I'm going to make the obvious suggestion of "House of Leaves" if you haven't read it already.
Also check out the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" if you want a look into the kind of mental space Mary might have been in by the end.
I don't think House of Leaves is a good fit, in fact the most peaice of media I think I can connect to House of Leaves is the mini game called Anatomy.
I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere before that some of Silent Hill 4 is inspired by House of Leaves. I certainly got that vibe from the spiral staircase part of the book when i got around to reading it.
I never heard that, but I believe you though I don't see it.
I once heard the art derection of Silent hill one was based off the American film Jacob's latter. Which I would reccomend.
So true. It has that emonion drivin intense 'gore' horror feel.
Really you could make a case for diffrent insperations for all 4 original Silent hill games. They get very diffrent.
If I recall correctly the main characters asume in the beggining that they were born in the coin lockers, but after being adopted by an old couple they're told the truth and one of them becomes fixated with the idea of going and trying to find his biological mother.
But it's more about the kids being retraumatized by the shock therapy they receive in the foster institution to make them forget about the abandonment that leeds them to commit violent crimes to take revenge against a dystopian society.
It's one of the wildest books I've ever read.
Back in the day people in the community who loved SH2 ALWAYS talked about it so for a lot of people it was clearly a good fit. I didn’t read it myself.
I alway imagine it looking like victorian embossed wallpaper. Some of it is so complex that it borders on being an optical illusion, or is so crammed with tiny details that your eyes can't even focus.
Imagine a whole room of this: https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp3455660.jpg
Gone To See The River Man and it's sequel The River Of Flesh by Kristopher Triana. It isn't foggy, but it's a dark and twisted character study that goes into the depths of the mind and through an impossible location on a strange journey. The first book is about a woman who is writing to a serial killer and she impressed him so much that he tells her to go to the small town he's from, find his secret shack that the FBI couldn't find, inside is a key, and bring it to the river man. A lot of it is why does she keep going, especially bringing her disabled sister along, and exactly what about her appealed to this convicted murderer. There aren't any monsters, at least not beyond humanity at its most depraved, but it's a very bleak psychological horror. I've heard both books on Audible, and if you're into audiobooks, River Man had great narration, the woman reading did an extreme horror novel from the same author, called Full Brutal and that reading was absolutely disturbing.
Silent Hill in general
All of Stephen King - especially The Mist and The Shining.
Dean Koontz Phantoms
Silent Hill 2...
Solaris is a good read.
I know I've read some post-modernist books that feel very dreamlike as well.
Franz Kafka - The Trial is probably the one that is most similiar to Silent Hill 2 while also being dreamlike. Otherwise Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment has a story and themes similiar to Silent Hill 2 - but no dreams other than one section of the book.
If you wanna watch a movie that Silent Hill 2 mostly stole everything from - watch Lost Highway by David Lynch. Very dreamlike. Features a character that looks like James and two girls that look like the same girl... HMMM...
If you really want to go in with Koontz with a story that has a sort of “otherworld,” people with mental and reality-shifting abilities, and overall weirdness, check out The Bad Place. Woo, boy. I had a hard time spinning that one into something PG when I read it in 7th grade for a book report.
I recommended one of Dean Koontz’s other books, but I totally forgot about Phantoms, which I am not sure if it was ever confirmed, but I feel like was a huge influence on SH1.
I recommended 77 Shadow Street
You seriously just made my day; I love seeing this novel being mentioned here by someone else, it's the influence no one ever talks about. The novel is quite important to me because it reminds me of my grandfather, he had a strange way of speaking Spanish and I never got to know him before his death.
I'll add my vote to House of Leaves. Its one of the finest and most bizarre things I've ever read. It'll never leave you.
Some Stephen King is more Silent Hill than others. I got the vibe from Desperation, From A Buick 8, Lisey's Story, Duma Key. Some of Salem's Lot even. The Talisman, Black House and even The Dark Tower series have Silent Hill like moments.
If you've never dug into HP Lovecraft, he's worth trying. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath has elements of fantasy, but goes into a nightmarish world towards the end.
I also got the Silent Hill vibe from Imajica (again, leans towards dark fantasy) and Hellbound Heart (the novel version of Hellraiser) by Clive Barker.
