"A friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Night Vale."
If you haven't heard of the community of Night Vale, maybe it was meant to be that way. Maybe you aren't supposed to be thinking about what Night Vale is or where it is located. Maybe you know exactly where it is located but aren't allowed to think about it or let on that you know. Maybe that is exactly how it should be.
"Welcome to Night Vale" is bimonthly podcast written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. This podcast is a radio show hosted by Cecil Palmer that takes a look into the lives of the citizens of the great town of Night Vale. Each show consists on the latest news, traffic, gossip, warnings, "strange" goings on, and of course, the weather.
Cecil likes to keep the listeners updated on the important things that go on in Night Vale, such as the Glow Clouds antics, what is going on in the forbidden Dog Park and the hooded figures that live in it, what old woman Josie and her angel friends are doing, and of course, Carlos. Sweet, beautiful, radiant Carlos with his beautiful hair is a scientist that came to Night Vale to figure out what was going on in this town. What he has figured out so far is that there are massive earthquakes where the epicenter is directly in the center of Night Vale, however, there is not even a tremor felt by the citizens. He also noticed that time doesn't work in the lovely town of Night Vale and a few other various things that should be happening when they aren't.
Other things that happen in this great town is a new election of the town mayor. One person who is running to be elected mayor is Hiram McDaniels. He is literally a five-headed dragon. Therefore, there are more heads for you to trust. Vote McDaniels! The other person who is running for mayor is The Faceless Old Woman who secretly lives in your home. She is always there just out of your line of sight. She rearranges your things and changes where things are placed. She likes to think that she is doing a good thing by making sure you are always on your toes. She is constantly confused with how you arrange the things in your fridge, but all she really wants is your Wi-Fi password.
Night Vale is just a simple town in the middle of the desert with people who are not strange and with goings on that might confuse those who do not live it but are normal to those that do.
"Welcome to Night Vale" is an insanely clever show with an amazing narrator and really lovable characters. Listening to this podcast can bring you to a completely new world where things aren't what they seem. One of the best parts of "Welcome to Night Vale" is that you really don't know what the characters look like other than the very brief descriptions that are given. Because of the lack of detail, there are so many amazing fan art pieces that show what people think the characters look like and that versatile thinking is what really makes the characters become their own. Being able to use your own imagination to create what the characters look like makes Night Vale different for everyone listening to it. Listening to this podcast can bring you into a world that is insanely different but unique in it's own way. You can listen to it on iTunes or try it out here.
Also, if you want to get into the world of Night Vale without listening to it with a Podcast, Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink just wrote a book titled "Welcome to Night Vale." I encourage you to give Night Vale a try whether is it with the smooth voice of Cecil Palmer or with the voice that is in your head. Night Vale is a world that you want to emerge yourself in.
"Goodnight, Night Vale. Goodnight."
