A cryptic postcard lures two journalists to the second-smallest town in New York State: Split Valley

Five on a Match, in association with the Broadway Podcast Network, is pleased to announce Caroline V. McGraw’s (Ultimate Beauty Bible) SPLIT VALLEY, an immersive serialized radio mystery, is joining the network. Using only “found audio,” SPLIT VALLEY, directed by Eddie Prunoske (Paul Cameron Hardy’s feeling (The New Ohio)), takes the listener on a journey into the woods, a small town diner, a local motel, searching for clues to the mystery of the cryptic postcard. Split Valley is available exclusively from the Broadway Podcast Network and wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Suggested listening includes finding a quiet space in a dark room, a glass of wine, or perhaps a walk in the woods.

What would you do if you received a postcard saying only “We are here. Come find us?” No signature. Just a postmark: SPLIT VALLEY, NY. Adam Kleinhoffer, journalist and podcaster for Columbia Public Radio, and production assistant Melanie Lavin follow this breadcrumb to the second-smallest town in New York State. Listen to how the story unfolds in eight audio episodes.

Five on a Match commissioned Caroline V. McGraw to write an audio drama in the spring of 2019. Inspired by true crime investigative podcasts, and the unique ways in which stories can be told through sound alone, SPLIT VALLEY began to take shape. But then COVID-19 hit. Unable to use a recording studio due to quarantine, the creative team recorded remotely in 17 separate home studios across four separate states.

“SPLIT VALLEY is a deeply humanist story wrapped in a pulp mystery. And it’s got a wicked sense of humor!” says director Eddie Prunoske. “Due to the pandemic, we were forced to record the series in secluded home studios, which ended up appropriately mirroring the story’s themes of isolation and longing for escape.”