Project statement
Have you ever wondered what if all of society is believing a lie and the truth is what everyone doesn’t believe? Highly inspired by the works of HP. Lovecraft, Welcome to Nightvale is a podcast by Josef Fink and Jeffery Kramer about a strange town in the desert where abstract horror is the norm. This town has been isolated for years and everyone is a monster. The protagonist of this story is a radio host announcing what most people would call horror as mundanely as normal local news as this is what normal for him is.
This podcast covers many fears. The fear of outsiders is definitely evident, from the introduction of Carlos, to The man with the Leather suitcase to Kevin himself whenever an outsider to the town is introduced the rest of the town is usually terrified. Another fear that’s evident is the fear of corporations controlling the economy and destroying the local economy as seen in the Strexcorp Arc. Another main Fear is rejecting the Status Quo. The Character Steve Carlsberg is viewed as the local idiot but he just wants to fight the arbitrary rules the society has made for itself. A final fear to cover is the fear of the Unknown. From looking at the lights above the Arby’s Sign to looking at the Dog park the citizens are forbidden to know about many things in their community. These things are usually dangerous and usually end up destroying different areas when knowing about the situation could have saved them, they aren’t allowed to know these problems . Not being allowed to know brings out the Lovecraftian themes in the story.
Personally I like the idea of a modern Lovecraftian story. A lot of the stories in that genre have not aged well so having a story set in modern times with modern ideologies keeps the fear of the unknown in minds eye. I also love the characters, from Cecil the main character to characters as minor asThe Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home all the characters are very well developed and have amazing personalities. I like the way homosexuality is portrayed. The relationships are accepted the way all relationships are, no one considers it different any less than any other relationship. Personally I dislike the episodic nature to the story. I also dislike the way the world is Separated from the rest of society. They are not allowed to use computers yet everyone has smartphones. This disconnect in this way I find way too many plot holes and it gets clunky.
Changing the Setting I don’t think would affect the story too much as long as it’s still in a rural area of America. The story is highly reliant on American pop culture and social issues so it would need to stay in America. Making it visual would change the Unknown aspect of the podcast. The Protagonist is Described as not short not tall not fat and not thin. This description has lead to everyone imaging him slightly different and making it visual would stop everyone from imagining the characters appearances.
In my adaptation I’m going to focus on the fear of not fitting in by following the character Steve Carlsberg more than the story does as he is the most “normal” person in the town. He is the biggest misfit In the town. I’m going to tell my story in a 3rd person Omniscient point of view as the story is only told from the point of view of Cecil who spends all his time in the radio station reporting the “regular” news for this town. I hope I can get my Audience to think about what they would do if they were in the City of Nightvale living with such an oppressive government and horrors being the norm. I hope to get people to think about the definition of normal as these characters find their situation to be their normal.
The inspiration behind Nightvale, an Unusual community.
The popular podcast Welcome to Night vale is about a Town in the middle of the Desert where the chaotic is Normal. Cecil the Narrator talks about the Daily News of this Town from a nearly Omnipotent point of view. In my adaptation I'm going to create a Live Action Night vale because all of the characters are described as vague in appearance as possible so creating a live version will put a face to the characters. Im hoping to emphasize the themes in the original work as I definitely admire the Modern Philosophy the podcast has.
*From Beyond H.P. Lovecraft and the place of horror
When I first listened to Nightvale I had no clue what Lovecraftian horror was, this Article will inform my project by giving me a history of the genera so I know what defines the genera and I can understand the work better. Without understanding the genera and how Night vale plays with subverting the genera itself. HP Lovecraft was a racist who had fear of change and the ocean. nightvale is set in a time vortex in the Desert where all the characters have pretty Liberal political views. This makes me wonder what if I set Nightvale in New England like where Lovecraft set all his stories
Welcome to night vale the Podcast that's like a local news Twin Peaks
This article is a review on the actual podcast that talks about the different aspects of this podcast that are positive like the fact that All conspiracy theories real but it's no big deal, and that there are homosexual relationships and they aren't the focus like many. I hope this source helps me keep what makes night vale great.
Top 10 welcome to night vale Episodes.
Because I'm ignoring the episode order and going adapting a few assorted Episodes in my project this Rank list is a good way to help me determine the few episodes I'm Adapting. This List help me Decide to Make sure the Episode Titled Triptych is definitely incorporated into my Adaptation as it’s a backstory for a villain and it would be a great episode to adapt. Another episode definitely adapting is Sandstorm and the situation where everyone is trying to kill their doubles is definitely a chaotic experience that will be fun.
Domestic Violence Against Men*
Domestic Violence is a huge problem and when its against men its unnoticed, In my adaptation I'm putting the character of Steve Carlsberg is a toxic relationship. This Article will inform me about statistics about domestic violence against men so I can portray it accurately.
Terror love and Brainwashing
The character Kevin is Brainwashed by a Cultish business conglomerate in the Podcast. this article will help me understand how brainwashing works so I can understand it and so when I put in in my project it will feel more realistic.
The Surprising power of conspiracy theories
Because Steve’s has an attraction to conspiracy theories knowing the Psychology of how they work on the brain is something that will help my Adaptation to be a Well wRitten and fully Fleshed out final product.
Sources
Sibylle. “Top 10 Welcome to Night Vale Episodes.” The Fandomentals, The Fandomentals, 18 Apr. 2017, www.thefandomentals.com/top-10-welcome-night-vale-episodes/.
Virtue, Graeme. “Welcome To Night Vale, the Podcast That's like a Local News Twin Peaks.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 Mar. 2014, www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/mar/14/night-vale-podcast.
Barber, Christopher F. “Domestic Violence against Men.” Nursing Standard, no. 51, 2008, p. 35. EBSCOhost, libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.184744832&site=eds-live.
, James. “From beyond: H. P. Lovecraft and th Kneale e Place of Horror.” Cultural Geographies, vol. 13, no. 1, Jan. 2006, pp. 106–126. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1191/1474474005eu353oa.
“Terror, Love, and Brainwashing.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-author-speaks/201702/terror-love-and-brainwashing
Schander Van Der Linden. “The Surprising Power of Conspiracy Theories.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/socially-relevant/201508/the-surprising-power-conspiracy-theories.