GoodRead - Welcome To Night Vale

If you know this blog for a while (or on Twitter), I am a huge fan of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. So when it was announced last year that the creators of the podcast, Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, were going to write a novel set in this weird little town, I was really excited. But I was a little uncertain over if Night Vale would translate well into novel form...

Night Vale is a small town where every conspiracy is true, and people just have to live their lives. Pawnshop owner, Jackie, is nineteen and has been nineteen for a while. But one day, a Man in a Tan Jacket walks in and gives her a piece of paper. A piece of paper that she can't remove from her hand. The only clue she has to who or what this piece of paper is or who this Man in a Tan Jacket is what's written on the piece of paper - KING CITY.

Diana Clayton is worried about her teenage son, Josh. He's moody and distant. And a shapeshifter, but Diana's more worried about the distance between her son and her. And now, wherever she goes, she sees Josh's father. Looking the same as he did the day he left. And with Josh beginning to take an interest in who his father is, Diana can see disaster coming... and she can't stop it.

These two women's lives will intertwined and it looks like the answers both these women need might be at this mysterious KING CITY... if they can leave Night Vale, that is...

Now... this is a tough one. As a fan of the podcast, I feel that the story did work. Night Vale is just as well as it is on the show - maybe even more so. And, unlike the podcast, the book takes us away from the radio show and we go into town.

The story with Diana and her son, Josh, was something I enjoyed. The relationship between them and they trying to reconnect will strike chords with parents of teenagers everywhere.

However, I do have some issues with this. While it was Welcome to Night Vale, it wasn't at the same time. Some of the things that work on a 30 minute podcast didn't translate well in book form. It felt oddly flat at times.

Another problem that this book had was that, if you are not a fan of the podcast and you picked this up, you might find this book very surreal. If you are not aware of it, you might find this a bit too much.

Am very mixed on this. I think this is a nice add on to the world of Night Vale and fans will really enjoy it. However, I'm not entirely convinced that people who aren't aware of the podcast will find this book enjoyable.

The Librarian and Dead Game - Mini Reviews

Never written one of these. No, that's a lie. I think I have, but I can't remember when. Oh well... I am writing this on my day off and with Bagheera asleep on my jumper (he's been playing for the past few hours!). And I am going to blitz these two in one go. So... hang on to your hats...

The Librarian is a live recording from Welcome to Night Vale, where the team went touring with this through the US and in Europe last year (I couldn't go to the London events - COME BACK TO THE UK, NIGHT VALE!!!) so if you are huge Night Vale fans, you might have listened to this. I only listened to this today!

A terrible thing has happened to Night Vale - a librarian has escaped!

I don't know what else to say, apart from that. This is for the fans really. Newcomers to Night Vale wouldn't get the humour and might get confused over why the show is trying to make the scary normal. This is very much for the fans (which I am). And I really like it!

Which is good as an actual book is coming out at the end of the year and I CAN NOT WAIT FOR IT!!!

There's not much I could say... So, moving onto something that Michelle from Tales of Yesterday got me involved in this month, which is the Point Horror Book Club. Now, I was never a Point Horror fan while growing up. I don't like horror in general, but when Michelle asked if I wanted to read this month's read, The Dead Game, I thought why not? Sounds like fun...

Linnie, Jackson and Ming find themselves surrounded by fakers in their school. So, they decide to play a game - The Dead Game, in which they pull a name out of the hat and then they have to "kill" the target (aka publicly humiliation). But things get out of hand quickly. One target had to go to hospital and the other... the other died. 

Is the game playing itself? Or is someone playing the game, completing the list no matter the consequence? 

Ok, here is the thing. This was a quick fast read, but it's very much a product of the time. It fits the 90s and I bet that if I read this in my teens, I would have been on the edge of my seat. But, reading it now, I knew where the story was going and I just felt myself sighing over it. 

And the ending. Ok, the ending bothered me. A lot. It came out of nowhere and there was no clues to this ending. It felt like a cheap plot twist. 

I might take part in another Point Horror BookClub read soon... maybe... Next month's pick of Teacher's Pet by Richie Tankersley Cusick and I have always been intrigued by that cover... 

Night Vale: Condos Blog-A-Long

Hi there! I really wanted to do a tweet-a-long for quite some time. The last time I did it was in 2012, I think, and that was for an episode of Ambridge Extra (if you want to read that post, please click here). I was considering doing a tweet-a-long to the pilot episode of Star-Crossed, but decided against it as I haven't watched the show yet. Nothing jumped out at me, till I treated myself to this very special episode of Welcome to Night Vale, a podcast I love!

So, if you want to join in, either click here for iTunes or here for Night Vale Wiki and there will be links to find it elsewhere online. And, after listening to it, you want to subscribe to the podcast, please click here! Or here! That would be cool of you.

Now, enough talk! Let's click play!

0:08 - "At last, we are alone!" Oh Cecil, you sweettalker you. Many fans wish you would say that to them and them alone. 
0:50- "Condos for sell!"
1:30- "One local realtor, speaking under the condition of anonymity, and from within the belly of a grazing deer..." Insert bad job here...
2:21 - "...the deer got spook and ran away." *snorts with laughter*
3:00 - "Everyone is there." And I'm back in secondary school, being THAT kid again. 
3:35 - "Leann Hart, Publishing Editor of the Night Vale Daily Journal, who was holding a bloodied hatchet, in case she came across any bloggers or online journalists who might threaten her grip on the printed word." Ok, maybe it's a good thing I didn't join the line, after all...
3:44 - "Carlos the Scientist" [Insert fangirl screams here]
4:13 - "Carlos is totally my boyfriend!"

