Hello, listeners! This page is dedicated to Station Archives-- a club hosted by my friend over at fairygore. Each week, the club listens to an episode of Welcome to Night Vale, and writes a review. I'll be posting my reviews here. The newest one will be displayed at the top!
08.11.25
I am glad to hear that Khoshekh is doing well, and I am even gladder to hear that Telly the barber is doing poorly. There's something very funny to me about the implications of Telly wandering the sand wastes after Cecil first talks about him, because it means that either 1) he puts so much stock into what Cecil says on air that one broadcast disparaging him was enough to turn him into a hollow shell of a man wandering the desert as penance for the transgressions literally only Cecil accuses him of, 2) the entire community was just as upset as Cecil about that haircut, actually, or 3) he just so happened to start wandering the wastes with locks of Carlos's hair, completely unrelated. And I really don't know which option I find funniest.
Also, it wasn't the focus of the episode, but I thought the bit at the very beginning, about the fugitive, was a good one. For a second, I thought it would be something bigger-picture-related, and I laughed when I realized it wasn't. Night Vale's Secret Police force is, as most things in Night Vale are, something that would be terrifying in real life, but in Night Vale, it's just kind of funny. I mean, they really are incompetent, aren't they?
The philosophy of the Pyramid itself didn't really grab me, but I thought everything surrounding it was fun, especially the assumption that it was brought into existence by a cereal company as a marketing scheme, and the idea that an angry mob would form outside the factory before knowing for sure, just in case.
08.06.25
Oh Carlos how I have missed you. I really can't wait for some of the later episodes featuring Carlos, especially his relationship to Cecil. They were my OGs, truly. I'm getting ahead of myself, though-- I'm just such a fan of Cecil. Yeah, there are mysterious and potentially dangerous lights and noises emanating from radon Canyon, but more importantly, does Carlos have any plans for dinner? Iconic.
This episode also sees the return of the Glow Cloud (all hail), Night Vale's high school football team, which is a plotline that has actually shown up way more times than I remembered, and Steve Carlsberg, who was not gone for very long, so maybe it's more a continuation than a return. I do find it interesting that Steve's second ever appearance has Cecil criticizing him for not doing enough for his child.
Also, while it would definitely be a horrifying government in any real-world scenario, City Council is kind of hilarious in the abstract. Yeah we have a lottery where a few citizens get disemboweled and fed to wolves. We outlawed writing utensils a while ago. Also we're really big Pink Floyd fans and are having a secret concert that you can't go to or even think about actually. With town funds, yeah.
With this entry I am officially back on track with Station Archives, as long as I write for Episode 9 this week. Hooray! I've been looking through transcripts on the WTNV site and getting so excited for what's to come. See you later this week for "PYRAMID"!
08.04.25
I love the way that Night Vale looks at the mundane. There are, of course, the ways that the show takes everyday things like the library and reimagines them as dangerous and unpredictable, while still tackling them with the same levelheadedness that the original might elicit. That's all wonderful, and it's a big part of what makes Night Vale what it is, in my opinion. The interspersing of normalcy, town rivalries and school board news and route closings, with the absurd and the provocative and the bloody, is what makes the show shine.
But that's not really what I'm talking about. I'm talking more about how it talks about the really, truly mundane. The framing of yesterday as the "very recent past" was wonderful to me. There's something very beautiful about understanding that everything we do, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, becomes a moment in the past. Even just our own personal histories.
Even something as simple as the passage of time becomes beautiful. By naming us, the listeners, as people experiencing time, rather than passively existing in it, I feel like we're placed a little more solidly. Existing can be hard, and I love the little moments when WTNV acknowledges what a feat it is to continue doing it. I also think that History Week was a perfect episode to place that sentiment in.
08.03.25
The word from this episode's sponsor really resonated with me, not gonna lie.
So I am like three weeks behind. I'm gonna spend the next few days playing a little bit of catch-up, and then I am going to do my best not to fall behind again!
