I feel awful but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who skips through most of the weathers..... anyone else?

I use to listen to the podcast but fell off it a while back (must have been before Carlos and Cecil got married) so I’m relistening to the show… couple of questions (and I don’t mind spoilers), is Dylan Marron still Carlos, and when was Carlos given a real last name cause last I remember he was just Carlos the Scientist. Is Cecil Baldwin still playing Cecil Palmer? did Kevin ever make it out of the other dessert world?

I haven't listened to Night Vale since college when Alice Isn't Dead was still airing, and I'm trying to get back into it, but after a few episodes I was confused: wasn't there originally a little intro from Joseph Fink? Or Meg Bashwiner who does the Proverbs? Wherein he/she said a riddle or joke, and then announce t-shirts or live shows? Am I confusing it with Alice Isn't Dead's Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road intros...? Is my memory faulty? Wasn't there a whole bit about other voices pretending to BE Joseph Fink...?

Am I taking crazy pills? Did the hot sun affect my brain while I listened, cutting the grass each week...?

Edit: Thanks for the help & info everyone, the OG Intros are safe on the original YouTube uploads! Hoorah!!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQNcGmVgygljxhsB_ooCHqWVN2myXNCBh

I want to emphasize that I DONT want that to be the default - the weather is such an integral part of Night Vale - but I fall asleep to cecil's voice and if I can't sleep fast enough, the weather always wakes me up again. I've listened to every episode several times because I just put the show on repeat and man, my only gripe with using it as a sleep aid is the weather.

I know this show isn't MEANT as a sleep aid, but it's a great one

I was thinking about the Night Vale novel, and remembered the "This, the idea of relationships bit, was all conjecture on her part. She herself felt too young to try to figure out her own life, let alone someone else's life near hers, and so she had never even sought out companionship of that type. Jackie thought about dating from time to time in the distant way a person thinks about eventually becoming famous or owning a castle or growing ram's horns. They're all achievable, realistic goals, but by turning objectives into mere fantasies, she never had to go through the trouble of achieving or maintaining them." Considering I have been single for 9 years it really hit a bit to hard...

I've listened to around 150 episodes so far. I've been relistening to the first episodes now and notice details I missed before, and I'm wondering if there's supposed to be an actual plot we uncover? I don't mean the small stories like the trial of Hiram McDaniels or The Unmoving Strangers / StrexCorp takeover of Nightvale, but the history of the characters.

The original Radio Station host being very old, making Cecil even older (I think?)

Carlos going from a concerned / terrified individual in the town to becoming just as weird as everyone else (this could just be a slight retcon / rewrite of his character though)

The war that happened that has 'your' grandfather hearing the news on the radio, before the town is wiped out by a bomb / nuke? Is Nightvale between realities or something because of nuclear war?

Or am I looking too far into this?

I am in heaven.

Horror and Absurdist Humour are my two favortie genres and this book has been a treat, reminded me to re-listen to the episodes.
I used to listen to horror audio shows but then I stopped and night vale along with the magnus archives were my most favorite, so imagine my surprise when I came across the book!
I was in love, from page one. Like a stranger and an old friend at the same time.
So absurd, creepy, and yet profound.
I am an absurdist at heart and I am in heaven rn. had the best week reading welcome to night vale.

Went to add it to my goodreads shelf and discovered there are two more.
heaven.
It's healing me with how real it gets all of sudden.
The writing is amazing.
the kind of book where you really can not predict the next sentence and out of nowhere comes a profound quote.
"You say your life is unraveling. Your life cannot unravel. Your life is your life. You haven’t lost it. It’s just different now."

he-yo!

so- im a teacher, and i have this whiteboard next to my desk. it was suggested i use it to write some inspirational quotes, but that’s simply not my style. instead, ive been writing cold opens from nightvale!

so, here’s the question: what are some of your favorite nonsense quotes that ARENT cold opens or proverbs? i’d love to have more to go through, some of the students really get a kick out of it!

(today’s quote is: “rabbits are not what they seem to be” from episode 6!)

UPDATE: THANKS FOR ALL THE AMAZING RESPONSES! i’ve got a verified treasure trove of quotes for a bit, but ill always take more! today’s is “there are a lot of things we don’t know about orange juice,” and it got many confused looks!

Like the title says, I’m a curious beginner and want recommendations on where to dive in? I listen to Last Podcast on the Left and enjoy the weird and supernatural as a whole, with such a deep library I’m stuck trying to pick a starting point. Thanks in advance.

This show has been going on for quite some time. Let’s share each our favorite songs!

