Jeffrey Cranor Books In Order

Publication Order of Welcome To Night Vale Books

Publication Order of Welcome To Night Vale Collections

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Well known within the online community for quite some time now, the writer and internet podcaster and scripter Jeffrey Cranor is an American author, who’s gained himself a large following both online and off. Working alongside fellow writer Joseph Frink for a number of years now, he’s managed to capture the imaginations of millions of listeners and readers, as he’s created the now highly regarded ‘Welcome to Nightvale’ franchise. Starting off as an online podcast, it went on to become one of the largest of its kind, with its mixture of the macabre and surreal, all infused with his trademark wit and style.

Early and Personal Life

An American writer born on the 28th of May, 1975, he was brought up in the area of Astoria, New York City, which was a long-way removed from his surrealist portrayal of rural America. Taking inspiration from the world around him, though, he would manage to take his passion for the written word, with both reading and writing, and harness it over the years, building upon his ideas and premises. Soon this would prove to be successful as, not only a writer by trade, he was also a performer, which would prove to be useful when he took to acting out many of the scripts he wrote for his ever popular Nightvale series.

Growing up he was contstantly returning to particular subjects, especially concerning the strange and surreal, as he started to refine and hone his craft that was to follow. Building upon the many ideas and premises, he learnt performance art as well as writing, something which was helpful as he took to performing his own scripts. He was also a keen performer on-stage too, something which he has continued with some productions, a number of which he has directed himself and still continues to do so.

Working with his wife, the choereographer Jillian Sweeney, they both manage a number of stage productions combining both dance and thearter, as he writes as well. This working relationship has proven to be successful over the years, as they have produced a number of productions that have been extremely well received. With plans to continue this into the foreseeable future, it appears that he isn’t stopping anytime soon, as he plenty more titles and productions set to be released on the horizon for quite some time yet.

Writing Career

Starting out with his ‘Welcome to Nightvale’ podcast in which Joseph Frink approached him to provide him with the script for the first episode, which he immediately loved. They both had worked together in the past in the theartre and this was a new format for them, giving them the opportunity to try something exciting and different. Getting their friend Cecil Baldwin to narrate it due to his perfect voice for radio, the stage, or podcast to be more apt, was set for what was to become their cult hit series, thus making their names.

Winning awards and now touring it around, both at home and abroad, the podcast soon became an international success, as they gained both critical and commercial success. This then led to books being released by them both, many of which also won awards in their own right, such as the ‘Goodreads Choice Awards Best Science Fiction’. Jeffrey Cranor has a lot more work left in him as he continues to both write and tour, with his writing career growing from strength-to-strenght constantly everyday.

Welcome To Night Vale

Set within the world of Night Vale, this was the first book to be released that was set in that universe, as it captured the spirit of the podcast, providing fans with something new yet strangely familiar to get involved in. Published on the 20th of October through Harper Perennial, it was instantly a success, largely due to its already extremely well established name prior. Offering fans more his trademark wit and style, Jeffrey Cranor works alongside Frink once again to provide his audience with more of what they want, perfectly capturing the essence and the atmosphere in the process.

Set in the strange and surreal town of Night Vale, an odd little place located somewhere on the map within the great American Southwest, it tells the story of its inhabitants, namely nineteen year old pawn shop worker Jackie Fierro in this instance. After being given a paper simply worded ‘King City’ she is put on a quest to find out more, especially as she can’t seem to get rid of the paper after having had it handed to her by a mysterious gentleman with a deer skin suitcase. Then there’s Josh, the son of Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton, and he just happens to be a shape-shifter, as well as being extremely moody about it. What is the reason for being given the paper? Why does Diane keep seeing Josh’s father appearing exactly how she saw him all those years ago, only to disappear once again? How do they find out the truth and is anyone really welcome to Night Vale?

Mostly Void, Partially Stars

Comprising the initial episodes of the Welcome to Night Vale series, this book worked as more a straight up adaptation with scripts from the show, alongside commentaries and introductions from the authors. Working alongside Frink once again, they seek to recapture the pure essence of the show, putting the ideas onto paper, thus bringing it to life in the process. Initially pubished on the 6th of September, 2016, this was first brought out through the Harper Perennial publishing house once again to an ever eager and ever so slightly ravenous public.

Night Vale is a seemingly serene little town but, lurking just under its surface, is a whole world of the strange, surreal and just plain macabre. It features commentaries from Cecil Baldwin the narrator as well, along with illustrations by the artist Jessica Hayworth that are set to accompany each episode. Where is Night Vale and who exactly lives there? Does anybody know what they want and can they ever truly leave? What will occur in the place where it is mostly void, partially stars?