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The House That Doesn't Exist is located in the Desert Creek housing development, out back of the Night Vale Elementary School.[1] It seems like it exists, like it's just right there when you look at it, and it's between two other identical houses, so it would make more sense for it to be there than not. But it does not exist, according to Carlos and his team of scientists. Existence is tricky.[2]

Research efforts

When Carlos, his perfect hair, and his team of scientists first arrived in Night Vale on June 15, 2012, their experiments quickly established that the House That Doesn't Exist did not, in fact, exist.[1] In an effort to learn more about the fascinating, if nonexistent, house, the scientists quickly took to standing on the sidewalk in front of the house, daring one another to go knock on the door. Within a year, the scientists' methods had advanced considerably, and they were instead offering five dollars to any volunteer brave enough to ring the doorbell.[2] However, no volunteer was found, despite the scientists' assurances that the volunteer would "probably be fine." As of January 1, 2014, Carlos and his scientists have finally knocked on the front door of the house, but received no response.[3]

Cynthia Cabrera

Carlos and his team of scientists finally made a major breakthrough in their research on March 15, 2014.[4] They pounded and yelled at the door until it suddenly slammed open, and a woman named Cynthia answered. Looking through the door, they found that the room was the same shape and size as it appeared when they gazed through the window; however, instead of the eerie unfurnished interior described below, as the scientists could see when looking through the window, the room viewed through the open front door was fully furnished and decorated. Cynthia claimed to have lived in the home for nineteen years, although the Desert Creek Housing Development has only existed for three.

On May 15, Cynthia's surname was given as Cabrera. A few days prior to the broadcast, five of Carlos' scientists were arrested for "loitering and trespassing," but Carlos himself was not among them.[5]

Interior

Over a year of rigorous scientific study had failed to determine what, if anything, was inside of the House That Doesn't Exist. Finally, transdimensional wanderer Dana, who had been wandering the paradoxically infinite interior of the Dog Park for several months, entered an enigmatic old oak door standing unsupported by any other structure, and found herself in the interior of the House That Doesn't Exist.[6] Dana described the interior of the house as "old," despite its apparent placement in a recently constructed housing development. Inside, she found:

  • A basement containing nothing but a single 5"x7" black and white photo of an old lighthouse standing in a field, hanging crooked just to the right of center on one wall. The lighthouse in the photograph does not seem to be near any body of water.
  • The remainder of the house also contained no furnishings or belongings, but the walls were adorned with other small photographs, most of windows. The windows in the photographs all had different panes, and the photographs themselves all had different frames. What lies beyond the windows in the photographs was apparently obscured or out of focus.
  • Although it had many photographs of windows, the interior of the house had no windows of its own. However, paradoxically, the exterior of the house does have windows through which Carlos and his team of scientists can see inside.[3]
  • John Peters—you know, the farmer?—was standing inside, staring at the photographs of windows with a look of concern. Occasionally, he would move to examine a different photograph, but he proved unresponsive to all of Dana's attempts to communicate with him.

Finally, Dana left the House That Doesn't Exist through its only apparent door. Carlos was gathered on the sidewalk with his team of scientists when they saw Dana emerge from the side door. However, their attempts to communicate with her failed, and she walked straight through the scientists as if she did not exist.

On January 1, 2014, shortly after the emergence of John Peters' doppelganger—you know, the imposter?—Carlos and his team of scientists had finally worked up the nerve to peek inside the window of the House That Doesn't Exist, and saw John Peters much as Dana had seen him four months earlier, sitting in a chair staring at a photograph on the wall.[3] The scientists were unable to see the subject of the photograph, and Peters again proved unresponsive to all attempts to communicate with him. The scientists even knocked on the front door, but received no response. It is likely that the oranges sold by the false John Peters, as well as the false John Peters himself, are somehow related to the House That Doesn't Exist. The oranges were eventually recalled by StrexCorp Synernists Incorporated, the majority shareholder of the false John Peters' orange grove, after consuming them or even coming into contact with them caused many customers to stop existing.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Episode 1 Pilot
  2. 2.0 2.1 Episode 25 One Year Later
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Episode 38 Orange Grove
  4. Episode 43 Visitor
  5. Episode 47 Company Picnic
  6. Episode 30 Dana (episode)
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