Mostly Void, Partially Stars:
Welcome to Night Vale Episodes, Volume 1
By Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
~Book Review~
WHAT IS NIGHT VALE, you ask? It
is that quirky place at the intersection of the banal and the great unknown, waxing
poetic about the lamentations of the living while mowing the lawn. A sci fi
Monty Python, or Twilight Zone social commentary with humor. Dragons running
for mayor. A domineering Glow Cloud heading up the PTA. And the interns, bless
them; too many intern heads role. Such is life.
It’s great storytelling, and it’s
great writing. We get to know the residents of this small town in the middle of
a desert through the local radio broadcaster Cecil. We have Old Woman Josie,
who is dealing with angels who’ve taken up in her home for mysterious reasons;
the city council who forbids entrance to the Dog Park for mysterious reasons; outsider
scientist Carlos, who is desperate to make sense of the mysterious reasons but
in whom Cecil’s interests are not so mysterious—and even you, the reader, make
an appearance.
Originally a podcast, each
chapter is an episode with an introduction into the minds of the creators, and
each episode ends with a humorously wise quote commenting on the absurdity and
weirdness of life itself. One of my favorite episodes is about “the Dark
Planet,” which filled me will all sorts of delicious chills and curiosity.
If I had any critique, I feel the segments on traffic could have been a bit more humorous and engaging. But, maybe that is me wanting to project my own frustrations about getting stuck in traffic so frequently.
For writers everywhere, this is a
fantastic example of how to overcome writer’s block—introduce a bit of chaos. Turn
things on their head. Make it wacky and fun. There is a Faceless Old Woman who
Secretly lives in your home, a forest that does not want you to leave, and
there may not be answers for any of these things, but we can take comfort in
the very resilient human nature that insists on preserving through all of the
strangeness by embracing it all.
Recommended
for fans of: Monty Python, Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks
