Welcome To Night Vale: Why Podcasts Were Invented.
Trumpets playing soft jazz from out of the dark desert distance. They come tomorrow. It is too late for us.
Welcome to Night Vale.
It’s morning, and your announcer Cecil Palmer is reading you the news from the local radio station. He would like to remind us that writing utensils are still forbidden, to keep an eye out for Hiram MacDaniels, the five-headed dragon wanted for insurance fraud (and also running for Mayor), and that Carlos is still perfect.
Welcome To Night Vale is a podcast (est. June 2012), presented as a radio show for the fictional town of Night Vale. Released bi-monthly, it contains news, announcements and advertisements from the small desert town, located somewhere in the Southwestern United States. Every episode’s “weather” section features new music from independent musicians, and some episodes have featured guests such as Jackson Publick and Mara Wilson.
Described as “NPR meets The Twilight Zone”, and “the news from Lake Wobegon as seen through the eyes of Stephen King”, every conspiracy theory you’ve ever heard of and every fictional supernatural occurrence is just a part of casual daily life in Night Vale. And to be blunt – it’s BRILLIANT.
Valentine’s Day results in an annual massacre, leaving the streets covered with dead bodies and glitter. Last Wednesday was canceled, due to a scheduling conflict. Those rabid dogs terrorizing the town? They were just plastic bags…really. The Glow Cloud is now a member of the School Board.
ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD.
Am I making any sense?
No?
Good. Because I shouldn’t be.
You have to listen to the podcast to understand. To appreciate. To assimilate.
And you will.
Just please don’t get weird about it. One note I must include, is that this fandom is REALLY EFFING CREEPY. Seeing as WTNV is a radio show, there are no faces to the voices. There is no set description of any of the characters, save for a few minor clues here and there. Tumblr users actually created Cecil in the (digital) flesh, along with every other character, and there’s so. damn. much. fan art and fan fiction and cosplay and… just look for yourself. I warned you. The creativity is impressive and expansive, but be prepared for a lot of arguing over things like whether Cecil has a third eye or not, what his race is, and things like that. Bless their hearts.
The first few episodes aren’t stellar, but they’re still necessary as they introduce the characters and settings, and the show quickly finds it’s groove only to get better and better. Although, I was hooked by Episode 2, to be honest. It’s not every day a floating cat appears in the bathroom.
Random points of interest:
- Night Vale Radio’s twitter account.
- By the first anniversary of the series, in June 2013, episodes had been downloaded approx 150,000 times. Following the first anniversary episode, the downloads increased to 150,000 in one week.
- Wil Wheaton is totally into it.
I know I sound rambly, but it’s honestly very hard to describe something like this. It’s spooky, and weird, and funny, and basically my favourite thing right now. I’m currently going through the entire episode list for the second time, and it’s just as great.
Welcome To Night Vale is one of the most creative endeavors to come out in a long time, and they gladly have no foreseeable plans to end it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 🙂
Goodnight, Listeners. And remember…Stay out of the Dog Park.
