“Fear the Night Sky!”: On the Nightvalian Void and an Ethics of Risk

Abstract

Staring up at the night sky, the host of Night Vale’s community radio wonders about the void behind the stars, “that nothingness that is everything, that everything that is nothing,” as he calls it. This chapter explores the Nightvalian void, which seems to be omnipresent yet indifferent to the humans observing it. It does so by drawing connections to a western cultural and historical imaginary in which tele-technologies—such as radio—were considered to be mediated by the void of the so-called etheric ocean. This void-like ocean was a medium for conquest and exploration, but also a source of anxiety, for, as Cecil puts it, “what if the void is not as void as we thought? What could be coming towards us out of the distance?” There is no simple answer to Cecil’s questions since the void cannot be fully known nor understood. Instead, Welcome to Night Vale seems to suggest that living in the presence of such uncertainty is unavoidable. Exploring the imaginaries of the Nightvalian void, this chapter argues that the podcast does not soothe the anxieties sparked by the void, but instead explores ways to stay with the constant threat—and promise—of the arrival of something out of nothing.