This Filipina horror podcaster was inspired by strange events as a child

An unexplained manananggal sighting as an eight-year-old triggered Motzie Dapul‘s interest in horror stories and the occult. A manananggal is a winged, fanged creature with a severed lower body—a very common mythical creature in Filipino stories.

“Nung eight-years-old ako, me manananggal sa labas ng bintana sa Batangas. Nakita ko ang anino, wala akong makita na paa sa anino.  Walang balcony, window lang sa second floor…half lang ng katawan, me pakpak pa.”

(When I was eight years old, I saw a manananggal’s shadow outside the window at our house in Batangas. I didn’t see its feet. There was no balcony, just a window on the second floor. I saw half a body, and it had wings.)

Dapul was scared, and wasn’t able to sleep afterwards, but the incident was just one of a few other ghost sightings. She developed an interest in the occult and turned that interest into a horror podcast called Hi Nay (Hi Mom) created during the pandemic.

Horror Podcast

Hi Nay is an audio-fiction podcast.

“I started it in the middle of the pandemic. I didn’t have a job and I was stuck at home. It was inspired by the Magnus Archives, one of the most well-known fiction podcasts in the world,” Dapul said.

The podcast was quickly noticed, garnering a chat with HuffPost, and interviews with other media.

Hi Nay is now a part of a team that inspired Dapul, the same team as Magnus Archives.

“We recently joined a network of podcasts. They put us on their ad revenue network as one of their shows. We now get certain payments: it’s not as much as you’d think, but it’s more than we ever had,” said Dapul.

While the podcast is mainly in English, the main character is Filipino. “She will sometimes speak in Tagalog. Sometimes other languages will be brought in as well. Her Tatay (dad) is Tagalog and her Nanay (mom) is Bisaya.”

Dapul’s stories take place mainly in Toronto, although her main character, through flashbacks, will talk about her Filipino upbringing and culture.

Dapul did a lot of research about ghost stories in Toronto, especially sightings in hospitals and schools.

Asked if Dapul had seen ghosts here in Canada, she said that “I have had scary experiences here, but it’s not supernatural.”

Canadian immigrant experience

Dapul was born in Manila, and grew up in Quezon City. She moved to Canada in September 2018 to study Advance TV and Film studies at Sheridan College.

She had already been working as an animator in the Philippines, working on shows such as “My Little Pony”.

Dapul lamented the state of the animation industry in the Philippines, where support and protection of contract workers isn’t quite at the same level as here in Canada.

“It’s that the hours were more, work was more, and the pay was less. In the case of the studio I worked at, we got the impression that not all the money was going to the artist.

“We didn’t have protection for contract workers. The contract loophole hurts a lot of people,” she said.

In Canada, Dapul said that animators have “more protection because of the unions. Everything is easier here because of that.”

Advice to Filipino artists

After seeing first-hand the job situation for artists here in Canada, Dapul has learned a few things and is eager to let Filipinos know about the industry.

“You have to know your industry. My family is business-minded, they instilled (in me) that I have to take care of myself. If you’re coming to Canada for work, take care of logistics first.

“The animation world is in flux right now. Canada is very good with support for artists. Get settled here, find the job that can get you a one-year work experience.”

A podcaster, an author, an artist and a writer

Dapul’s talents doesn’t end in creating podcasts. She has also self-published three comic-book anthologies, which she collaborated with other artists, a comic book that she made on her own, and a novel.

Digital copies of her books can be purchased online for $8 to $15, and print copies are available by pre-ordering on her website motziedapul.com.

“I focus on Filipino and LGBTQ+ content for representation of both. I want Filipinos to be proud of their stories. A lot of Filipinos are hungry about stories from our culture.

“We are more connected than ever, and there’s a lot of things to be happy about,” Dapul said.