I had mostly forgotten about this episode, but it was a nice one. I know it's not time to kill your double yet, but that section about being replaced by an identical copy of yourself really had me thinking about it. I love the trend of Night Vale building distinctly water-dependent projects while in the middle of the desert, with the Night Vale Harbor and Waterfront Recreation Area mentioned in the pilot, and now a drawbridge.
I was also happy to see (hear?) the return of hater Cecil in this episode. Fucking Steve Carlsberg, the man can't even take care of a tan Corolla. (In reality, I am quite fond of Steve, especially knowing the role that he plays later on. I have to wonder-- did Fink and Cranor know who they wanted him to be from the start, or did they come up with it later? Much to think about.)
I'll write my review for History Week tomorrow, and The Lights in Radon Canton on Tuesday or Wednesday. Promise! See you then!
07.13.25
God, I found this episode hilarious. I know that the general wisdom is that dissecting a joke too hard makes it lose its charm, but I hardly ever find that to be the case-- after a truly wonderful class I took last semester on writing comedy, I love examining what makes things funny. I had a great time listening and identifying why I was laughing.
Welcome to Night Vale thrives on absurdism. We know this, but it really shines in this episode. First off, I have to talk about The Shape Formerly In Grove Park That No One Acknowledges Or Speaks About. I have a special love for stupidly long names or titles that get repeated every time something is mentioned (which is probably why I also love mentions of The House That Doesn't Exist and John Peters, You Know, The Farmer). You can look to more examples of this in stories like Jugemu-- which is much longer and the entirety of the story is dedicated to the name-- but the principle is there. The repetition of something unwieldy and hyperspecific is funny. And then, of course, the twisting of our expectations when we realize that the reason the Shape is angry is because Cecil is acknowledging and speaking about it. Amazing.
Another bit that I loved for its subversion of expectations was about the Green Market. I know I'm not saying anything revolutionary here, but one of the main theories of humor is called Benign Violation Theory, and it basically says that something is funny when we perceive it as both a threat and harmless. Pretty much everything in Night Vale could be seen as a violation of what we believe about society at large, but this bit really spoke to me. I mean, of course we expect a Green Market to sell fruits and vegetables. That's what a Green Market is-- but the existence of a fictional market that doesn't sell anything at all isn't actually harmful to us. It's just funny, and the immediate doubling down on the concept had me laughing out loud. Quietly, alone and in the confines of my bedroom, but out loud, I assure you.
The "public Which of my Children I Like Best Board" bit as a violation of social norms and the "tarantula problem" bit as a violation of linguistic norms were also hilarious. Night Vale is a perfect locale for comedy, really, because aside from being fictional, in-textually it isn't bound to the outside world's norms, either. Anything could be "benign" in Night Vale.
Non-sequiturs, when used sparingly, can really pack a punch, and what I believe to be the first-ever Children's Fun Fact Science Corner was a great use.
Lists are another powerful comedic tool, and the list of changes to the Night Vale School District's curriculum also dug into another great tool: specificity. Often the more specific something gets, the funnier it gets, too. Have you heard about Pluto? That's messed up, right? (Psych (2006) reference for the uninitiated.)
Anyway, aside from the humor, Cecil is as poignant as ever, with as great a voice as ever. Uncertainty, and existence in the face of it-- I have nothing to say about it, nothing to be certain of regarding it, I guess, but I enjoyed it as a theme.
I promised myself I'd write something longer this week, and I'm glad I did, because this one was fun to write. See you all next week!
07.06.25
I'm keeping my review short this week, just because of a lack of time on my part, but rest assured, I'm as invested as ever!
This episode was sharp, in a way I had completely forgotten about. I really felt the satire, the way Night Vale's strangeness was being used to press at real-world issues. The bit about the City Council elections, about the Sheriff's Secret Police kidnapping and disappearing family members, felt different than I'm sure it did the first time, especially as someone currently living in the United States. Beyond that, though, the little jabs about insurance not accepting mental anguish as a claim, or the PTA discussing whether backpacks cause autism, they felt similarly different. I can't currently think of a better adjective than "sharp," but if I do, I'll keep you updated.
