The Amelia Project - Introducing Hannahpocalypse

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

We'll be back from our mini hiatus in June, in the meantime we'd like to introduce you to Hannahpocalypse, a fourth wall breaking comedy/horror audio drama that follows the last zombie, Hannah; who’s ‘living’ her best life over 150 years after the zombie apocalypse has come and gone. All the while Cali, a scout for a thriving settlement, looks to make a mark on the world but is coming up bust. Destined to collide, zombie and human will be forced into an unlikely friendship amid a wasteland full of unfriendly robots left over from the ‘bad old days’. It’s a story of friendship, love, robots and a girl who eats people. Hannahpocalypse can be found at https://redfathom.com or anywhere you listen to podcasts. We recommend starting at the beginning with episode one to get all the context and world building before the story kicks into gear in episode five. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello dear Amelia listeners, just one week to go until we take to the stage, or rather the Thames, for our live recording aboard London's theatre ship on the 31st of May. The evening show is sold out, but there are still a few tickets left for the matinee, so to snatch up the last tickets go to theatreship.co.uk or ameliorpodcast.com. We'd love to see you there and do stick around for drinks in the ship's cosy bar afterwards and come and say hi. Anyway, we'll be coming out of our mini hiatus in June, but to tide over the wait, today we're introducing you to another show we think you might enjoy, made by our colleagues at Red Fathom Entertainment, an indie production company

that's really been making a splash in the world of audio drama, and for good reason. Their show Hanna-pocalypse is a heartwarming and queer zombie apocalypse hope punk comedy about Hanna, who's living her best life over 150 years after the zombie apocalypse has come and gone. If you're tired of all the grim and hopeless zombie shows, you'll find that this one does something quite unique with the genre. In fact, it sort of flits between genres, from comedy to thriller to romantic comedy, and what I especially love is the way that it breaks the fourth wall. It can be both tongue- cheek and touching, and ultimately

it's a hopeful and uplifting listen. I listened to season 1 on a recent car journey and loved the awkward characters, the dark humour and the obvious love and care that went into production. You can listen to Hanapocalypse on Spotify or wherever else you get your podcasts, but we'll play you the first episode right here, right now. Enjoy the show. The So I'm sorry. Uh, sometimes I get carried away. I guess it's probably safe to say that we both do. I fully recognize how obvious that might sound, as I tell you this while laying still as the grave on a bed of dead leaves, staring up at the sky through a pair of eyes that aren't technically mine anymore. Well, at least not only mine.

You should know I don't mean to say that in a bitter way or anything, because let's be honest, I've had a pretty long time to come to grips with my place in this world and, you know, this relationship she and I have to give this whole thing some distance. I mean, it's either that or experience a fresh new trauma each time she decides to rip into a free-range cat or a pigeon or anything that moves really.

Don't get me wrong, that part is still super gross. Every time. I'm rambling again, avoiding the subject even. I guess that's what happens when you've been alone as long as I have, and to be fair, you are the first person I've actually been able to speak to in... well, however long it's been since I turned. Which I suppose is exactly what I've been thinking about today. Reflecting on, really. So congratulations, listener. You have made a real impact on me. Well, you and the poorly timed and delicate

memory we just relive together. Try as I might to avoid thinking about it, I'm starting to realize a lot more time has passed than I originally thought. Since I became a zombie, I mean. It's not exactly easy to keep track of the years when you're like this, nor is it probably the most healthy idea. There aren't any walls up here in my head to, you know, put ticks on like prisoners do in old cartoons. But we do have pretty distinct seasons here in this town.

Wherever here is, exactly. I've been going back through them and trying to add them all up, and... I'm not really enjoying what those numbers are tallying to, but... unless I'm mistaken, it's been at least over a hundred years. Maybe even a hundred and fifty. How do you even process that? Well, for one, I can tell you that immortality is both easier and at the same time, way harder than people philosophized.

Which is definitely a word. Because I've decided we're going with it. Anyway, imagine a world where literally everything is out of your control. And I don't just mean having the sense or feeling that everything is out of control, but where it actually is. From deciding if you're going to stand up, or go for a run, to blinking, or singing a song. None of it is you.

Wait. Oh. Oh! How could I be so stupid? This is the perfect analogy. It's kind of like being you in this story, isn't it, listener? Which means you get me! Kinda. What I mean is that you don't get any kind of say in how my story goes, what zombie me does, or even what happens next.

That's it! My brand of immortality is essentially like listening to podcasts forever! Except you can't mix it up. It's the same show. The uh the Hanna show. All day every day. So now that that's sorted, let's get back to my current predicament. If you're at all wondering why we're just laying here, I am afraid I don't have an answer for you. It's both kind of refreshing and at the same time admittedly disturbing.

She's never really done this before. I mean, there we were running for our lives through the forest at a breakneck speed, and then the next thing I know, she just fell down. We've been here for hours now, completely still. I'd say we watched the Sun go down together, but I'm not actually sure she's here with me at all anymore. Or if she's coming back. Now that I said that out loud, that sounds really sad. What if this is it? What if this is the end of the line for us?

