Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Devin and Stef from the podcast The Podcast From the Crypt. This true crime/paranormal/cryptic and everything in between duo provides an apologetically fun and serious take on the genres creating their own style to stand out from the rest. Providing passionate journalism to provide us with tons of information, their work shows for itself and they know how to deliver! If you like podcasts such as Last Podcast on the Left and And That’s Why We Drink, make sure to check this one out!
Anthony:
Devin and Stef, thank you so much for taking the time for this interview. It’s been a crazy year, hasn’t it? How’ve you two been holding up during this dumpster fire?
Devin:
Thank you for reaching out to us! YES, I am totally over 2020 and already over 2021. We have been lucky in terms of where we live in New Hampshire. Everything was only shut down for a few months, plus neither of us lost our jobs. Well, I did for about a month, but I feel for the rest of the country. So many people are still in lockdown or jobless. But, I guess it was the perfect time to launch a podcast, we definitely got some good out of it all.
Stef:
Like Devin said, thank you so much for reaching out to us! Last year definitely was a trip for sure. We both were fortunate enough to not be too impacted like Devin said. I specifically have been working from home, and definitely look forward to going back. Always wanted to work from home, but as they say, be careful what you wish for. We didn’t plan to start a podcast during a pandemic, but I’m sure glad we did. It’s been an overall good experience and has kept us sane.
Anthony:
For starters, can you tell us a little about yourselves? Where you’re from? How do you know each other?
Devin:
I’m Devin, I am the storyteller of our podcast. We’re both from New Hampshire, even though we did spend some time living in Florida together. We met in a garden when we were 14. I’ll let Stef take it away from here…
Stef:
I’m Stef, I’m more of the listener and editor of the podcast. I’m also a crazy cat lady and would save all animals if I could. I have some knowledge of each episode but sometimes don’t know anything. As Devin stated, we met when we were just awkward teens in a garden and have grown up to be awkward adults, but dropped the garden. A mutual friend introduced us back then. We all hung out, planted some flowers, and I and Devin just clicked. There’s more to it, but that’s the summed-up version. We’ve been inseparable ever since.
Anthony:
You two host a true crime/paranormal podcast. Can you tell our readers what the show is about and ultimately what got you into podcasting?
Devin:
We’re just two women who can’t get enough true crime. But we cover a wide variety of things. True crime, paranormal, horror, weird, and we throw in some comedy and absurdity. We couldn’t stand to be completely serious especially with such dark topics, we love to make our listeners laugh. Honestly, I started a job in a pharmacy years ago and it was the first job I had that I could listen to headphones. Most of the people that worked there listened to podcasts and recommended My Favorite Murder and Last Podcast On The Left to me; I fell in love! As I started broadening my horizons, I listened to Serial and after I finished that huge series, I knew that podcasting would be something I wanted to do. I texted Stef and then we began our journey in figuring it all out. Plus, everyone has always told me I had a radio voice.
Stef:
Devin pretty much summed it up! We aren’t super serious ladies and we try to keep it light-hearted but also respectful. We love our dad jokes and dark humor, so it’s nice to know that our listeners do too. We both have loved true crime and the paranormal for most of our lives. Devin had suggested those podcasts to me but I actually didn’t start listening ’til I started working at the same pharmacy she had worked at years earlier. I had no clue what a podcast was up until that point but now that’s all I listen to. We both had talked about creating our own podcast for a little bit before starting one. We just didn’t know where to begin. Then as Devin stated, she texted me about it and we finally got the ball rolling on it.
Anthony:
Now, you’re a fairly new podcast, correct? You’ve got about 50 episodes out and started nearly a year ago, right? So, how’s it been navigating your way through a seemingly endless ocean of true crime and paranormal podcasts? How do you try to stand out from the rest?
Devin:
Yes, we just celebrated our one-year anniversary at the end of February. It’s tough, it seems these days everyone has a podcast. On my end, I strive to do the deep dives. I want our listeners to have a place where they can listen to our 5 part series about Jeffrey Dahmer and get all the information there is, all in one place. Plus, we love interacting with our listeners. We always respond to emails and messages; we want a community. We love our Crypt Keeper family.