And with this, the fandom dies of happiness!

6:20 - "Is that a condo? Is that a condo?"

6:37 - No way! 

7:23 - The Great Question: Will a spine buy you a condo? (Maybe this will help with next month's rent... Awaits answer)

7:53 - Ooooh! That's a Scientist! Knowing that might mean I can understand Brian Cox more...

8:23 - CARLOS!!!

8:50 - Who has a fear of spiders now? *sees whole fandom's hands shoot up* 

8:57 - "I'm very into science." Aren't we all, Cecil?

9:10 - "Every time you're on..."

10:13 - "I love... no, no, no, you go."

YOU CAN'T ALMOST SAY I LOVE YOU! YOU CAN'T, GOD DAMN IT!

10:40 - "Let's talk about your health." ARE YOU KIDDING ME, CECIL?! 

12:05 - And now I want to rush online and check out if I'm healthy. Thanks, Cecil. Thanks a bunch.

12:10 - "The Condos are here!" *hides under the sofa with the throat spiders* 

14:45 - Is it safe to come out yet?

15:04 - The Faceless Old Woman Who Lives In Your Home has turned up! And she moved Cecil's coffee.... She and I could NEVER be friends...

16:25 - "This world will simply talks itself to death." Cheerful soul, isn't she?

17:05 - Ah, Cecil. She says beware and you, like all of the fandom is going "WHAT DID HE MEAN!?" 

17:35 - Out of coffee? What kind of host are you?!

17:47 - "Picture a car..."

"No, you're doing it wrong. Try again."

19:50 - WE DID IT!!! THEY CAN'T TAKE US ALL TO COURT, RIGHT?! 

22:15 - A SPINE CAN BUY YOU A CONDO!!! I can now sleep easily at nights now.

23:49 - "Was that a condo?" 

25:30 - Oh, hello Hiram McDonald - you five-headed dragon, you! Er... hello to you and you and you and you and you - wait! I said hi to you already! Sorry about that. 

26:08 - Oh, that head sounds like Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons. 

26:46 - "My favorite memory." ... David Cameron? Is that you trying to be hip with us? 

29:00 - 

31:06 - THAT WORKS! Well... sorta. Kinda. Maybe... 

32:57 - Oh, really? What was your first clue?

35:44 - "Tuesday. Oh, you don't ever want to know..."

36:12 - CARLOS IS BACK!!! SO HAPPY AND... WAIT! Something's wrong here...

36:27 - The shippers are now reacting like this:

36:35 - NO!NONONONO!

37:22 - The shippers are now screaming. Or is that the voices in my head...? 

37:43 - SAVE HIM! And now, since I saw this gif, I can imagine Cecil doing this...

Ok, Cecil in my head is a little sexy... SH! Tell no one... 

37:55 - THE WEATHER!!! WHO WANTS MUSIC?

39:37 - They can't kill off Carlos? They won't, will there...

40:20 - No... they won't. They won't kill our hearts... 

40:45 - They going to kill him. They're going to kill Carlos. I fear the worse, Night Vale... And am reacting badly...

41:59 - Traffic's over! We'll find our if the writers have destroyed our hearts or not... 

42:20 - DAMN IT, FACELESS OLD WOMAN! WE DON'T WANT YOU!!!

42:30 - Looks over my shoulder now, fearful...

42:45 - BUG SPRAY YOUR CEILINGS!!! 

44:22 - Who else thinks this is the Faceless Old Woman's life story? 

44:41 - Me thinks the Faceless Old Woman lies...

45:02 - YOU WITCH! [insert a B instead of a W]

45:35 - HE'S BACK! Now, tell us EVERYTHING!!! NOW!!!

 - Mountains! 

49:31 - THAT'S OUR CECIL!!! Of course, he would do that!

52:32 - 

51:39 - The fandom explodes. 

51:51 - The word of the day is "Neat"

52:22 - "Only belongs to us." DID YOU TELL EACH OTHER YOU LOVED EACH OTHER?! DID YOU?! 

52:30 - YOU'RE NOT GOING TO TELL US?! SERIOUSLY!!!

54:05 - "Stay tune next for a round of applause, followed by silence and departure."

54:26 - "Good night, Night Vale. Good night."

54:40 - Oh, I am so a fan of this. And I don't care!

DONE! Took nearly 2 hours to do this, but I don't care! Was weirdly fun! I hope you loved the show and mildly liked this/the gifs used! Oh, I haven't felt this emotional drained since episode 25: One Year Later (my fave episode of the show EVER!)

Anyway, normal book blogging will return soon. PROMISE! To, let's leave you with... goodnight, Internet. Goodnight...

PS - I NEED THIS TEE IN MY LIFE. *flutters eyelashes at any one who wants to pay P&P for me...* 

PPS - And this is why there MUST BE A NIGHTVALE TOUR IN THE UK!!! I will drop everything to go to a London/Essex event! PLEASE!!!! 

SMILE - Don't Worry About Finding That Special Someone...

My thanks goes to the Welcome To Night Vale podcast (not sure who made this gif but thanks to you too!)

SMILE - A Note About Wednesday

My thanks goes to here and to the Welcome To Nightvale podcast. Hopefully, by the time you read this, I should have listened to all the episodes... hopefully. Unless the Glow Cloud comes back then am hiding under my bed.