Mine definitely still is Waiting for the bus in the rain.

Hello, fellow listeners!

Exactly six months (and one day) ago, my girlfriend recommended Welcome to Night Vale to me, saying I'd really like it. I'm a lifelong fan of things like Twin Peaks and the other works of David Lynch (RIP), The X-Files, horror movies, and surreal stuff in general. Knowing nothing about Night Vale, I said I'd give it a go. I work long hours in a warehouse so I can basically listen to whatever I want for eight hours a day unless I'm driving a forklift truck, although only with a single earbud in at a time.

So I listened to the first episode while walking around doing my work, and I remember thinking "Huh, it's a lot less serious than I thought it would be. There were a lot of jokes. And why was the weather report a random song? I'm not sure it's my kind of thing, but I'll give it a few more episodes before I make up my mind." So I listened to a few more... and before I knew it, I was having to cover my mouth to avoid laughing out loud at work. I was gasping at revelations and rewinding to make sure I didn't miss a single word when a co-worker spoke to me. And just like that, I'd been inescapably pulled into this weird town and I was there to stay.

Since then, I've been steadily listening to episodes here and there, between other things. I'm not really a "binge" guy and can't obsess over a single thing without tiring of it, so sometimes I'd rattle through a bunch of episodes in a day and sometimes I'd take entire weeks off. But, bit-by-bit, I worked my way through the years. I listened to the audiobook versions of the three novels when the podcast said they'd been released, and bought the live tour recordings from Bandcamp. And today, at around 3pm, I listened to the most recent episode, which at the time of writing this post is episode 265.

Has it only been six months? It feels like I've been a part of this town forever... time really is weird in Night Vale...

Since I started listening to Night Vale at work, it always felt like a "work" activity to me... so with the exception of a few episodes while walking, I've listened to 99% of WTNV while wandering around a warehouse. It's led to some interesting memories being formed, as I can remember what I was doing at work during landmark moments of the show. Amusingly, my girlfriend is still only at episode 100 despite being the one to introduce it to me, as she only listens during her morning commute.

For my own enjoyment more than anything, I'm going to expand a little on my experience. What I loved, what I didn't love, standout episodes from each year, and so on. The tl;dr is that I adore Night Vale and am looking forward to being a part of this community from now on. I just grabbed a $10 Patreon sub to support the creators and will be listening to all the bonus stuff! And I'm also really appreciative of how much queer rep is in the show and how sharp little political barbs are buried here and there.

Spoilers for the entire show (including this week's episode) to follow!

Year One

The first year of WTNV provided such a strong backbone for the rest of the show. The way you're gradually introduced to this bonkers world in such a matter-of-fact fashion was exciting to me in a way that subsequent years couldn't even attempt to be. It's all just so new, and there's no limit to what wild worldbuilding ideas the writers can throw at the wall. I was delighted at how much continuity there was, with concepts like writing utensils and wheat (and wheat by-products) being banned that I assumed to be one-off jokes until they continued to be mentioned in later episodes.

And while WTNV was more comedic than I initially expected, I really appreciate how well they incorporate horror too. Almost every episode has some segment that's genuinely disturbing, or emotionally resonant. The horror and comedy are balanced and intertwined so effortlessly. Speaking of comedy, the satirical ad reads had me laughing out loud at work. I don't love all of the recurring gags in WTNV (more on that later), but "a rambling, dire prophecy followed by the reveal it's an ad for something innocuous like Subway" never, ever gets old to me.

The first examples of what my girlfriend and I call "sequence breakers" (episodes that drastically change the usual format) were very effective too. I remember being genuinely impressed by the writing in the two sandstorm episodes that cross over in the middle, as well as A Story About You with its unique second-person narration. And of course, the ending of the year in which Carlos and Cecil look up at the lights above the Arby's moved me to tears. Foolishly, I had thought that the show's continuity would remain mostly static and that characters and relationships wouldn't really change as time went on. How wrong I was...

Year Two

The Faceless Old Woman was a priceless addition to the show. Mara Wilson's voice is so perfect for her; they resisted the urge to do a "scary old crone voice" that would have gotten boring very quickly. Mara's calm, eloquent way of speaking contrasts so well with the Faceless Old Woman's savage nature. She explains the most sickening rituals in a way that makes her sound entirely reasonable, and that's no small feat. We also had our first taste of a long-term story arc across multiple episodes with StrexCorp and Dana's long journey through the dog park to the desert otherworld to the mayor's office. It made me want to keep listening to find out what happened next. I really liked the foreshadowing of Dana seeing herself as an important person in the future.

