It’s far more interesting for us to bring up these characters that are in the background of the podcast, because these stories are entirely new even to longtime listeners.”Īs part of the plot, the book pits scientists Carlos and Nilanjana against a shadowy religious organization, the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, in a conflict where the entire town’s fate lays in the balance, and Carlos’ confidence is shaken to the core. With the first one, we were exploring in an unhurried way. Once we were done with the first book, the challenge was whether we could write a page-turning thriller that is set in the same world.

“It makes the work more interesting and the book gets better. “The first thing we want to do is challenge ourselves as writers,” says Fink. But writing a second, different novel brought up questions.Ĭould they write another novel that wasn’t centered by narrator Cecil Baldwin’s dulcet tones? Could they write a story that takes place from the point of view of characters who barely exist in the podcast? And could they write a story that’s able to make sense for stand-alone readers and still bring the podcast audience to rapture? The answer is, sure, why not?

Dispatched as community radio broadcasts from a town where all conspiracies are true, it quickly became a phenomenon. It later evolved into a live touring show that traverses the globe with shows like the most recent All Hail, and the quiet sadness of Ghost Stories. It started in 2014 as a podcast that soon blew up to thousands, not dozens, of listeners. The new novel, It Devours! follows up their debut novel Welcome to Night Vale it’s a thriller that Kirkus calls “a confident supernatural comedy from writers who can turn from laughter to tears on a dime.”Īdmittedly, Night Vale is a strange creation by anyone’s standards. Politics & Prose will not have books or tickets available for pick up prior to the evening of the event.Writing a second novel set in the weird world of Welcome to Night Vale was something of a litmus test for authors Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, reached by Kirkus separately by phone on the eve of their European tour.

Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor will be in conversation with Linda Holmes, host of NPR's entertainment and pop-culture blog, Monkey See and NPR podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour.Īll books and tickets will be available at will call at 6 p.m. Bringing out facets of the place and its characters the other formats can’t, this written episode revolves around the cryptic “King City,” an unexplained phrase that somehow holds the key both to Diana’s shape-shifting. With Welcome to Night Vale co-writers Joseph Fink, who created the series, and Jeffrey Cranor, a playwright who is also active in the New York dance scene, give their indelibly creepy town a book-length treatment. Carrying on the tradition of The Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks, Night Vale brought the American Gothic to podcasts in 2012 and became a #1 iTunes Comedy podcast.

Joseph fink books