I’ve seen a lot of confusion regarding “just wtf is welcome to night vale??“ all over the place, and so I’m here to clear up the confusion.
From Commonplace Books’ official website:
WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events.
Each episode is roughly 20-30 minutes long. The podcast features a wide variety of characters (human and otherwise) and is narrated by Cecil Baldwin, the “voice of Night Vale.” Cecil is the name of the voice actor and the character as well, and many fans have different interpretations of what he looks like, though very little is actually known about the character’s physical appearance.
Other characters of note are Carlos (a scientist from out of town with dark skin, a “caramel" voice, and perfect, perfect hair whom Cecil instantly falls in love with), the City Council (who rule the town like a police state and often speak in unison), the hooded figures (who reside in the dog park and must never, ever be approached), and the angels (who must never be acknowledged as they do not exist and only tell lies).
There are currently 27 episodes, with new episodes released on the 1st and 15th of each month. You can listen to them by subscribing to the podcast on iTunes, or here if you don’t have iTunes. Subscription is free. You can also find transcripts for each episodes here.
And that’s it! Welcome to Night Vale! Enjoy your stay.
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