Guides · 2 min read
Comfort audio for a thunderstorm when you can't sleep
When every flash has you waiting for the bang. A calm voice to keep you company until it moves on.
During a thunderstorm, the comfort audio that helps most is a calm voice close to your ears, with a steady sound underneath to soften the bangs. If you want company in a storm, try Open All Night: a laundromat at two in the morning, thunder overhead, and a stranger who stays beside you when the lights go out. If you would rather hear no thunder at all, Last Train has only rain, and it is free in full.
Why a storm keeps you awake
Steady rain is easy to sleep through. Thunder is not, because you cannot tell when the next one is coming. You lie there waiting for it, and the waiting keeps you more awake than the noise does. A voice gives your attention something steady to follow in between, and it is much easier to wait out a storm when someone seems to be waiting with you.
What helps
- Soft earbuds or a sleep headband. They take the edge off the thunder without shutting the world out completely.
- A steady sound under the voice. Rain or a fire blends with the weather outside.
- Counting. Count the seconds from the flash to the thunder. A bigger number means the storm is further away.
Stories for a stormy night
Open All Night. Fair warning: it opens with a sharp crack of thunder. He asks how you feel about storms, and if you would rather hide, he teaches you the counting trick his mum taught him. If you love them, he takes you to the window to watch. The opening is free.
Last Train. No thunder, only heavy rain on the windows of a stopped train and a man who is worried that you are cold. Free in full.
The Keeper. The storm has already happened when it starts. Once he has carried you up to his fire, the wind is on the other side of thick stone walls. Free in full.
Lights Out. For when the weather has taken your power. There is no storm in it, only a winter power cut, a candle, a camping stove and the neighbour from across the hall. The opening is free.
Setting up on a storm night
- Charge your phone early and listen on battery. While lightning is close, stay off anything plugged into the wall.
- Stories play over your connection, so if the power cut takes your wifi, switch to mobile data.
- If there are severe weather warnings where you live, keep alerts on and leave one ear free.
If storms are more than a bad night
A story is company for an ordinary stormy night. If fear of storms is getting in the way of your life, talk to a doctor. For other restless nights, read Comfort audio for anxious nights or the guide to audio after a nightmare.
Moonvale is for listeners 18 and over. The stories are warm and sometimes flirtatious, and never explicit.
Questions
What helps you sleep during a thunderstorm?
Many people find soft earbuds and a calm voice over a steady sound easier than lying in silence waiting for the next bang. It may not get you to sleep, but it does give you company until the storm passes.
Is there thunder in the stories?
Open All Night has thunder from its first second. Last Train has only rain, and The Keeper keeps the wind outside once you are by the fire.
Is it free?
Last Train, The Keeper and Sick Day are free in full. Other stories let you hear the opening for free.