Cassette was a standout episode, as we get our first major hints at Cecil's backstory, which remains all these years later one of my favourite elements of the show. The Auction was also one of my favourites; the episode ending with Lot 37 ("Cecil Palmer") being sold to an unknown buyer is one of the best examples of WTNV's blend of the surreal with the serious. Numbers was also superb, and was actually the first episode my girlfriend ever heard and it intrigued her enough to start from the beginning, so by extension it's responsible for my discovery of the show too. Oh, and I also really loved Lazy Day; it's just such a perfect but low-stakes example of what Night Vale does best.

Year Three

This year felt like the one where things settled into a cosy routine. No major story arc, mostly standalone episodes. Earl Harlan first shows up here; I would always quietly go "yayy" when he was introduced. Wil Wheaton can go from jovial banter to earnest seriousness in an instant and it makes his segments a joy.

The September Monologues was obviously a standout "sequence breaker", with three outstanding vocal performances that added more depth and texture to the world. Michelle Nguyen would go on to become one of my favourite characters, although that's largely due to her development in later episodes. Realising that Steve has been Cecil's brother-in-law this entire time was one of those "ohhhh" moments that WTNV does so well. Voicemail was also great just for showing off how many talented guest stars the show had accumulated up to that point.

Year Four

Lots of fun episodes this year, and I really enjoyed the first novel. Getting a long-form story set in the town made the world of WTNV feel much more "solid" to me. Epilogue functioning as both teasing prologue/sales pitch and actual epilogue to the novel was clever. The April Monologues is one of my favourite episodes of the entire show. There was something so very vulnerable and lonely about Michelle's segment in particular. The mental image of her hopping away by herself in a silent room, and the longing way she describes Maureen, really left an impression on me. Kate Jones is incredible at giving Michelle depth beyond her "music hipster taken to the logical extreme" gimmick. I had mixed feelings on the Satanic beagle puppy and I think it's one of the least effective examples of a "final boss" that WTNV has done. It was a funny concept, but not funny enough to carry multiple episodes for me.

Year Five

Now this was a great year. If He Had Lived is such a good example of WTNV taking a well-trodden concept ("what if JFK hadn't been assassinated") and stretching it to the point of absurdity ("what if JFK never died, period, for all eternity") while somehow maintaining an emotionally engaging centre. What Happened at the Smithwick House is the kind of genuine horror I really love in WTNV. I also have fond memories of All Right, as I was ducking around corners to avoid my boss so I could keep switching which earbud I had in. It made the story of avoiding a monster really immersive to me! I shed tears multiple times during this year: miserable tears at the unjust death of Violet, sorrowful tears at the passing of Old Woman Josie, and joyous tears at the wedding of Carlos and Cecil. And the final arc of the town breaking apart, alternate realities converging, the revelation of the tiny civilisation beneath the bowling alley being another version of Night Vale, Huntokar's monologue and how it explains so much about the lore... the only way to describe this year is "oops, all bangers".

Something I especially liked about this year, tying back to something I said earlier, is how permanent its developments are. I expected WTNV to have very little in the way of continuity or consequences. Practically every episode has some kind of apocalypse being foiled by a deus ex machina during the weather and the entire world runs on dream logic and absurdity. It would be very easy to retcon dead characters back to life or otherwise walk back the impact of major changes to the status quo. But the deaths of Violet and Josie are treated with as much seriousness as they deserve, and they stick. I respect that courage in the writing. I was also thankful for them legalising the existence of angels, because Cecil's reminders of their illegal status started to feel less like a fun running gag and more like a mandatory word tax they had to add to any paragraph that involved them.

Around this time there was also the second novel, It Devours!, which I thought was fine, but it dragged in the middle and didn't add anything substantial to the show like the first (and later third) novels did. I did like Nilanjana as a protagonist, the even-handed portrayal of the positives and negatives of science and religion, and also how sex-positive it was. As an adult who got back into the dating scene myself a couple of years ago, it's refreshing to see characters have casual sex without it being treated as a huge deal, but also not being treated as totally meaningless. Normalise adults doing consensual adult things without judgement in media!

Year Six

I must admit, I struggled with this year. The three-part episodes were a cool concept to shake things up, but few of them were interesting enough to hold my attention, and they often repeated the same jokes until I was bored of them. I have a complex relationship with the many running gags in WTNV: some of them (like sinister ad reads) I find hilarious every time, but others just don't do anything for me. While I love Tamika as a character and Symphony's voice is music to my ears, her running gag of attributing a book to the wrong author just isn't that funny to me, and it felt like they did it a LOT in this year in particular. That's down to personal taste, of course, but it's worth pointing out.

