Synopses & Reviews
From the New York Times bestselling authors of Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours! and the creators of the hit podcast, comes a new novel set in the world of Night Vale and beyond.
In the town of Night Vale, there's a faceless old woman who secretly lives in everyone's home, but no one knows how she got there or where she came from...until now. Told in a series of eerie flashbacks, the story of The Faceless Old Woman goes back centuries to reveal an initially blissful and then tragic childhood on a Mediterranean Estate in the early nineteenth century, her rise in the criminal underworld of Europe, a nautical adventure with a mysterious organization of smugglers, her plot for revenge on the ones who betrayed her, and ultimately her death and its aftermath, as her spirit travels the world for decades until settling in modern-day Night Vale.
Interspersed throughout is a present-day story in Night Vale, as The Faceless Old Woman guides, haunts, and sabotages a man named Craig. In the end, her current day dealings with Craig and her swashbuckling history in nineteenth century Europe will come together in the most unexpected and horrifying way.
Part The Haunting of Hill House, part The Count of Monte Cristo, and 100% about a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home.
Review
"A chilling ghost story. .... A decades long, globe-spanning saga of adventure, betrayal, love, and fate [about] one of Welcome to Night Vale's most enigmatic and terrifying characters. . . . A funny, terrifying, and unpredictable slice of Night Vale's macabre history." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Eerie, enchanting . . . offers up a Shakespearian revenge drama that doubles as the origin story of one of Night Vale's most mysterious resident....With this tightly plotted adventure, Fink and Cranor successfully expand their universe beyond Night Vale's desert setting." Publishers Weekly
Review
"A cinematic tale full of endless twists, The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home is a unique horror story with a rare swashbuckling and complex female protagonist I couldn't get enough of...Just when you think you know what's happening, the Faceless Old Woman will flip you around and make you question morality with a delicious, fun, well-crafted frustration." Gaby Dunn, New York Times bestselling author of I Hate Everyone but You
About the Author
Joseph Fink created the Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn't Dead podcasts. He lives in the Hudson Valley and Los Angeles.
Jeffrey Cranor cowrites the Welcome to Night Vale and Within the Wires podcasts. He also cocreates theater and dance pieces with choreographer/wife Jillian Sweeney. They live in New York.