Nocturne

If you look closely enough at this seemingly idyllic stretch of road, nestled between a lake and a steep hillside in Northern California, you'll notice it's not so idyllic — at least not for the newts and salamanders determined to cross to the other side. Read more → The post Newt Brigade appeared first on Nocturne .

There's a half mile stretch of road nestled between a lake and a steep hillside in rural Northern California. This road is idyllic and lush, with cows, sheep, birds and abundant wildlife. But if you look closely on rainy winter nights, it's anything but idyllic for the newts and salamanders determined to cross to the other side. Sally Gale is a rancher in Chileno Valley. One night, she resolved to...

The black belt test at Studio Naga is a 48-hour ordeal with no sleep. By the second night, students are running on pure adrenaline when they arrive to an unknown location blindfolded in the dark. Then, it's time to fight. Read more → The post Do the Thing appeared first on Nocturne .

At most martial arts schools, rising to the level of black belt requires a test that can take several hours. At Studio Naga, the black belt test is a 48-hour ordeal with no sleep. Students are running on pure adrenaline by the second night when they are blindfolded in the dark and taken to   an unknown location. That's when it's time to fight.  The blindfold is removed, revealing a dark path with...

The night is a perfect canvas for the ancient magic of Peruvian shamanism. In the darkness, your mind opens, allowing spirits to find a place to land Read more → The post Speak San Pedro appeared first on Nocturne .

The night is a perfect canvas for magic. As both the inner and outer terrain transform into something less familiar, your mind opens, allowing spirits to find a place to land. The ancient Peruvian art of shamanism harnesses the mystery and power of darkness, and uses it to heal those who suffer. Eduardo Calder ò n was a gifted curandero, or healer. He performed all-night ceremonies, with the aid o...

Candles were a lifeline until they became merely ornamental. So, how do the candles feel about this? Read more → The post You Are a Candle appeared first on Nocturne .

When candles were the way we brought light into the darkness, everything looked different at night. There was no glow from a streetlight outside or a city miles away. When the sun went down human activity shifted because it had to. If you needed to be outside in the darkness, your candle was a lifeline. If you woke in the middle of the night, you’d likely rely on your sense of touch to guide you t...

Comfort turns to horror when the night becomes weaponized - used to terrorize and control. This is the most ominous embodiment of the night. Its most salient symbols are those of burning crosses, and the nightriders delivering their messages of terror. Read more → The post As a Weapon appeared first on Nocturne .

The dark stillness of night envelopes and cushions us. It draws us into ourselves and close to our loved ones. But comfort turns to horror in a heartbeat when the night becomes weaponized - used by bullies to terrorize and control, allowing the cowardly perpetrator to hide in the shadows and evade detection or identification. This is the most ominous embodiment of the night. Its most salient symbo...

Getting into character and scaring people silly is one of Campbell Harmon's favorite things in life.  But his relationship to being a monster goes deeper than playing one in a haunted attraction.  Read more → The post I’m a Monster appeared first on Nocturne .

Campbell Harmon has played all sorts of monsters at the Wallingford Trail of Terror. He spends all year creating costumes and preparing the elaborate scenes that terrify guests each Halloween. Getting into character and scaring people silly is one of his favorite things in life. But his relationship to being a monster goes deeper than playing one in a haunted attraction.

The theme of this year’s KCRW 24-Hour Radio Race was “Where the Sun Don’t Shine”. One entry received the Nocturne Award. It’s called “The Telltale Arse” and it’s by producer Matt Livadary.  The piece truly peers into the dusty corners of the night, where many would not look, and if they do what they see is uncomfortable, but real.

Kristin’s daughter was just 16 years old when she began to struggle with drug addiction - methamphetamine, heroin, and more. It brought Kristin to her knees. Of all the painful challenges, the worst was not knowing where her daughter was in the middle of the night. Read more → The post Like a Light Bulb appeared first on Nocturne .

Kristin’s daughter was just 16 years old when she began to struggle with drug addiction - methamphetamine, heroin, and more. It brought Kristin to her knees. Of all the painful challenges, the worst was not knowing where her daughter was in the middle of the night. Between searching for her daughter, worrying if she was alive and researching ways to help her, Kristin was barely taking care of hers...

There is a cave in southern France that contains some of the world’s most deeply hidden secrets. To get there you must crawl on your belly through a long tomb-like passage, with your only light held between your teeth. Read more → The post In Magdalenian Footsteps appeared first on Nocturne .

In the Pyrenees of southern France, there is a cave containing some of the world’s most spectacular and deeply hidden secrets. To get there you must crawl on your belly through a long tomb-like passage, with your only light held between your teeth. Will Hunt explores the deepest darkest places around the world. An early obsession with finding lost treasures in his own neighborhood has led him to a...

There are over 3500 species of crickets and each has a different song. One man fills his apartment in Brooklyn with their music, and then takes them out in public to perform alongside them. And then he eats them. Read more → The post The Sound of Moonlight appeared first on Nocturne .

Where I live, it’s coming up on cricket time. Particularly on warm summer nights, the air is alive with their singing - a sound that activates deep and long-lived memories from childhood and beyond. Of these crickets songs that permeate the night, and catapult me back, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote, "If moonlight could be heard, it would sound like that." John Himmelman follows crickets through the ni...

Zoe and Sarah were young, free explorers on a spontaneous summer road trip. As darkness began to fall, the map on Zoe’s phone directed them to a short cut that would speed up their drive and get them to a safe place to spend the night. But that's not what happened. Read more → The post Elk River Road appeared first on Nocturne .

Zoe and Sarah were young, free explorers on a spontaneous summer road trip. As darkness began to fall, the map on Zoe’s phone directed them to a short cut that would speed up their drive and get them to a safe place to spend the night. But that's not what happened. As they came to terms with what their night would actually look like, the challenge became figuring out how much danger they were real...

Clark Strand has always felt profoundly at home in the dark. Ever since he was a child, he has awoken in the middle of the night and gone out walking. One night in 2011, when Strand got up for his usual walk, a voice spoke directly in his ear, saying, “Don’t go out tonight. Remain calm and be very very still.” His life has never been the same. Strand is the author of “Waking Up to the Dark: Ancien...

What is it about the night, about what happens in the darkness, when most people are asleep? Vanessa and radio host, Rod Quinn muse about this and much more, on this week's bonus episode. They even hear from callers across Australia sharing their feelings and observations about the night, in an excerpt of Overnights from ABC Radio in Australia.

If you’re working the night shift, or otherwise up when you don’t want to be, a voice in the night can feel like a life line; a reminder that you’re not alone, that the world is, in fact, still spinning. A lot of people find comfort in podcasts in the middle of the night – listening to stories, or conversations, they’re comforted by the voices of other humans. There’s tv and movies, and preprogram...

Most people are in bed at night and then get up during the day. But journalist Katie Nelson felt the need to sleep all the time.