The series was created in 2016 by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson (the latter also narrating the first season), and it has been produced as part of the Night Vale Presents podcast network since June 21, 2016.

A fictional work written in the style of an annotated autobiography, it details the events of the "Great Reckoning" and the formation of the Society from the point of view of one of the survivors.

Cranor had read and enjoyed Janina Matthewson's book Of Things Gone Astray, and they first met when he messaged her on Twitter in Autumn 2015 to invite her to a Welcome to Night Vale live show when it was touring through London.

[6] The third season, "a political thriller set in 1950s Chicago," is narrated by the bureaucrat Michael Witten; listeners access letters and notes dictated to his secretary.

[16] Marc Hershon of The Huffington Post positively reviewed the second episode, stating that it "has a distinctive flavor all its own" and that the show is "every bit as warped as [Welcome to Night Vale].

"[18] Devon Taylor of The Sarahs observed that because the story is "parceled out slowly" it could "frustrate listeners accustomed to a more linear plot," while also drawing positive comparisons to Lost and the works of David Lynch.