Richard chats with John A. Hernandez
It’s not every day you get to invite your own husband on to your podcast, but with Halloween just around the corner there is only one horror and Halloween expert I would ask onto the show, and that’s John Hernandez.
John is a horror expert, writer, actor, comedian, and the executive producer of his new TV show “Stan the Mechanic”. He’s not yet 40 (next June he will be) but I bent the rules a little as the subjects of horror & Halloween are at least 100 years old. Here’s a sneak peek of what we talked about, for the full interview, click the podcast link below.
Richard Jones: John, welcome to the Queer Forty Podcast
John A. Hernandez: Thank you for having me Richard, I’m thrilled to be here.
RJ: It’s a new one having my husband on the show but I will treat you just like my other guests! How are you?
JH: I’m good and for you folks out there I am 39, I’m just under 40 so we are not bending the rules too much!
RJ: We are of course in Halloween season, or at least Fall running up to Halloween season. What does that mean to you?
JH: Fall has always been very special to me, you know that, we got engaged in the Fall, and you did that because you knew how much I loved it. But Fall to me is typically a time marker, it’s the end of the harvest season. I tend to reflect on what I have accomplished over the year and I like to take an inventory of what I want to do going forward. So it’s a just a winding down of sorts, just like the year is winding down really and that’s what I think of it as.
RJ: What are your favorite fall events?
JH: I love wine tasting, and I know you do too, and we do that through the year, but I especially love our Fall visits out to wine country in Long Island. In addition to that, there is, of course, apple picking, pumpkin picking, and Halloween haunts that I typically go to. I also love hanging with friends watching horror movies and all sorts of spooky activities, it’s my favorite time.
RJ: We are in an odd year, are you still able to celebrate the Fall? Are you doing things differently, what are you doing about that?
JH; Well everything is different, so unfortunately everything I just mentioned really I haven’t been able to do much of. We did get a pumpkin patch in but that’s because it was new and socially distant, and we were virtually the only two people in the pumpkin patch. Apple picking is out and haunts are out. I’m not upset about it, I wish I could do it but there are bigger things at stake right now, we will just do it extra next year!
RJ: I like the sound of that. How did you get into the feeling of Fall and Halloween?
JH: I guess it’s something I took for granted growing up. In New York, we have all four seasons here and we get to see the change of seasons so it’s all been a part of my memories. But in terms of exploring and leaf peeping, that came as I came into adulthood and I met different people, went to haunts, travelled upstate and left the city behind. New Yorkers tend to get trapped on the island and I was guilty of that for a while. So that’s where I discovered it, and it’s something I love, it’s just breathtaking. The colors of nature, and just getting out in the crisp fall air, collecting leaves, peeping the leaves, and you know all that assorted goodness!
Find John and his alter ego Stan The Mechanic at www.stanthemechanic.com, and socially on Instagram @stanthemechanic, Twitter @stanthemechanic & Facebook @stanthemechanictv
Listen to the full interview with John Hernandez on the Queer Forty Podcast below to find out how he created the Stan the Mechanic character, as well as more info on which came first… Halloween or horror!
You can also listen to the Queer Forty Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don’t forget to subscribe!
Some of the questions and answers have been edited from the Podcast .