I'll be back next week with a bigger and better review, but in the meantime, I'll feel the need to relay some of Cecil's last words, words I really loved. "We are not history yet. We are happening now. How miraculous is that?"
06.29.25
Ah, the arrival of the interns! The absurd mortality rate of the Night Vale Community Radio interns is a part of the show I find so integral that it's kind of crazy to me that it takes three episodes for them to be mentioned.
Their introduction is part of what I find so fun about this episode-- it's a look into how the station is run, beyond the professional radio front that Cecil puts up. We learn that he isn't the only employee, and we learn a little bit about the eldritch horror that governs the place. Station Management is terrifying, and I think it's partly because there might be consequences for Cecil. As a character, Cecil is outspoken in a lot of regards, talking about things he shouldn't talk about, acknowledging angels and whatnot. Sure, he spreads most of the news that City Council wants him to, but he always finds a way to get his own opinion in there. Station Management threatens him for what he says on the air, and he's scared for the first time in the series thus far. It's compelling!
Cecil's opinions is another thing I loved in this episode. He says he's not a gossip, but he blasts a barber live on air for giving his crush a bad haircut. I love him. And speaking of Carlos, I was happy to hear another mention of him. One of the things I most appreciated about Night Vale when I first listened was how immediately the main character was established to be gay, and how well the narrative followed through.
This episode made me really excited to keep listening, and to keep reading everyone's thoughts on the show!
06.22.25
The first time I listened to Night Vale, I didn't pay much attention to the weather. A mistake on my part, because, as I've come to realize, the weather is part of what makes Night Vale so good. The music overall really lends itself to the atmosphere that the show aims to create. The way the show uses background music against Cecil's narration draws your focus to the right words and phrases, and makes silence, true silence, much more impactful. Basic sound design principles, sure, but implemented well.
Speaking of the words and phrases, this episode was beautiful in its writing. The list of things was just off-center enough, giving that segment a delightful feeling of being right in between peace and unease. Cecil's monologue near the end (if it can truly be called that-- the whole show is something of a monologue, is it not?) about the Glow Cloud was moving enough that I rewound and listened again. I needed it the first time I listened, and even now it was a comfort. Even in the midst of something confusing and scary, you can be assured that eventually it will pass, and later after that, it will become a distant memory.
Even smaller things, like Cecil discovering Khoshekh in the bathroom, were beautiful to me. I don't frequently take notes in the middle of reading or listening to things, but I had to pause and write down this one line-- "It becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is."
The introduction of Hiram McDaniels was something I didn't expect this early, but I touched on that in my previous review. This first year is an amazing setup to the rest of the show. All in all, I'm loving coming back and remembering just how iconic the season was, and still is.
06.06.25
The nostalgia of season one of Welcome to Night Vale is real. I truly believe that everyone deserves to have the experience of being thirteen years old, listening to this show for the first time, preferably on shitty earbuds. And if you're not thirteen anymore, now's as good a time as any.
I remember the December I started listening-- laying on an air mattress in my cousin's room, wallowing in my eighth-grade angst, and deciding to try out this interesting-sounding podcast I'd heard about on Tumblr. From the ever-iconic opening lines, I was hooked. I was transported to Night Vale, "a friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep." I fell in love with the way the supernatural is handled by the show. Even when something extraordinary happens, or something dangerous or upsetting, the news is delivered as though it isn't anything more than a minor inconvenience or disappointment. I got the impression that life in Night Vale is, despite everything, peaceful. That it was somehow a good place to live. It really stuck with me, as someone who has always disliked where I grew up.
One thing I appreciate about the pilot is how well it sets up the first year of the show. The first few years, really, if you know where to look. From Carlos's entry into town to the passing mention of Desert Bluffs, major concepts are immediately introduced so seamlessly that you hardly notice when they become more directly important. Even bigger-picture things, like the Angels and the house that doesn't exist. Looking back on things like that is part of the reason I love a relisten.
I mentioned that I began my journey with Night Vale one December. A day or so later, the worst year of my life would kick off with a bang, but I was shepherded through it by Cecil's voice and news of the goings-on in this community.