Welcome to Night Vale Analysis

Welcome to Night Vale is a horror comedy podcast about a radio show in a weird small town “where every conspiracy theory is true” created in 2012 by Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cranor. Considered to be a cult classic by many, the show utilizes everything from its podcast format, minimalist storytelling, and contradictory imagery to subvert the audience's expectations and keep them engaged with the story and its characters.

Unlike movies or TV shows, Night Vale cannot rely on any visuals to tell its story, so the narrative is often limited to whatever the voice of Night Vale, Cecil Palmer, deems important enough to describe or mention. Since the audience only gets a sliver of the full picture, they are often left with more questions than answers. But rather than leave its audience completely in the dark, Night Vale reveals just enough information for the audience to come up with their own explanation, not so dissimilar to how conspiracy theories are made. For example, the premise for episode 63 “There is No Part 1: Part 2,” is that a disaster has devastated the town, but the audience is left unaware of what said disaster was, only hearing about its aftermath. While we get hints on what the initial disaster was, most of it is left up to the listener. This vague way of storytelling allows the listener to better engage with the story and feel like they are trying to solve the mystery of the town. This minimal approach to storytelling along with the listener creating their own explanation allows the audience to feel like they are contributing to the story, keeping them engaged and expectant for the story yet to come. (O'Neill 6)

Night Vale plays around with the weird small-town trope. Often, shows that have this trope will have the story told from the point of view of an outsider. The story usually follows a stranger in town as they try to unravel all of the mysteries and evils the town hides. The citizens of the town are very distrustful of the outsider and ostracize them, disconnecting the stranger, and, as a result, the audience from the town itself, But Night Vale flips this trope on its head as the audience instead gets the perspective of a citizen of the weird small town. We learn about the town from the radio show’s host, Cecil, a man who is used to and loves all of the town’s quirkiness, including its corrupt government, eccentric people, and Lovecraftian horrors. For example, episode 26 “The Faceless Old Woman”, is dedicated to said Faceless Old Woman That Secretly Lives in Your Home. While the idea of a supernatural entity living in your home would horrify most, Cecil treats this fact as a mild convenience at best. Cecil’s nonchalant attitude about Night Vale’s more upsetting aspects, not only calms the audience but also creates a pathway for the listener to connect and empathize with Night Vale as well. This connection with the town makes the audience want to be more engaged with the show as they learn more. Hearing the town and its people described by someone who understands and embraces its weirdness makes the audience more susceptible to its oddities and more willing to engage with the plot of the show.

 Night Vale also subverts the listeners’ expectations in every way that it can. In every episode of the show, there is a weather segment, and instead of a normal weather report like the listener is expecting, a song plays instead. The story never goes how the listener expects. For example, in episode 19A “The Sandstorm” someone tells the narrator that he believes the titular sandstorm was created by the government to suppress the town. Instead of trying to deny this crazy theory as the audience expects, Cecil, the narrator says “Of course the sandstorm was created by the government! The government makes no secret that they can control weather and earthquakes and monitor thoughts and activities. That's the stuff a big government is supposed to do. Obviously, you've never read the Constitution.” The show always has some new crazy disaster that is happening, so the audience can never get too used to the story. Even when the audience gets used to the story format,  they find a new way to change it up, like having an episode told in the second person or an episode where a broadcast of a radio show from the next town over, plays instead. Night Vale also makes "the mundane weird and the weird mundane.” In one episode, the show describes street cleaning day not as a normal day where the city is cleaned but rather a day when dozens of people lose their lives to the insidious street cleaners. The show uses the juxtaposition of normal things with horror to keep the audience guessing on what's going to happen next. When stories start following a certain format or story points, the audience often pushes the story to the background of their minds. By ensuring that the listener does not know what is coming next, Night Vale keeps the audience's attention for much longer. (Blogspot)

Welcome to Night Vale stands out among other stories with its ability to keep the audience engaged even a decade after its initial release. It uses its format’s limitations to its advantage, keeps the listener on their toes, and humanizes all the weird going on in the town to keep the audience’s attention piqued. Night Vale is a classic in the fiction podcast iconography that can never be fully replicated in its unique storytelling.

Sources:

Coffeefilteredthoughts. “Rhetorical Analysis: The Curious Case of Night Vale (and How We’re Supposed to Feel about It).” The Caffeine’s Kicking In, WordPress, 18 Sept. 2018, coffeefilteredthoughts.wordpress.com/2018/09/18/rhetorical-analysis-the-curious-case-of-night-vale-and-how-were-supposed-to-feel-about-it/.  

Barrios-O’Neill, Danielle, and Michael Collins. “AT HOME WITH THE WEIRD: DARK ECO-DISCOURSE IN TANIS AND WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE” University of Kent, 2018, kar.kent.ac.uk/66643/2/Barrios-ONeill-and-Collins.pdf.

Fink, Joseph, and Jeffery Cranor. “Welcome to Night Vale.” Spotify, Night Vale Presents, 2012, open.spotify.com/show/0s6Wc5qf8SIvCtKZNC6N7s?si=1935d997647d4b48

*originally written on October 29, 2023*

This was my first ever college essay! You can definitely tell, but it's nice to see where you started, right?