, ghosts, aliens, and all sorts of macabre history.

A new episode of Even the Podcast is Afraid is released every Monday and a new Patreon episode every Wednesday. Subscribe/Listen here and check out some of their best episodes below.

Episode 85 | The Haunting of Borley Rectory

Episode 62 | Carl Tanzler: Mummified Love and Obsession

Episode 67 | The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp

A Q&A with Jared Ordis (Host, Creator, & Producer of ETPIA)

What made you want to start a podcast and how’d you come up with the name Even the Podcast is Afraid?

I’ve always wanted to do a podcast because it’s a medium that I’ve always enjoyed (just like radio). I use to stream games on Twitch (mainly horror games), and one day it just clicked, I’m going to stop streaming and make podcasts. 

In podcasting, I love the idea of being able to tell a story, share your passion, and make others laugh, while learning something along the way. What ultimately made me start a podcast comes down to a few things, like storytelling, comedy, and my weird interests in true crime, the paranormal, horror, and the macabre. I’ve always had a fascination with all things weird, from serial killers to ghosts, from cryptids to aliens. Podcasting gave me the ability to talk about these topics, in a no holds barred discussion!

The name of the show has always been a topic of discussion. I get asked this question a lot, “Where did you get the name Even the Podcast is Afraid?”. The name is actually a play-off of an old 1960s Mexican horror movie called, Even the Wind is Afraid. It’s about a girl who was sent to a boarding school during Spring Break and has no idea the school is haunted by a ghost seeking revenge. While we aren’t girls at a boarding school, the movie and our show have similarities. Especially when it comes to the cheesy horror scenes (like our comedic humor), and the investigation of the unknown, that plays out through the movie (like our episodes). Plus, I thought the name sounded catchy, something you wouldn’t forget.

As the hosts, you have great chemistry together, which is super important for a podcast. How’d you form the team?

Thank you! We hear that a lot about our chemistry. Away from the podcast we are all friends, we constantly have a message group going. There is not a day that goes by, that we don’t talk to each other.

Something not many people know about me and my co-hosts is we have never met in real life. We have conversated over the internet and phone for over a few years now. What is crazy, if we are able to possibly do a live show, at some point in the future, it would probably be the first time, we meet in person. So it could be a really special moment, not only for us, but for our live audience as well!

Ive actually known Nick the longest. When I use to stream horror games on Twitch (Nick currently still streams on Twitch), and we were both part of the same gaming group (introduced by a mutual friend). Nick and myself just hit it off, became friends, and started gaming together.

When I decided to quit streaming and move into podcasting, I actually had Nick on as the first guest on Talking Trash with Ordis (the original podcast before ETPIA). By episode five Nick started podcasting with me on the regular, for our episodes of Storytime (the original bases for what would become ETPIA). Nick stayed with me the whole way, and by episode 22 (when we officially changed to ETPIA) Nick became a regular co-host with me on every episode.

I actually didn’t know Samantha until I got into podcasting. Sam was running a horror YouTube gaming channel (with her best friend) called, Wicked Sisters. I found their channel and asked them both to come on Talking Trash with Ordis as guests. Sam was able to make it on the show as a guest, and not long after that, she became a co-host on Pasta Time (episodes of comedic readings, of Creepy Pasta stories) with myself & Nick.

Even the Podcast is Afraid (ETPIA) actually started out as a totally different show or really three shows in one. When I started podcasting back in September of 2019, the show was originally an interview podcast called Talking Trash with Ordis, with episodes of Storytime and Pasta Time in the same feed.

Over a short period of time, I noticed that horror & comedy was a trend that kept repeating in all of our episodes. Then the idea hit me like a hammer, this needs to be one show. Plus, it was confusing for everyone! 

On January 27, 2020, on Episode 22, Even the Podcast is Afraid was officially born along with Nick and Samantha as my co-hosts. The show underwent a complete overhaul, from the logo to the way each episode was produced & conducted. Starting our true journey together in the podcast world!

True crime stories are a big focus. What is the research process like and how do you decide what stories to discuss?

In the beginning, I was doing the research, writing, and picking the topics for each episode. Although I do still do this, from time to time, the majority of our writing and research is done by Stephanie Kemerer (as we call her, The Elbow Deep Researcher & Writer) since episode 54 (Part 1 of Serial Killers, Fred and Rose West Series)

Even though Steph is not a co-host of the show, she is an integral part of the group. Stephanie brings her writing skills to the show, and with her interests in history, true crime, and the occult it helps make our tales more accurate.

However, I do still play a big role in the scripting of the stories we tell, and the picking of topics for each episode (as does Nick, Sam, and Steph). I have a laundry list of topics to cover, several pages of cases, that we want to bring to the show. If I hear about an interesting case, it gets added to the list. The stranger the case, the better! We try to spread out topics, if we cover a serial killer case, then the next series will probably be paranormal, then a cult, etc.

When we choose topics, we really look for the ones that havent really been heard, like the serial killer Bela Kiss or the Carny Cult. If we do cover big cases, like we did with Dahmer and the Wests, we try to do them differently from everyone else (being careful not to rehash).

In short, we have stories planned out for months in advance. Stephanie researches and writes the episode (sometimes I will write one-off episodes like Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp), and then sends me her writing & notes. I then take her writing and turn it into a readable script for each episode, in order to tell the story in a narrative format. 

What three episodes would you recommend to a first-time listener and why?