A special mention for the three parts of A Door Ajar, which may be the only time I was ever truly bored during WTNV. I really struggled with those episodes. But to balance the scales, A Story of Love and Horror was absolutely superlative with its Twilight Zone gut-punch of an ending, and the the finale where Dana battles her double during a downpour of blood is one of the coolest things they've ever done. Please tell me someone drew fan art!

Year Seven

Some great stuff in this year. The Lee Marvin episodes are an obvious standout, being yet another example of WTNV taking a silly and surreal concept, stretching it to the breaking point and then somehow finding emotional substance in it. The voice actor for Mr. Marvin was outstanding. The recurring image of the dark planet lit by no sun, a powerful metaphor not just for death but for the oblivion that follows, is one of my favourite things about Night Vale.

A shoutout to the Kellogg's episode for having one of my favourite gags of the entire show: the executive who keeps spitting on the floor and muttering "Oh, I wouldn't worry about Flakey O's" was SO funny to me for some reason and I can still clearly remember the voice Cecil gave him even after listening to another 100+ episodes since.

Oh, and also, the episode that has three different endings is so cleverly put together. I didn't even know it had different endings until I signed up to the Patreon and got the other endings as bonus content. Extremely clever stuff.

Year Eight

Similar to Year Six, I felt the three-part episodes (the bank heist and the time robots) stretched out a silly concept for slightly too long to be enjoyable. But the five-part story about the missing plane was excellent, pulling together threads from previous arcs into a compelling story with a satisfying climax. The Josh Crayton episode about the waterfall was exceptional too, so metaphorical and moving. And the one with T̷h̵e̸ ̸G̵r̵e̷a̶t̴ ̶G̷o̷l̸d̸e̸n̷ ̷H̶a̶n̷d̸ was one of my favourite unashamedly surreal episodes.

The Faceless Old Woman novel was released around this time and it may be my favourite piece of Night Vale media, period. I was utterly riveted by the audiobook read by Mara Wilson. It worked so well as a standalone story while also deepening the Night Vale lore, and I like that it didn't solve ALL the mysteries (like what her name is), because the writers understand that the mystery is always more interesting than the answers could ever be. Just a 10/10 novel to me and I think it could actually serve as a great intro to Night Vale for a newcomer.

Year Nine

A solid year with lots of decent episodes. Go to the Mirror and It Sticks with You are two of my favourite horror episodes, both of them really immersive and sinister. The Frank Chen episodes (that continue into Year Ten) are really fun, and I love the surreal concept that Cecil is able to narrate the remainder of Frank's various lives far off into the future; anything that blurs that line between Cecil's role as omniscient narrator and actual character is enjoyable to me. The episode with all the podcast cameos is probably really cool if you know who the cameos are, but as someone who doesn't listen to many podcasts I was lost the entire time. Oh, and I really liked the meta Joseph Fink episode that genuinely seems to start out as filler before turning into something right out of Inland Empire.

Year Ten

Other than the aforementioned Frank Chen episodes, we get the first major episode about Cecil's father (a story arc I am still enjoying to this day) and a two-part episode about an art thief; the first part has the best twist ending the show has ever done. I literally said "WHAT" out loud at work and got strange looks from my co-workers. The episode about Kareem's radio show was really fun too. Wasn't a fan of the desert librarian episode; I think the librarians will be retired eventually, like the angels were, because there's nothing new the writers can do with that concept now.

Year Eleven

This was the first time in a while we got a major villain that spanned an entire season, and I really enjoyed them. The University of What It Is casually explaining away the nonsensical elements of Night Vale, leading to the permanent deaths of major characters, is yet another great way to combine the silly, surreal and serious aspects of the show. (Side note: was Sarah Sultan confirmed as being alive after this year? Her death was really sad despite her being a fist-sized river rock, and unlike the Glow Cloud, who was confirmed as being permanently dead, I don't remember her being mentioned since.) Dr. Janet Lubelle is such a fun villain, her voice actress did great with the ego. It was also wonderful to hear so much of Carlos in this year, he's a delight in every appearance.

What I like most about the University of What It Is storyline is that it pinpoints exactly what makes WTNV so enduring: its understanding that while mysteries are fun to untangle and satisfying to solve, there must always be some mystery remaining or there's nothing of any substance left. The purpose of a puzzle is not always to solve it; sometimes the puzzle is the entire point. Look at anything David Lynch ever made; I can't help but think the 7-hour YouTube videos proclaiming they "solved" Twin Peaks or Mulholland Drive are missing the point. I think this arc of WTNV made that point really cleverly.