She just got to outlive her enemies, those dastardly crows, after they got shot out of the sky by robots and that was like... the last thing on her post-apocalyptic bucket list! One big, strange note to end this whole un-life on, right? I expected to be run over by zombie hunters or blown up by robots. If I had a bingo card for how I thought we'd go out, laying on the ground like letting trees grow through us would not have been on it. Ugh, that didn't sound good. Listener, I really hate to ask, but could you maybe go check that out for me?

I'll be right here, waiting. Probably. I'm sorry. Ugh! Ugh! Cough, cough, cough! Maybe I... maybe I should spin her down. Silent calling, but... I'll be at a signal range soon if what's both hover coils before rolling my spinner a couple times.

If it was a null mine, that probably puts me outside of a kill zone. Even though there wasn't supposed to actually be one that extended this far according to maps, which means either Nav wasn't working This is something new like an expansion Either way, it's it's not safe to stay here Huh Fuck Speak of the devil sounds like they're a little way out still but I need to take inventory of what supplies I have and fast Let's see.

Yes, just over two weeks of assorted rations and survival gear crammed into a rucksack. A pistol. Nice. Two rolls of bubble gum in my fateful case of comics. One might say that it's the comics that got me into this, but between you and me, I'm going to blame the mixotas. No sense in ruining everything I like in one day. Okay, okay, sounds like it's time to move.

Oh, here we go. Oh Please could you just oh Hey listener, don't mind us. We're just... Whoa! Wait, slow down! I'm not following. There's a crash vehicle, okay, and a girl... A girl?! An actual person? An actual living person?

Hannah, you have got to get up! Oh my God, what is it going to take? This is killing me all over again! Calmness Hannah Calmness this might take a minute Ever try negotiating with a zombie. What am I even saying? Of course you haven't as previously established I called it steering but really it's more like coaxing

strongly kind of applying pressure to her over and over and over again to do something that she wanted to do until she thinks it's her own idea or becomes base instinct. Which makes this the part where I admit that I've never actually been able to get her to do the neat tricks I was talking about a few episodes back without like, hours and hours of repeating myself and working her up to doing a thing. So this is uncharted territory for nagging her into action, but I have to try. Oh, out, breathing. So, for the record, running, not all is cracked out to be.

It only now occurs to me that maybe I should have spent more time on compulsory cardio exercises, which I still believe stupidly, as the words reasoned. Who needs to run trauma you can ride? Or who needs cardio when you got muscles?

Well, I'm winded. And these guns are picking up any slack. So, whoa, whoa. Almost got me. So much for that. Come on, body, please.

Give me this kill zone, and I promise we'll start treating you better, or worse. Is that what you want? Whatever you want, really? Okay, I'm officially playing here. You give me the strength to keep these fucking legs moving, and you get whatever you want.

Oh great, a nagging cardio advocate in the sky. Go! Okay, no, we're going, we're going, we're going. Oh. Oh, come on, Hannah, get up! Get up! Get up! Whoa! Okay?

We're awake now! And you're... you're listening to me. It worked. It actually worked! Okay, all right, don't panic. As a great man once said, the time for hesitation is through. I don't remember who that great man rightly was at the moment, but I think he was a musician.

I'm pretty sure he was a musician. No, Hannah, concentrate. And move, concentrate and move. You can do this. Oh, that's right, you're doing it. Okay, now steer. Oh, girl, you are gonna hate this, but you have to trust me.

We're going towards that awful noise, past where it happened. Because if we've got nothing left, then we either better find something to live for or go out with a bang. And there is someone out there right now that needs us. Someone alive. Actually still alive. All we have to do is keep moving forward! Wait... For the clearing, that's... that's gotta be her.

And she's... Whoa... She's beautiful. I mean, maybe it's just that I haven't seen a human in... I... A hundred years or so, but... She's athletic, and she's... She's strong. And pretty, and she's...

She's not gonna make it! One of the big ones is right behind her, and she's... She's not turning around. Because she knows the big ones is right behind her and she's not turning around because she knows it's closer than she wants it to be. And to look, well, that would be giving up, right? But she's a fighter like Mel was. We have to do something. Okay. Okay, okay, this thing is not playing around at all. Shit, incoming!

Damn, that did it. Oh, fucking world, my ankle. And this sadistic bucket with legs is just watching me squirm like a fucking pig. That did it. Oh, fucking world, my ankle. And this sadistic bucket with legs is just watching me squirm. Like, really? Come on! Do it then! Can this whole sad fucking affair over with already? Fuck. Get your fucking ass out of here! Oh fuck.

Zombie. Oh shit. Holy shit, that's a zombie. An actual zombie. I've gotta get out of here. I don't know how it took that hunk to jump down in, you know what? I'm not gonna stick around to ask about it. Slow and steady. Crone.