Stef:
It definitely can be a struggle with so many other podcasts out there that cover some of the same topics but I feel like as Devin said, she gives as many facts and info that might not have been brought up before. We try and keep it interesting for our listeners. We also just are ourselves; me and Devin don’t try to be anything but us and I think that helps us stand out a bit. We are awkward and weird and people seem to like that. We are lucky to have the fans and listeners we have.
Anthony:
Who and what are some of your inspirations for your podcast? I can imagine And That’s Why We Drink and Last Podcast On the Left are a couple of big influences for you.
Devin:
The Last Podcast On The Left is huge. Master Marcus Parks kills it with his research. I aspire to be at his level someday. I also personally love Morbid: A True Crime Podcast. Alaina is also master level with her research, plus relatable on a personal level.
Stef:
Oh for sure, Last Podcast On The Left is a very big influence for us. I also get influence from the podcast True Crime Obsessed. They are definitely on the more humorous side of true crime but for me, I like that. It can be a lot hearing about murder all the time so when I can kinda just laugh a bit, it helps.
Anthony:
How long does it take for you two to pick a topic, research it, record, and publish? Can you take us through your process?
Devin:
I’m a beast, so it takes me one week per episode for research, but the series like Luka Magnotta, 6 episodes - which meant I researched him for 6 weeks. I usually spend about 5 hours a week researching per episode. That’s at least 30 hours for Luka Magnotta; crazy when I really think about it. We pick a topic using what we call “the murder wheel.” We add suggestions from listeners and just other things we put on. We spin that sucka and whatever it lands on is what we do. We sometimes do polls on Instagram also and let our listeners choose between two subjects. Recording takes one long night and Stef is insane and usually has it edited and available to our Patrons the night we record.
Stef:
Devin does pretty much all the research. On the few and rare occasions I do have my own episode or she needs me to look stuff up it takes me about 3 days to do it. I’m the queen of procrastination but I also have a good memory so if I know about a case I don’t need to do as much research because I remember most of it. I’ll just try and pull a Devin and get the facts no one knows. As Devin said too, I’m wild and edit anywhere between 2 to 3 episodes the night we record them and have them up right after. It helps that at this point we can record an episode with relatively no issues so it makes editing a little faster for me.
Anthony:
And since you cover paranormal stuff, have either of you experienced anything firsthand that you’d like to share with us?
Devin:
Oh man, yes many things. But I think we’d like to share an experience that we shared together. Stef, wanna tell the story about Nick on the way to Florida and the “I’ll be watching you” song?
Stef:
With all the paranormal stuff we’ve experienced, we’d need another article, but I’ll explain the one that still sticks with me and Devin. The story of Nick is about a ghost or guardian of some sort that attached itself to Devin when we were about 18 or so. We were playing with a Ouija board and this spirit came through. For whatever reason, it liked Devin enough to follow her through most of her early 20s. Basically, when bad stuff was gonna happen, he would warn her through the radio. He would stop her iPod, completely change a song, or change a song but start it at a specific part in said song then the song that played prior would resume. It was very strange and definitely something you’d have to experience to believe. Now, when me and Devin moved to Florida for the second time around, we ran into a lot of issues. Just pure bad luck and one mishap after the next. Our car broke down in Washington, DC and we ended up in a fleabag motel, just feeling defeated when I said to Devin as a joke “Where was Nick to warn us about all this sh*t?” Well, he must have heard me because our TV started to malfunction and changed to a music channel. The song that was playing was The Police “Every Breath You Take” and the one line that played was “I’ll be watching you.” As soon as we heard that, the TV malfunctioned again back to the original channel. Now we tried to hit back on the remote to get that channel again, but could never find it. It was extremely bizarre and creepy but also nice to know he was still there.
Anthony:
What are some of your favorite topics you’ve covered so far? Do you have any in the future that you’re excited to cover? I was going through your episode list, and I can’t wait to get to episode 49! Hardly anyone has covered Pup Tank! When I’m done with your Luka Magnotta series, I saw a Black-Eyed Children episode I can’t wait to get to as well!
