Where might you find aliens, supernatural hooded figures and ordinary citizens all living side by side? Why, the small desert community of Night Vale, of course!

“Welcome to Night Vale” began as a podcast in 2012 and found a devoted audience with its Twilight Zone-demeanor and sharp humor. Co-creators Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor have since taken the show on the road for some live tours. And now they’ve released their first novel set in the mysterious town.

Cranor and Fink are in town this weekend at the Ferst Center, and Myke Johns spoke with them about what makes their off-kilter take on the occult so entertaining.

Night Vale is a small desert town “where all conspiracies are true,” explains Fink. Thinking back on his days growing up in Dallas, Cranor recalls how the specter of the John F. Kennedy assassination hung about the city. “A conspiracy theory, in a lot of ways, is very similar to religion,” he observes.

“They kind of get back to the primary reason storytelling exists,” Fink says, “which is to make the world make sense.”

Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink will be appearing at the Ferst Center for the Arts on Sunday, Nov. 1st.