Alice Isn't Dead

Alice Isn't Dead is a mystery horror fiction podcast created by Joseph Fink and produced by Night Vale Presents. It stars Jasika Nicole as Keisha, a truck driver who embarks on a road trip across America to locate her missing wife Alice, which leads to her uncovering several paranormal mysteries and conspiracies. The story is presented as radio transmissions of Keisha narrating her experiences on the road.[2][3]

The podcast ran from March 8, 2016 to August 28, 2018 across three seasons, totaling 30 episodes. During its initial run, new episodes typically released biweekly on Tuesdays.[4] Alice Isn't Dead was well-received and nominated for multiple podcast awards. In 2018, Fink published a novelization of the story.

On January 21, 2026, Fink announced that a sequel podcast entitled Don't Tell Alice would begin on April 13, with Nicole returning as Keisha.[5]

Production

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Joseph Fink explained that the inspiration for the podcast came from his experiences traveling around in vans on long trips, particularly in the United States, for the live shows of his popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale.[2] The series puts particular focus on the narrator driving through towns without stopping and spending time at rest stops along the highway. All ten episodes of the first season were written by Fink, with music by Disparition.

Jasika Nicole, the voice of Keisha Taylor, also appears on Welcome to Night Vale in the role of Dana Cardinal.[6][7] She was pitched Alice Isn't Dead during a conversation with Fink before one of the Night Vale live shows and signed on immediately, receiving scripts a few months later.[2] The first season was partially funded through sponsored advertising by Audible Inc., Squarespace, Casper Sleep, and Blue Apron – a practice that would continue with other series under the Night Vale Presents banner such as Within the Wires and The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air).

Roberta Colindrez, who appeared in the original cast of Fun Home and was a member of the Neo-Futurists alongside much of the Night Vale Presents crew, makes an uncredited voice cameo in the finale of Part 1.[8] She makes her first credited appearance as this character in the bonus episode "Haugen, Montana", narrating in place of Jasika Nicole, before making an appearance in the premiere of Part 2. Erica Livingston, also a former Neo-Futurist, makes an uncredited voice cameo as the titular Alice in the finale of Part 2, before making her first credited appearance as the character narrating the bonus episode "Mérida, Yucatán".

List of episodes

Novel

Joseph Fink published a novel version of Alice Isn't Dead on November 20, 2018. A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2018 by Harper-Collins Publishers. It was copyrighted in 2018 by Joseph Fink. The letter to the reader was copyrighted in 2021 by Joseph Fink. First Harper Perennial paperback edition published 2021. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for. The ISBN is 978-0-06-284414-9 (pbk.) [11] David Canfield from Entertainment Weekly reviewed the novel writing, "[Fink's] flashy horror stylings don’t fully translate to the page — the creepy, anxious factor of his audio work is second to none — and the pacing, as Fink tries veering between new points of view, turns clunky. But this Alice Isn't Dead remains an intriguing complement, imbued with newfound soul — and romance. Alice has always known suspense, but as a novel it finds true love."[12]

Reception

Cassandra Khaw of Ars Technica positively reviewed the first three episodes, stating that the series "very quickly comes into its own, dropping any pretence of gallows humour for the kind of creeping, consuming terror that pervades the best horror movies."[13] Neil Verma compared the modus operandi of the Thistle Man, the series' antagonist who follows its narrator as she drives across America, to that of the eponymous villain in Lucille Fletcher's 1941 radio play The Hitch-Hiker.[14]

Unproduced television adaptation

A television adaptation of the podcast was in development for USA Network by Universal Cable Productions.[19] The series would have been written and executive produced by Kyle Bradstreet, who would have served as showrunner.[20][21] Fink would have written for and executive produced the show.[21] The show was ultimately not picked up.

See also

• Horror podcast

External links