I'm of here. Holy shit though, that was intense! It just peeled back that robot's armor plating like it was the lid of a tuna can! We were just reaching in and pulling out handfuls of wiring. Never seen anything like it. And... Oh. You're standing up, aren't you?

Oh, oh, oh, hey, zombie girl, look at you. Just staring at me with a whole blasted three after you dealt with that robot like it ain't no thing. Hope you're not hungry. No, no, no, just stay, stay. Bed. Zombie. Man, you don't want a Cali burger. So overrated. Oh great. Good. I'm just gonna keep on, keep it on, and you're gonna let me slowly hobble on out of here. Deal. So I guess her name is Callie, or maybe she's just from Callie.

Oh, color me intrigued either way. Oh, I wanna know more. And oh my God, she's just as rambly as I am. Oh, which makes this even worse, right? Because obviously this is where the story ends. Might as well go on and roll credits. My happy little heart's swelling, and in turn my mouth is salivating at the prospect of this Kelly burger. You know, imagining zombie meat's disgusting eating habits as real meals

doesn't actually help. Or at least it certainly doesn't make it any more appetizing. Let's just go and take a moment to weigh the inevitable outcome of a situation that might be best described as out of the pot and into the frying pan, shall we? Basically, we're looking at a 100% chance of trauma, tragedy, and heartbreak ahead. Either it's gonna be me eating the love at first sight woman of my dreams while I internally sob at the horror of it all, or she shoots me with a pistol she's fumbling with all the subtlety of a dude trying to unclasp his first bra strap. Like come on, it's not that hard, really, I promise.

Kind of depressing, and to a rescue mission that honestly I'm kinda surprised we embarked on in the first place Not exactly what I had in mind granted, but I guess here we are. Oh Well, might as well get it over with bon appetit Wait what's going on? Are we? Whoa, we're stopped We're listening. Oh my listener, we're listening! To her!

She said stop, so we stopped! Maybe Zombie Me needs this as much as I do. Do we even hope? It's really happening! Oh, two miracles in one day, we're not gonna eat the girl! Oh, this is gonna be so good! Motherfucker! No, no, no! He's so good! Motherfucker!

Ow! Ow! No! No! No! Get off me! No! No! No! No! No! No! Get off me! Sorry! Kick him! Kick him! I'm out of bottom! That was quite a ride, wasn't it, listener? Worlds collide to leave us with a rather uncertain future, especially with where that leaves our story. Is it curtains for Cali? Or can some semblance of human and zombie coexistence be salvaged from this explosive situation? I suppose we'll find out next episode.

And with that, you've been listening to the remastered fifth episode of Fan Apocalypse. We've been sharing this episode with some friends of the show, so whether this is your first episode of fan apocalypse or you're a returning listener, we want you to know that we're happy you're here. We also hope you keep listening and if you want to support us make new episodes while revisiting these older ones, consider stopping by www.redfathom.com to find ways to pitch a couple of bucks our way and help this work get done. Now for the canned outro. Hey!

An Apocalypse is written and produced by Red Fathom Entertainment and is a proud member of the Fable and Falling Network. This episode was brought to you by the talents of our wonderful casting crew, all of which can be found in the show notes as well as our official webpage. Just type redfathom.com slash hanapocalypse into your browser. We love it if you stop by and fix us up with a follow on socials! Oh, the music featured in our outro and throughout the series has been provided by Velvet Moon and Arglebargle Studios. You can find us in the Wasteland that is Twitter Twitter as at hannapochtical, Instagram as

redfathom, and the new frontier that is blue sky as at redfathom. Plus, if you like what you hear so far and would like to support the show as well as other future productions like it, you can find us on Patreon at patreon.com slash redfathom. So Patreon is a service that allows you to pitch us a couple bucks on a monthly basis in exchange for some extra materials and content. This includes ad-free early releases, behind the scenes info on all Red Fathom projects, and even a semi-monthly lore show where we deep dive into some world building stuff. Every dollar goes to paying our talent and improving the show.

Maybe some comics too. Helping us bring stories like this one out of post-apocalyptic and straight into your earholes. Oh, enough of that. Until next time, listener. The Fable and Falling Network, where fiction producers flourish. Come on, tell me more about your monster world. Right. October is one of the written worlds. Places that exist because we need them to tell stories.

It might be the oldest. Because it serves one of the deepest needs. It is a world that's made of monsters. Here we go. Gargoyles, working construction and gremlins in the machinery, trolls and the Linworm and were-creatures in the forest, gilfolks in the rivers and kaiju beyond the mountains, the moonkin and the puka, and I know at least one skeleton by name. I'm gonna stop you before the Jabberwock and the Jep-Jep bird. I get the picture.

It'd sure be something if that were a place where we could actually go, wouldn't it, Caro? Yeah, it sure would be. Waiting for October, a queer supernatural audio drama from Monkey Man Productions. Find us in all your podcast apps. The story starts this Halloween.