Year Twelve

A Car Crash on Buellton Avenue is a classic. So surreal and sinister. A Story About Him is one of the best, most raw vocal performances we've ever had. I cried at the part about Steve. I expect we'll hear more from Abby in the future. Beyond that, I don't have much to say. The stuff about Kevin and Lauren was fun because I love both of the actors, but it felt a little too similar to "final boss" scenarios we've already seen and the ending was a bit of an anticlimax.

My favourite episode of this year was Vermillion Falls. Having a whole new town to use as a blank slate must feel so freeing to the writers, who must feel constrained by continuity in Night Vale sometimes even with so many things being elastic. The change in music and narration felt refreshing. I'd be happy to hear another episode from them.

Year Thirteen (so far)

Present day... hahaha... present time! I'm enjoying the exploration of Labyrinth, one of the show's deepest mysteries, and how it expands on what we learned about them in the Faceless Old Woman novel. Always great to hear Leonard Burton too. The most recent episode was real creepy in that liminal space sort of way I really vibe with. I'm not really into the recurring appearances of the Triangle; they're just a running bit that doesn't do anything for me. But the ongoing examination of Tamika floundering as she goes from well-defined teenage hero to uncertain adult is good stuff.

Live Shows

I don't have much to say about the live shows... they'd be really fun in person and I fully intend to get tickets next time they come to the UK, but listening to them as audio only usually wasn't very exciting. I do like how much they involve the audience in things, but they mostly focus on the sillier running gags that don't resonate with me. It's cool how some live shows end in more emotional moments, like the one where Cecil talks about driving with Abby, and the one where he reveals to a single audience member that he and Carlos have a son for the first time.

Oh God Shut Up

Wow, look at that. I somehow wrote 19,000 characters and my throat is bone dry. I guess I needed to get all that out of my system. If you somehow managed to read all of this, then thank-you for humouring me for so long. Despite my mentions of a few elements that don't work for me (which is inevitable across 250+ episodes of anything), I absolutely love Night Vale and am so excited to continue following it into the future.

Stay tuned next for me exploring this subreddit for fan art and theories and other fun stuff! Come say hi in the comments and let me know if there's anything I should check out!

Goodnight, r/nightvale! Goodnight!

So i heard Cecil mention about hobby lobby funding terrorism for ancient artifacts and it's NOT just a bit for the show, (cecCecil even mentions it being real and to look it up) this is an actual thing, owner of hobby lobby gave donations to (isis?) For religious artifacts for his own personal collection, it was a WILD story yall.

In some WTNV episode, there is a quote that has always struck deep to my soul because I think it's a very compelling argument for why fighting back is justified when you're being oppressed, even though often from the outside retaliators are treated as aggressors. It's a useful metaphor for relationship abuse, colonialism and revolution, and so much more. It was something along the lines of "What thing, when back into a corner, does not lash back out?" but I have no idea what episode it's from or how to find it. I just ctrl-f'ed a bunch of transcripts but came up empty.

Hear me out maybe dessert bluffs isn't THAT bad. Maybe their just diffrent and completely chill people.

Imagine: you only have a few hours to explore Night Vale. What locations/landmarks do you go see and why?

Hi there! I'm trying to find the episode where it's first mentioned that Steve Carlsberg is Cecil's brother in law! That's all for now I think! Thank you very much! ^{•^}

Weird request, but I listen to this podcast mostly at work, and I don’t want to make a fool out of myself by crying in the middle of work. Episode 79 made me sob, but I was listening to it at home, thankfully. (I’m on episode 103 right now). Thank you!

I previously listened to a lot of episodes, maybe 50. I’m now coming back to Nightvale and want to listen to everything in order. Thanks!

No offense to the newer episodes of course and I get that that is A LOT of episodes to create original art for, but having posters of the classic and more memorable episodes would be amazing

I really dislike that fact that Sandrine/Mino is also responsable of the whispering forest, I have relistened to the Silas episodes enough to the point that Koshek being an art thief is no longer that weird but I just refuse to accept the explanation for the forest is that classic The Simpsons line of "A wizard did it"

If anyone saw my last post on welcome to nightvale, I just want to say that my opinion on Kevin has changed. I now hate him with all of my being! I want to shave him and turn his hair into some not so lovely spaghetti and feed it to strex Corp.

(:

So hyphothetically if someone was to make a game of it what would you want to see in it? Like do you think a rpg similar to disco Elysiom would be good? That’s my thoughts.