I can’t quite recall when I first started listening to Welcome to Night Vale. I do remember that what inspired me to finally give the show a chance was the slew of fanart I kept finding on Tumblr of Cecil and Carlos, and eventually, I had to know who the pair was.
I had no idea at the time that this beautiful couple was actually canon. The surprise, especially since the infatuation begins from episode one, was incredible as someone who has gone through so many M/M ships over the years that never went canon and were never intended to be seen that way. Welcome to Night Vale was this wonderful weird little Twin Peaks like podcast that gave its audience everything they could have dreamed of, and the show persists.
Hidden Oaks, which isn’t trying to BE Welcome to Night Vale by any sense but reminds me of it in small ways, is a local Minnesota podcast, set in the suburbs, right where my parents and eldest brother’s family live, actually, combining incredible writing with engaging vocal work, the supernatural, and the 1990s.
Set in 1999, the podcast has completed two full seasons, ten episodes each, each episode around an hour long, with quite a bit of bonus content, and is preparing for its season three later this year. As I have had the pleasure of knowing one of its creators, fellow author Patrick Marsh, for many years, I have been asked to provide a guest story for one of season three’s episodes. In anticipation of that, I’ve been listening through the first two seasons and am entirely hooked.
There is a continuing thread and mystery in each episode centering around HER, the being that resides within Hidden Oaks and is at the core of all the weirdness happening there, as well as stand-alone stories of people who are unfortunate enough to cross HER path.
I can’t tell you too much about what I have written without spoiling the various twists the plot takes, but I can say that I was honored to be able to add an M/M couple to this well-crafted universe. While waiting on the final version of how my story will play out, when it will air, and even when season three will begin airing, I encourage you to check it out and stay tuned for my story, which is tentatively titled, The Call.