It’s relatively rare for a podcast to last 14 years, especially if it’s fiction. In fact, as far as I can tell, Welcome to Night Valley It is the longest continuously running fiction podcast. (Some will say it actually is We are alivebut that took some breaks between seasons.) The story of Night Vale, the titular desert city, now spans 12 seasons, and over 280 episodes, Three booksAnd at least 10 independent live shows. Although devoting several hundred hours of your life to listening to each episode may seem overwhelming, I think you’ll love it once you dive in.
The series is written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, who draw heavily on the works of HP Lovecraft. Each season has its own arc, but overall, the show tells the story of a city that exists in an alternate version of Earth. In this city, angels are real, but acknowledging their existence is illegal; Librarians are dangerous creatures with “thousands of spiny legs” and “pincers”; There is an unidentified old woman secretly living in your house.
These are clearly troubling concepts when taken seriously. But rather than trying to scare the listener, Cranor and Fink lean into the natural absurdity of cosmic horror and refuse to take themselves too seriously. They also routinely subvert bigotry for their inspiration, using Lovecraftian creativity to tell stories rich with LGBTQ+ characters.
Of course, having well-written scripts and telling a compelling story is only part of the equation. What raises Welcome to Night Valley The real greatness is the cast, especially narrator Cecil Baldwin, who plays Central Radio host Cecil Palmer. Cecil’s voice has the gravitas of telling sinister stories about secret government agencies and ancient gods. But he has the ability to provide light banter with a self-aware vamp (whose name is Deb, in case you were wondering).
Cecil Baldwin has the charisma that makes reading a toaster repair manual compelling. It can be scary, funny or soothing, often all in the same episode. (For this reason I do not recommend listening to it Night Valley At night. I’ve fallen asleep to the gentle sounds of Baldwin’s voice several times, only for the more disturbing parts of the show to make their way into my dreams.)
Each episode also features a musical interlude under the guise of “weather”. The show features mostly lesser-known artists, but alumni include Jason Isbell, The Mountain Goats, Waxahachie, Angel Olsen, Open Mike Eagle and Sylvan Esau.
Welcome to Night Valley It’s also a great way to introduce young listeners to horror. I would never suggest my eight year old read an HP Lovecraft book. This is partly because the man’s unrepentant racism is woven into the fabric of his stories, but also because the violence is often too much for the children. Night ValleyOn the other hand, it takes those atrocities and exposes them for what they are: entertainment. I can turn on the podcast, connect with my child over their growing love of all things scary and weird, and trust that they will come away with a good message.
Welcome to Night Valley Available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcast, Pocket Broadcast, YouTubeand Spotify.