> Welcome to Night Vale

The cover for Welcome to Night Vale

Welcome to Night Vale is a podcast! Let's start there: it is a podcast. It's also the work of fiction Closest to My Heart based on several sheets of esoteric criteria no one but me will ever be privy to.

WTNV was the first podcast I ever listened to. I didn't even know what podcasts were before I discovered it — this was in the break between the 7th and 8th grade, so I was 13. I wasn't looking for it or anything. A repost of one of their tweets showed up on my Instagram feed — I wish I could remember which one! — and I thought it was a real town at first, so I did a cursory search, found the first episode, and then proceeded to obsessively binge-listen to the whole thing that summer and autumn. I've adored the show ever since.

This is going to sound so cheesy, but I seriously can't explain the feeling I get listening to this show. It's been with me for so many years and I've listened to it (especially the first season) so many times that I feel it's an inextricable part of me. The most comforting thing in the world is listening to season one in bed at night...! I have so many great memories tied to it, and I always have a few episodes handy for when I'm out and about.

A two-panel lineart comic featuring a person with shoulder-length hair wearing a long sleeved shirt while lying in bed. They have their covers pulled up and are holding their phone to their chest, with earphones in. In the first panel, they're looking up listening to the voice of Cecil from Welcome to Night Vale saying '… and good night, night vale … good night.' In the second panel, they close their eyes and smile as they think, 'he's saying goodnight to me :-)'.
Art by @grasswaves on Tumblr!

Created by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
Genre Absurdist supernatural fiction
First episode Pilot, June 15, 2012.
Average runtime ~23 minutes

▶ Listen to Ep. 1: Pilot

Official synopsis


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.

Turn on your radio and hide.

Favourite episodes


Episode 1 Pilot
A new dog park opens in Night Vale. Carlos, a scientist, visits and discovers some interesting things. Seismic things. Plus, a helpful guide to surveillance helicopter-spotting.

Episode 2 Glow Cloud
A mysterious, glowing cloud makes its way across Night Vale. Plus, new Boy Scouts hierarchy, community events calendar, and a PTA bake sale for a great cause!

Episode 13 A Story About You.
You listen to a podcast. You check the episode description to see what is in store this time. It is a different kind of description than you are used to. You suspect the episode will be a different kind of episode than you are used to. You listen.

Episode 16 The Phone Call
Cecil receives a cryptic phone call from someone who is very close. Plus, a new business plan at the Daily Journal, an important list from the Sheriff's Secret Police, and improvements at the public library.

Episode 33 Cassette
Cecil finds an old cassette tape of himself at age 15, and he is surprised at what it contains. Plus, a new exhibit at the Museum of Forbidden Technologies, Children's Fun Fact Science Corner, and an important message from new station management.

Episode 53 The September Monologues
It is September, and something is different.