Welcome to Night Vale

Once upon a time, I had never heard of a town called Night Vale, but then I noticed some posts about it with the tumblr community when I was more active on that site. I discovered Welcome to Night Vale was a podcast--though I wasn't certain at the time what that meant.

When I finally gave Welcome to Night Vale a try, I listened to the first episode probably with the silliest expression of confusion on my face. What. Was. This? First of all, I thought the voice of Cecil (played by Cecil Baldwin) was very pleasant. Soothing, really, and actually pretty attractive. But what was he saying? Something about a dog park and hooded figures in the dog park. And when he said something about the weather, a song played. 

At the end of the episode, I didn't know what to think. So I played the next one.

And then the next one.

And then the next one.

Night Vale is a desert community where you can literally expect nothing and everything. For instance, logic is not your friend in Night Vale. A twisted imagination is, however. I could try and compile a list of things you'd find in Night Vale, but the list would be very long. If you're interested in a nightmare including angels (who do not exist by law), a handsome scientist with beautiful hair, a radio host with a lulling voice, a man in a tan jacket holding a deer skin briefcase that no one can remember, librarians who will literally try to kill you, a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home, a literal five headed dragon, and expert storytelling that weaves tales horrible, hilarious, and usually that make little sense (if you try to hold onto logic), Welcome to Night Vale is the perfect podcast for you.

When they announced that there would be a novel, I was pretty ecstatic. And today! Today, I finally finished reading it.

Welcome to Night Vale by the creators of the podcast, Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, follows two women; nineteen-year-old Jackie Fierro who works in a pawnshop and has been working there for what feels like centuries, and Diane Crayton who is a single mother trying to raise her shape-shifting, fifteen-year-old son named Josh. The man in the tan jacket appears in Jackie's pawnshop one day and gives her a paper that says "KING CITY", and the events that take place afterwards completely shake up her life. But no matter what she tries, she can't get rid of the paper. (It reappears in her hand every time).

Meanwhile Diane keeps seeing her son's father everywhere she turns. Josh is moody in a very adolescent way, and he's trying to sort himself out, but he wants to meet his father, who abandoned them both when Diane was just a teenager herself, in love with a man who wouldn't stay. Complications of a parent aside, Diane finds herself also searching for the meaning behind "KING CITY". It has something to do with her family, too, and it will take both the women working together to solve the mystery.

The book includes "The Voice of Night Vale", giving us brief snippets of Cecil's show throughout the story. 

I loved it. The descriptions were awesome. I could really visualize myself in Night Vale (which is rather dangerous, when I think about it, because you're subject to die a gruesome death in that town, especially if you're a Night Vale Community Radio intern). It was so weird! So amazing...

I'm a satisfied reader with this one. And I can't wait to listen to more of the podcast. They're going to be releasing the podcast episodes in book format, too, so you can bet I'll be spending money on those beautiful puppies. 

Thank you, creators of Welcome to Night Vale. You've given me something that means a lot to me.


**Book contains mild language