Welcome to Night Vale: Our Society as a Hyperbole

If you follow me on twitter, you would’ve see far too many tweets about this podcast called Welcome to Night Vale. And if you bothered to think over it, you’d wonder why on Earth it’s special to me.
You might also wonder if the person behind the handle is actually me. It is. There is no other me. I think.

What Is This Podcast?

There’s no accurate explanation for this brilliant show. But here’s my best attempt at justifying it. Imagine a city in a desert, where things happen and citizens that pretend to not notice these things that do happen. It has a dog park that is not for dogs and that’s all I can say since a few hooded figures are watching me.

This is a city you haven’t even heard of but, after an episode, you’d want to know everything about it.

What is Night Vale? It is a setting made from scratch. A desert that isn’t quite one. A patched quilt, a quirky personality you’ll fall in love with and never get out of.
Never listen to it on Valentine’s Day though.

To get the full experience, catch the first episode. It’s on SoundCloud. Also, Podbay or iTunes.

The Faceless Old Woman that Secretly Lives In Your Home.
Voiced by Mara Wilson, this character is the perfect mix of creepy and heroic. I had no idea she was a part of the podcast despite my ardent interest in all her works(her blog is always interesting) and I literally squealed when she came on.

When Art Mirrors Life

Or also, how Night Vale hit the nail on the already bruised head of society.

This podcast reflects on the ignorance and shady behaviour of our political world in a comical light. The creators have shaped Night Vale into an exaggerated metaphor of our society- politicians that deny allegations, oblivious citizens that aren’t really oblivious, disregard for librarians (the stereotype has gone too far, world), and any other fault the social sphere has difficulty getting rid of.
Over this hyperbole, we find a layer of harsh truths. A thick, sticky layer that remains with you and forces you to ponder over it.

In terms of living, Cecil has the secrets to a successful one. Just with horrifying or hilarious examples(it depends on how you perceive it).

Sometimes you go through things that seem huge at the time, like a mysterious glowing cloud devouring your entire community. While they’re happening they feel like the only thing that matters, and you can hardly imagine that there’s a world out there that might have anything else going on. And then the Glow Cloud moves on. And you move on. And the event is behind you. And you may find that, as time passes, you remember it less and less—or not at all, in my case. And you are left with nothing but a powerful wonder at the fleeting nature of even the most important things in life, and the faint, but pretty, smell of vanilla.

Book Adaptation

There is more to be said, characters to be percieved properly, analysis of relationships and monuments and all those extra bits that you always wondered about. I cannot wait for this book that will be out in 2015.

Reading this post, what are your thoughts on Night Vale? If you’re a veteran to the podcast and love it, stay for cookies and gushing.
Any one listening to it for the first time after my convincing- you can hit me up in the comments or on twitter.