Devin:
The Silicone Balls Cult was so interesting to research. I just saw someone post a picture of them on a Facebook true crime group and I was hooked. Luka Magnotta was most definitely one of my favorites; his story, it’s just literally unbelievable. Jeffrey Dahmer is right behind him, I think he is the most interesting serial killer there is. We’re also doing a series on our Patreon right now about the disappearance and murder of Laci Peterson. That case is another crazy one; it keeps you interested in the research, and that’s what I love.
Stef:
I second that The Silicone Balls Cult was a wild one. Still traumatized from the images of them. I loved covering The Smiley Face Killers the most, and feel like that was like a turning point for us. I’m looking forward to so many more cases we haven’t covered but also look forward to covering past lives at some point. I love true crime but also love my paranormal and unexplained topics too. Also, I look forward to covering more international crimes.
Anthony:
Here’s one of my favorite questions to ask that everyone seems to love. What kind of hardware and software do you two use to record and produce your show?
Devin:
We aren’t too fancy; we’re a small unknown podcast. We got our mics from Amazon and we use Audacity to record and edit. We use Buzzsprout to distribute our podcast on all platforms.
Anthony:
With your obvious interest in true crime and paranormal, have you gone to any true crime museums or haunted tours? Or have you visited any famous locations, or plan to at some point?
Devin:
Oh yeah, plenty! But my favorite that we went to together was Lizzie Borden’s home, where they turned into a bed and breakfast. We definitely had some paranormal experiences there, remember Stef?
Stef:
Yeah, the Lizzie Borden home was definitely an experience. We slept in the room Lizzie’s mother was murdered in. If you ever are in Fall River, MA, go visit there. They do tours or you can spend the night. I would love to visit more haunted places and museums though. I wanna visit the death museum so bad, so maybe once things start to settle down, we’ll be able to do some traveling.
Devin:
All night at The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, I felt like someone was watching us. I felt someone pull the blankets off of us at one point and also, I saw someone on the ground in the middle of the night where they found Lizzie’s mother’s body. It was freaky. I can’t wait until we can do some creepy traveling together; that’s one of our goals and then to share the experiences with our listeners.
Anthony:
As mentioned earlier, you’re just over 50 episodes in. Do you have any advice for any of our readers that may want to get into podcasting?
Devin:
The biggest advice I can give is to spend the extra money on good mics, spend the extra time advertising and connecting with other podcasts. Also, have a month’s worth of pre-recorded episodes before you release your first episode. Our beginning episode’s sound quality is terrible and we record week to week with no backup episodes still, which was hard when we had to miss a week for personal reasons.
Stef:
I also would say make sure you have a true passion for it. It’s not easy and it is a lot of work, but just keep going and remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. We have had many days where we questioned if this was all worth it, but at the end of the day, we love what we do and that’s key.
Devin:
Exactly, also true crime can weigh on you - HEAVY.
Anthony:
Is there anything else that you two are passionate about? Do you collect any records, CDs, cassettes? Favorite horror movies or books?
Devin:
Horror movie buff right here. That was a gateway into the macabre world. I started watching really young. I have two older brothers. I also love reading, horror books, and true crime books. Plus, I still love listening to podcasts. True crime has taken over my life though but me and my husband still always make time for horror movies.
Stef:
I’m also a horror movie buff. I love all the classics, but also the corky and not-so-well-known ones. I also just love history, whether it is world history or American history, I just love it all. I’m full of useless and random facts.
Anthony:
And lastly, where can our readers find your show? Personally, I found it through Podcast Addict.
Devin:
It’s easiest to access us on our website thepodcastfromthecrypt.buzzsprout.com and the website has a huge list of where you can listen to us. From there, you can click where you want to listen and it will open us upright on your phone. We’re also super active on Instagram. @thepodcastfromthecrypt
Anthony:
Devin and Stef, thank you so much again for doing this with us. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about that we may have missed or not covered?
Devin:
Thanks so much for taking the time to get to know us, this was really fun!
Stef:
Thanks again for reaching out and thank you for the opportunity to do this!
Dig this? Check out the full archives of A.M. Radio, by Anthony Montalbano, here: https://vwmusicrocks.com/a-m-radio-archives/
