You open a book and read the words inside. The words also read you and your insides. Welcome to Night Vale.

Listeners, your favorite twice-monthly radio show is now available in book form, titled “Mostly Void, Partially Stars” for those on the hunt for it.

“Welcome to Night Vale” is a darkly surreal yet hilariously mundane, deadpan-toned internet podcast in the form of community updates for a fictional town nestled in the desert.

Strangers to Night Vale, be prepared to dive into a place where every conspiracy theory is real, cats float 4 feet into the air in men’s restrooms, and the Glow Cloud (a glowing cloud that rains animals that are already dead) is a prominent member of the local school board.

Night Vale is mysterious, terrifying, hypnotic but above all: Terribly fun.

“Mostly Void, Partially Stars” brings fans all the enjoyment from listening to the original podcast, only this time by devouring the scripts with their very own eyes. Even fans who have each of the 95 episodes memorized will delight in this book.

Each of the individual chapters have introductions to them, written by authors Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink, and then a few by guests or iconic voices on the show. The book also includes several illustrations by Jessica Hayworth that complement the goings-on of the town.

Our guide and narrator of “Welcome to Night Vale” is rich-toned Cecil Baldwin.

Through his small personal comments and opinions during each community update, he seems to become an old, close friend early on in the series. The one bummer about reading this book is that you don’t immediately have Baldwin’s iconic voice there while reading—although, this is quickly remedied by flipping on the episode of the podcast to follow along.

“Mostly Void, Partially Stars” covers the first 25 episodes of the podcast series, and then an entire script of a live show as performed during 2013 in Brooklyn, New York.
For those hungry for even more, a second book titled “The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe” serves as a volume two for the series. This book covers episodes 26 through 49, and then another live show, and features exclusive introductions and illustrations just as the previous volume.

For those new to the series, I strongly encourage you to give a listen to a couple of the episodes before diving into the book.

This gives a better understanding of the atmosphere of the town, the tone of Baldwin’s voice, and the original platform of the show. All the 20-minute episodes are free and incredibly easy to access, either from iTunes, most podcast apps or on YouTube. For all die-hard fans out there, “Mostly Void, Partially Stars” is a must-have for your shrine of Night Vale memorabilia (or maybe just your library shelf), along with “The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe.”

Just be aware, the Faceless Old Woman who secretly lives in your home will probably alter the pages in some way.