We have created over 80 episodes so far, and I have fond love for many of the episodes. If you are a first-time listener, I suggest starting from the newest episode and working your way back. Since the old episodes of the show were a completely different podcast altogether. However, it is interesting to go back and listen to those episodes to see how we have grown as a show. Plus, you get to see how the show has evolved into what it is today. Below are three of my personal favorite episodes we’ve ever recorded for ETPIA. 

Episode 85 | The Haunting of Borley Rectory 

This might be our newest episode (at the time of writing this), but it has already become one of my favorites. It’s all about the most haunted house in England and includes the possible spirit of a nun, a skull found in a paper bag, the ghost of a headless man driving a carriage, and many rector jokes. During the recording of this episode, I spent a lot of time laughing, from the many rector jokes to the drinking game we created, and every time I use the opportunity to tell the joke about watching the movie JAWS backwards. The story sucked me in hard and made us question what was really going on at the rectory.

Episode 62 | Carl Tanzler: Mummified Love & Obsession 

Carl Tanzler was no doubt a mystery, a German-born radiologist, who would fall head over heels in love with his patient, Elena De Hoyos. After her death, Carl would live with her mummified body for several years, and you can pretty much guess the rest. It’s one of the most bizarre cases of necrophilia committed in the 20th century. What really had me baffled by Carl was the question, does love or better yet obsession, really conquer all? This case had me so baffled. How does one person go so far as to believe that a dead human loves him? I had so many questions about Carl and I still do. 

Episode 67 | The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp 

The Lizard Man of Lee County is a supposed reptilian creature that inhabits the swampland regions of Lee County, South Carolina. This monster is considered to be the real-life Creature from the Black Lagoon. Of course, I’ve always been fascinated with cryptids, they walk the same line with the paranormal. What I liked so much about this cryptid episode, is hilarious of this true story, from Lizard Man’s love of butter beans to the eccentric people who conducted the investigation to find him, and the stories that helped create this creature’s existence among the town. Think of it as a small-town monster hunt in Mayberry. Plus, with me being Southern, I felt right at home in this story.

While I’m not able to list them all, we hope everyone will find an episode or series to dive into. As we always tell our listeners, stay elbow deep! 

What can listeners look forward to in the next couple of months? Can you give a preview of what you have coming up? 

Oh yeah! I can give some tidbits into what is coming up soon on Even the Podcast is Afraid.

Our next episode will be on the Survival Research Laboratories (SRL), how a movement of music, machines, and meat created some of the things we use today, think Terminator meets roadkill.

We have a series coming up soon on the Dino Cult from Alabama, which is about Kevin Hovind and his Creation Science Evangelism (CSE). One of his many weird theories is that dinosaurs and humans coexisted and Tyrannosaurus rex was a vegetarian prior to the fall of man. It’s a really bizarre story!

Stephanie and myself are also working on several other episodes for the future, including: The Manson Family, Bonnie & Clyde, and MK Ultra. Plus, we are still continuing to push out new episodes of Side Crime (our side show, were we cover many weird stories in the current news, from the paranormal to true crime).

Our listeners who are part of our Patreon, are currently getting 4 episodes a month of our after show After the Podcast is Afraid. We are getting close to finishing up our big series on the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, by Alvin Schwartz. We recently started a new series within the after-show called Dark Secrets, where we cover the darker parts of our favorite movies, brands, and conspiracies. So far we have covered the Wizard of Oz film, Graham Cracker origins, and the 1976 The Omen movie curse.

We have a ton more content coming, and we are always working on something new. If any of our listeners have a suggestion on a topic we should cover, we would love to hear it! Reach out to us on social media or by using the contact box on our ordisstudios.com website.

Meet the team

Jared Ordis (Main Host) – is an Alabama native from the town of Slapout, where he resides with his wife & two sons. Jared is the founder & owner of Ordis Studios, a podcasting production company, a producer, and podcast host of Even the Podcast is Afraid and Southern Oddities. A true Southerner with a passion for the arts, storytelling, cooking, and podcasting. He has always had a fascination with the strange & the weird, pouring over history, true crime, and the paranormal since childhood. Jared is currently working on several unannounced podcast projects with his company, Ordis Studios.

Nick Porchetta (Co-Host) – Is our wise-cracking & witty humor of the show. He is an occasional streamer on Twitch & works as a sports journalist for a major network in Toronto, Canada. Nick is obsessed with hockey (mainly the Toronto Maple Leafs) and video games. What Nick brings to the show, other than his humor, is his fond interest in the creation and workings of cults, and his skepticism of the paranormal.

Samantha Vazquez (Co-Host) – is one half of the former YouTube gaming channel, Wicked Sisters. Sam is a huge animal lover and owns a pet sitting business in Tampa, Florida. Samantha also has a love for anything having to do with horror, folklore, and the paranormal. Whether it’s horror movies or games, she loves the stories that keep us up at night! Sam brings all of her knowledge of horror and the paranormal to the show, plus she actually laughs at our jokes!

Stephanie Kemmerer (Writer & Researcher) – is our elbow-deep researcher and writer, and although Steph is not a co-host of the show, she is an integral part of the group. Stephanie brings her writing skills to the show, and with her interests in history, true crime, and the occult. Plus, it helps make our tales more accurate!

Follow Even the Podcast is Afraid on Twitter and Instagram.

Sponsored Feature: Ordis Studios

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