Silent Hill
Inspire Works

Silent Hill has come to be produced with influences from a great number of works. Those genres include many different things such as literature and movies, as well as comics, paintings and music. Let's introduce the works from which Silent Hill originates.
 
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Stephen King
A master of modern horror, many of whose novels have been made into films

   A leading figure in modern horror who has acquired many fans all over the world. His representative works include Carrie, The Shining, and Pet Sematary. Most of his works have been made into films and have gained high popularity.
   Incidentally, the Bachman Road that appears in the first game originates from Richard Bachman, which is Steven King's pen name.
Skeleton Crew (1) contains the short novel "The Mist" ● Fusosha Mystery ● 620 yen
 
Carrie depicts a young girl who possesses special abilities ●  Shincho Bunko ● 590 yen
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King is a master and a pioneer of modern horror. His works have been used for various references and have also been influential. Of his works that have been made into movies, I recommend The Langoliers and Pet Sematary.
(Hiroyuki Owaku)

The tv drama version of It that was produced in America is really worth seeing.
(Masahiro Ito)
 
Dean.R.Koontz
A popular horror author who, together with King, is one of horror's two most prominent figures

   A best-selling author with an artisan's temperament who devotes himself to entertainment. He wrote science fiction and suspense in his 60s under a number of different pen names, but gave modern horror his undivided attention in and after his late 70s using the name Dean Koontz. His representative works include Mr. Murder, The Face of Fear, The Vision, and The Voice of the Night.
Phantoms ● Hayakawa Bunko NV Modern Horror Selection ● 660 yen (first and last volumes)
 
The Door to December ● Tokyo Sogensha/Sogen Novels ● 680 yen (first and last volumes)
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I think that as a master of modern horror, Koontz, like King, has been referenced a lot and has also been a great influence. He has a number of film adaptations and so even though King's works are more well-known, taking the story element into consideration, I personally like Koontz better. In particular, Hideaway is a book that I strongly recommend.
(Hiroyuki Owaku)
     
Kunio Yanagita
A pioneer in folklore who systematized oral traditions

   A folklorist who continues to pursue folklore. Tono Monogatari, a collection of oral traditions, contains a great number of strange tales that call to mind otherworldly beings.
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From this work, the traditions of Silent Hill reference the way prosaic folk traditions should be and their placement.
(Hiroyuki Owaku)
 
Masako Bando
Manifesting the horror that lies hidden in popular manners and customs

   A horror novelist known for works such as Inugami and Shikoku. Many of her works portray the horror that lies in the background in the culture and beliefs that have been established in Japan since long ago.
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Bando has a superb style that possesses a musty atmosphere and a viscous feeling of oppression. I made a great effort to work that sense of atmosphere into the game.
(Hiroyuki Owaku)
     
Robert.R.
McCammon
A leading figure in modern horror who ended his literary career

   A novelist known for works such as Swan Song and Mine. Together with King and Koontz, McCammon became a leader in modern horror but announced his retirement in 1999.
Stinger portrays the drama that unfolds between aliens and humans ● Fusosha ● 660 yen (first and last volumes)
 
Kobo Abe
Works that have elements of abstract absurdity

   An avant-garde novelist known for a literary style that is absurd and abstract. Abe handled various genres such as science fiction and mystery, and all of his esoteric works have various possible interpretations.
In Abe's masterpiece The Box Man, a soliloquy is composed in which a man is possessed by his fascination with a box and becomes a box man ● Shincho Bunko ● 400 yen
 
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Daijiro Morohoshi
Unorthodox works that portray an otherworld

   An expert who depicts every mysterious phenomenon from supernatural creatures to science fiction with an overwhelming sense of reality. The otherworld in which reason has no bearing is also something that is linked to the world of Silent Hill.
Shiori and Shimiko's Incident Involving a Freshly Severed Head ● Asahi Sonorama ● 757 yen
 
Junji Ito
A master of horror comics

   A leading figure in horror comics in Japan. Starting with the Tomie series and then works such as Lovesick Dead and Oshikiri, a great number of his comics have been made into movies.
Horror Manga Collection series volume 11 "The Town Without Streets" ● Asahi Sonorama ● 552 yen

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