Alice Isn’t Dead is a fictional podcast following the accounts of a truck driver in the form of audio diaries as she searches for her presumably dead wife; whom she expects to still be alive. The first episode, titled, Omelete, details an encounter the truck driver has at a truck stop diner with a suspicious man. Upon sitting down, the protagonist, an unnamed female truck driver, notices a man eating an omelette in a gruesome manner, making her uneasy. The man, noticing her staring, approaches her, telling her how the surrounding roads were dangerous. The truck driver does nothing to provoke the man further, hoping to end her encounter with him then and there, but then the man walks up another truck driver who he calls by name, Earl, grabs him by the neck and walks him over to her, the man taking a bite out of Earl’s neck. Mortified, the truck driver dashes for her truck and leaves the establishment hastily. Throughout the audio diary, the truck driver reports various sightings of the thistled man as shes calls him, due to his skeletal appearance, noting that he has been following her from stop to stop as she commutes through Arizona to deliver her cargo.
The narration is done in first-person by the protagonist, as she records logs into an audio diary being addressed to Alice, her wife. Occasionally, microphone feedback plays, as though she is speaking into a walkie-talkie. The feedback serves not only to create the immersion that the audience is listening to a pre-recorded message, but also as transitions between story beats or to enhance action in scenes. The passages switch between past and present; through passages set in the past, the truck driver mentions how she is transporting travel-size deodorants. Through the encounter with the man, past-passages detail his appearance; an older individual with a “thistled” appearance, dressed in dishevelled clothes, bits of egg on his lips, and as having translucent, yellow-stained nails. Most notably, the truck driver addresses Alice directly, asking questions (possibly rhetorical) as to why she “left her” and how there were times she “hated her more than anything”, providing context to a greater, overarching plot regarding the relationship between the truck driver and her wife,its status evolving through subsequent context clues in the form of recordings.
Background music plays throughout the entire episode, primarily with an eerie and unsettling tone, its pitch and tempo rising during tense scenes such as when the truck driver dashes for her truck after the thistled man murders Earl. Occasionally, moments of silence compliment the truck driver’s narration, sometimes to supplement moments of clarity or peace as she recalls past events or memories with Alice, or moments of impending doom, such as right after Earl is bitten into and the truck driver narrates the shocked, lifeless expression on his face as he realizes he is soon to die.
The summation of first-person narration, sound effects, pauses, and ambient music compliment one another in Alice Isn’t Dead to not only serve the narrative of the story, but to enhance it as well. Some scenes felt almost surreal due to how they were being described and the action taking place, making it difficult to really be aware of what was truly going on within the reality of the story, yet all of the components combined help to create an underlying picture of the scene to understand how it was playing out, however morbid or grotesque it may be.
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Hi, Brandon!
First off, great job summarizing the podcast in such a way that captures the mysteriousness of the plot, enticing others to take a listen. Fortunately, I had the chance to take a listen to the first episode of Alice Isn’t Dead, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I am listening to The Black Tapes, and I thought its eerie mood was very similar to that in your podcast.
In both, each narrator navigates a dangerous and uncertain path in order to attain their goals and does so in a way that brings the listeners along for the ride. However, the narrator’s audience in my podcast is the listeners while in yours the narrator addresses her wife, Alice. Though the two audiences are different, the listeners are still able to empathize with and understand the thought process of each narrator in unique ways. In Alice Isn’t Dead, since the narrator addresses her missing wife, the listeners are able to discern the sincerity and emotion in the narrator’s voice, allowing them to grasp and stronger understanding of her situation and how it affects her. In The Black Tapes, by having the narrator address the listeners directly, the narrator is able to make the listeners feel as if they are taking in part of the quest to uncover the truth about ghosts with her and share her curiosity for the answer with them.
Another striking similarity between the two podcasts was the utilization of music to underscore the eerie and unsettling atmosphere of certain scenes. It adds another layer and element to the podcast that gives it life and keeps the listeners at the edge of their seats. Furthermore, the sound effects as you mention or lack thereof nicely work nicely to capture and highlight the mood of the scene. Without the music and sound effects the podcast would be dull and uninteresting, and listeners would not feel the same intense emotions.
Overall, your analysis of Alice Isn’t Dead emphasized the main features that I picked up while listening it to myself, so good job! I can’t wait to read some more of your posts!
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The premise of this podcast and the podcast that I listened to are in different genres which explains the difference in narrative choices. Even though Alice Isn’t Dead is fictional and Radiolab’s What’s Left When You’re Left(WLWYR) is decidedly not, music and structure both played roles in these two podcasts, creating suspense and added drama.
Music used in the podcast described above is to give vibes that parallels certain moments in the storyline (ambient or unsettling) while music that is used in WLWYR is much lighter in atmosphere. The background music in WLWYR doesn’t play as an important role as it does here. In the comments of some episodes, I’ve noticed that some listeners would say the sound effects detracts from the __ story. It wouldn’t make sense for Alice Isn’t Dead’s storyline to include these bright, causal sounds when the intent is to build a podcast version of a traditional story arch with exposition, conflict, and resolution. For my own podcast, I think that for the style that I would probably lean towards would be more similar to Radiolab’s, so the choice in music would be more sound effects instead of a more thoughtful addition to the narrative.
What is important for WLWYR is the format of the episodes. They build their story through the different audio clips, and the hosts are learning alongside the audience. Without having the range of speakers, experts, guests on their show, the story cannot be told. While here only one narrator is needed to impactfully tell the narrative. Because the podcast would be created in a group setting, there would be a fixed number of people talking, not quite like the podcast I listened to nor like the podcast described above. This means that we can take the best of each format, maybe choosing one person to talk about a topic individually or collectively build off of each other in a more casual fashion.
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To start, “Alice Isn’t Dead,” sounds like a fascinating podcast that I would like to listen to. I also chose a mysterious, crime focused podcast. The podcast I am listening to includes a wide variety of true stories from fan submissions, but in opposition, this series is a fictional narration of a single account. While both methods are effective in gaining viewer attention, I think that a fictional story layout would keep me extremely entertained.
The summary in your first paragraph immediately drew me in. It was a brief but detailed enough that readers can have a good idea of what the podcast entails. The descriptive adjectives helped me to create a vivid picture of the series in my mind. Additionally, I liked that you did not ruin the story by sharing too much information. This way, I, along with others who are interested in this podcast, can be excited to listen to the podcast, but don’t know too much information about it.
I love that this podcast is set up as first-person diary entries. This is a great tactic to share a personal story. It is also interesting that the passages are in both the past and present. This allows the narrator to share various information with viewers, including memories and facts and current thoughts or emotions. Along with this narration style, one of the main tools to set the tone for this podcast is the use of music. When you mention tunes with “an eerie and unsettling tone” with “its pitch and tempo rising during tense scenes,” I can immediately imagine what this sounds like. I know that music is a powerful tool to create suspense and heighten the viewers’ emotions.
In all, I enjoyed reading this blog post and am eager to listen to this podcast. “Alice Isn’t Dead” seems like it would be a fan favorite as a result of the layout of the episodes. First-person narration, diary-style storytelling, and strategic use of music and background sound seem to be powerful components of this podcast. I will definitely utilize these in my own work.
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