Alaina Urquhart is an American podcaster, writer and producer. She is best known for her podcast , which she co-hosts with her niece, Ash Kelley. Urquhart released her debut novel, The Butcher and the Wren, in fall 2022. She has degrees in criminal justice, psychology and biology.[1]
Ten years apart and raised as sisters, Urquhart and Kelley contemplated starting a podcast in 2015 and began production of Morbid in 2018. They used the podcast as a means of bonding and getting closer, being able to share stories and spend time together.[2] Urquhart began working as an autopsy technician in 2016, where she started participating in research for a local pathologist. Her career in pathology provides in depth knowledge on the process in the morgues and decomposition in discussing cases.[3]
The podcast is an anthology series that tells stories on true crime, ghosts, hauntings, and anything scary. They cover notorious killers, such as Jeffrey Dahmer, the BTK Killer, and Ted Bundy, but they also cover smaller and less reported cases. Urquhart in particular likes to cover cases from the 19th and 20th century: old unsolved cases that they can analyze and debate.[4]
In 2022, Urquhart and Kelley released The Rewatcher: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which they recap and discuss the supernatural television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Urquhart is a huge fan of the show and has been obsessed with it since her adolescence, while Kelley has never watched it.[5] The pair release a weekly show that recaps every episode and Kelley guesses what will happen next.[6]
In 2023, Urquhart and Kelley released Frozen Head,[7] which tells the story of the death of a 90-year old Laurence Pilgeram and how it is linked to Mike Darwin's peculiar quest to cheat death via cryonics.[8] Darwin became one of the leading founders of the cryonics movement in the U. S. and was the president of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a company that freezes human heads until they can defrost them and attach them to younger and healthier bodies. Frozen Head discusses the case of Darwin and Alcor, while also explaining the absurdity of people wanting to live forever by freezing their brains.
Alaina Urquhart released her debut thriller novel,The Butcher and the Wren, in September 2022. Set in New Orleans, the book follows Dr. Wren Muller, a forensic pathologist who is being terrorized by a serial killer called the Bayou Butcher, known for hunting down and dismembering his victims.
Uruqhart provides a unique perspective on the thriller genre as she has experience in a morgue, working with experienced pathologists and dead bodies. She is able to realistically describe decomposition, anatomy and the procedural process of autopsy. Her experience researching the motivations, backgrounds and criminal behaviour of killers allows her to have the knowledge to create her serial killer in her novel.
In 2022, The Butcher and the Wren was picked up to be set for a small screen adaption. It will be produced by Sister. Jennifer Yale will serve as show runner, and it will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella.
Urquhart lives in Boston with her husband, John White, and her three daughters. She gave birth to twin daughters in 2016, and another daughter in 2019.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–present | Morbid: A True Crime Podcast | Producer, Co-Host | Hosted with Ash Kelley | ||
| 2022–present | The ReWatcher: Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Producer, Co-Host | Hosted with Ash Kelley | ||
| 2023 | Frozen Head | Producer, Co-Host | Hosted with Ash Kelley |