By Noma Faingold

As hosts of their latest podcast series, “So Supernatural,” sisters Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro are finally getting to transition out of the darkness of the true-crime genre and into phenomenon, conspiracies, mysteries and the unexplained.

Weekly episodes of “So Supernatural,” which launched in September, was created by Ashley Flowers, the entrepreneur and best-selling author who is recognized as the top female podcaster in the United States for the show, “Crime Junkie,” among other podcasts. 

Flowers selects and introduces the topic for each “So Supernatural” episode. The top decision makers at Audiochuck (the company Flowers founded), handpicked Gentile and Pecoraro as hosts. The first season is expected to be 70 episodes, covering such niche subjects as, “Legend: The Yeti,” “Alien: The Phoenix Lights,” “Haunted: The Gary, Indiana Demon House” and “The Unknown: Phantom Dopplegängers.”

“We are not true-crime people, even though we have been true-crime podcasters,” Pecoraro said.

“That’s the big joke,” Gentile said. “How the heck did we get thrown into true crime, even though we do know how. But it was never who we were at our core.”

True crime and secrets run deep in their family history. Incest, rape, racial ambiguity, debauchery and murder were meticulously investigated and documented by their late mother, Fauna Hodel, who died of breast cancer just before the 2019 TNT limited series, “I Am the Night,” started filming. Loosely based on Fauna’s 2008 memoir, “One Day She’ll Darken,” 

it starred Chris Pine, who was also a producer, along with Patty Jenkins (director of “Wonder Woman,” and “Monster”). Jenkins also directed two of the six episodes.

The origins of the darkness began with Fauna’s notorious grandfather, George Hodel (1907-1999), an affluent physician in Los Angeles, who was a prime suspect in the unsolved grizzly Black Dahlia murder of Elizabeth Short. He was also accused of raping his daughter, Tamar Hodel, Fauna’s mother, although he was acquitted.

San Francisco resident Gentile, 57, and Pecoraro, 46, who lives outside of Portland, are best friends. It was that way growing up in Honolulu. The sisters had different fathers and are 11 years apart, but they were always close. And their bond with Fauna was unshakeable.  

“We lost our mother in 2017 on the brink of her lifelong dream getting ready to hit the world,” Gentile said. Fauna was willing to wait years for Jenkins to complete production on the blockbuster, “Wonder Woman,” which as released in 2017.

Fauna was aware “I Am the Night” had the green light. Yet she was in denial about her illness. “She never said goodbye,” Gentile said. “She wondered why we were sad. She thought she was going to live until age 99.”

The sisters did not get the chance to deal with their grief because a few weeks after Fauna passed, they were invited to join the production on location. 

“Our mother was the love of our lives. We went from her dying to being on set,” Gentile said. “That was the hardest thing to process. Our mother (who was executive producer) had worked her entire life for this moment and she wasn’t physically there to witness it. Even though I was incredibly happy that this was happening, she was not there.”

Gentile and Pecoraro’s time on set was extended for the whole shoot. Jenkins felt like family. “She loved our mother and it continued with us,” Gentile said. “Whenever we stepped on set, we exuded love, kindness, and gratitude.” 

“They fell in love with us,” Pecoraro said. “And we fell in love with them.”

Gentile, who had done some acting and modeling, and Pecoraro, who had voiceover experience and was a contestant on the reality show, “The Biggest Loser,” were inspired by the dedication of Pine and Jenkins. They marveled at Pine’s ability to make each take in a scene different. As for Jenkins, “She treats everyone from crew to extras to the stars the same,” Gentile said. “Usually, there’s a hierarchy on sets. Patti doesn’t have any of that.”

TNT approached the siblings about hosting a companion podcast, which became, “Root of Evil: The True Story of The Hodel Family and The Black Dahlia.” The 2019, eight-episode podcast drew a large audience in the true crime sphere, not only because the Black Dahlia case is a multi-dimensional drama, but because it was told by Hodel’s great-granddaughters, who focused on the generational impact this malevolent patriarch had on their family. 

Most compelling are passages from Fauna’s autobiographical audiotapes and airing new interviews with Hodel’s grandchildren and son, Steve Hodel, a former homicide detective with the Los Angeles County Police Department, who revealed great insight into the Black Dahlia saga. 

The podcast demonstrated that Fauna’s daughters inherited her storytelling talent. 

“She broke the cycle of generational trauma. We are her legacy,” Pecoraro said. “What’s great about being a podcaster is that you can tell all these stories. It’s a relationship with the listener It’s so important for people to know that they are not alone, no matter what they’re going through.” 

In 2022, the pair continued podcasting with a new true crime series, “Facing Evil.” Their approach in examining cases was not so much procedural, as it was following a healing path from the victim’s point of view. It ran for a year, airing more than 40 episodes, including the mysterious death of trans hero Marsha P. Johnson and the brutal 1980 murder of Dorothy Stratten by her estranged husband. The episode about model/actress Stratten focused on the power imbalance and manipulation that engulf so many starlets in the entertainment industry. 

They also interviewed Jenkins for an episode focused on her directing, 2003’s “Monster,” the raw film depicting serial killer Aileen Wuornos, earning Charlize Theron a Best Actress Academy Award.

Gentile has been married to San Francisco native Gino Gentile for 18 years. They live in an apartment in Lower Pacific Heights. He runs a longtime family business, Anthony’s Shoe Service, in the Financial District.

Pecoraro refers to herself as a part-time flight attendant and full-time podcaster. She’s married to her wife, Vanna Pecoraro and they have a 13-year-old daughter, Leilani. 

The sisters see each other at least once a month and record “So Supernatural” podcasts in their respective home studios. The pod is a high-profile operation. They have producers, researchers, writers and a social media team. 

“We do our own research,” Pecoraro said. “We can’t go in there blind.”

Flowers created a top-rated podcast in 2020 called, “Supernatural,” but halted production for three years after having a baby. The revamped pod, “So Supernatural,” already has a devoted fan base. Episodes that have already dropped include, “Haunted: Curse of the Crying Boy Paintings,” “Conspiracy: Salem Witch Trials” and “Dark Web: Polyblus.”

“We are proud of what we have done with true crime podcasts, but this show is really us,” Gentile said. “The great thing about it is you hear all these stories that are so far-fetched. But there are people who actually have experienced these things.” 

It would not surprise Pecoraro if “So Supernatural” continued for several years. 

“There are so many stories. We’ll stick with it,” she said. “We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”

The sisters hope to contribute story ideas eventually, such as mining Hawaiian folklore. They also want to produce their own podcast, host a television talk show, write a memoir and work their way back into the film industry. 

“It’s all storytelling,” Pecoraro said. “That’s the goal.”

Films that have inspired Pecoraro include Douglas Sirk’s 1959 melodrama, “Imitation of Life” and the first Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” 

“I’m also a Disney girl,” she said. 

Gentile’s favorite films include 1989’s “Field of Dreams” and “A Star Is Born” (the 1976 version starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson). “I’m a sucker for love stories,” she said. “I love films that make you feel all those emotions. The beautiful thing about filmmaking is that it’s magical.” 

Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro online:

yvetteandrasha.com 

Instagram:
@yvetteandrasha
@rashapecoraro
@sosupernaturalpod
@ywblend

Noma Faingold is a writer and photographer who lives in Noe Valley. A native San Franciscan who grew up in the Sunset District, Faingold is a frequent contributor to the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers, among others. She is obsessed with pop culture and the arts, especially film, theater and fashion.