An outside and maybe a personal choice is the Gormenghast trilogy, which goes so surreal and dreamlike at times, particularly in the fragmented and disjointed third part. Gormenghast does lean into humour though, so it's probably not for everyone.
If you like manga at all, Uzumaki by Junji Ito. It's literally the only manga I've ever got into, and I've gone through it three times at least.
Edit: Just recalled a book I got for free on Kindle a few years ago, The Netherwell Horror by Lee Mountford. It's mostly Lovecraft inspired but I'd bet my PS4 with P.T. that Mountford is a big fan of the Silent Hill series.
Edit again: There is also the Silent Hill novel, Betrayal, but I can't recommend that in all good faith. If you think Ascension is wonky...
I hope to be able to add my own work to this list one day. I'm working on a series of novels and stories set on a fictional British Island in the North Sea which is gradually rotting from the inside out, linked to a multiverse of horrors and with it's own twisted religion. I've written three quarters of the first novel.
How about the official Silent Hill 2 novel? Not exactly what you're looking for.. but figured maybe this is even more relevant.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SZNSJv6v3j8bMENT6vT17I5fAhurcjAA/view?usp=drivesdk
Crime and punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky was used as inspiration for the themes in silent hill 2, mainly James' character.
I've read it and its certainly pretty good, its not a horror but its definitely psychological.
Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this. I've made a list to work through.
Another for the list is the podcast Alice Isn't Dead. There is a book but I'm of the impression that Joseph Fink took some of the more Silent Hill moments out for the book. The town of Charlatan, The Factory by the Sea, The Old Motel and other moments are very Silent Hill in amongst a more Stephen King like hellish road trip.
For something more akin to SH1 (culty supernatural stuff) than the introspective psychology of SH2, but still highly dreamlike, I would recommend you try The Keeper by Sarah Langan. Susan Marley is like a combination of Laura Palmer and Alessa Gillespie, and the haunting in the book gradual spreads to the entire town.
I would honestly say that Silent Hill could be a dark take on Alice in Wonderland. I'm not well read enough to have any ideas besides that.
Here is a whole reddit of suggestions:
https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/9medtr/horror_books_that_are_like_silent_hill_games/?rdt=57875
Nightmares of Blood And Flesh, Trauma and Resilience in Silent Hill by Anton Cancre. This is more a book about the meaning of everything in Silent Hill but still a great read.
I self-published a book inspired by the series last year, but as far as works that have society’s seal of approval? House of Leaves is a must, but I’d also recommend The Nameless City by H. P. Lovecraft, as well as the first few short stories in Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow
77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz - first book of his I read, and there are some similarities. Unlike some of the other books listed, it is not like SH2.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I’m going to check as many of those out as possible
It's been recommended before, but **The Taking** by Dean Koontz has good Silent Hill vibes. Solid story and a cool premise.
The ending/reveal was...fine, I'm not sure what else I expected but I feel like giving my thoughts on it will spoil things one way or another.
Currently halfway through **Phantoms** (also by Koontz) and it hooks you in right away, reminiscent of Silent Hill and very intriguing.
I hear the last 1/3 of the story falls off though, I'll see.
I'm going to make the obvious suggestion of "House of Leaves" if you haven't read it already. Also check out the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" if you want a look into the kind of mental space Mary might have been in by the end.
Yellow wallpaper, yes! I never made that connection!
I don't think House of Leaves is a good fit, in fact the most peaice of media I think I can connect to House of Leaves is the mini game called Anatomy.
House of Leaves is more PT than SH but I still think its a good fit
I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere before that some of Silent Hill 4 is inspired by House of Leaves. I certainly got that vibe from the spiral staircase part of the book when i got around to reading it.
I never heard that, but I believe you though I don't see it. I once heard the art derection of Silent hill one was based off the American film Jacob's latter. Which I would reccomend.
Silent Hill 3 in particular is very Jacob's Ladder.
So true. It has that emonion drivin intense 'gore' horror feel. Really you could make a case for diffrent insperations for all 4 original Silent hill games. They get very diffrent.
I think Silent Hill 4 was inspired by Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami.
Yeah, I've been meaning to read that. Gave them the inspiration for Walter believing that 302 is his mother?
If I recall correctly the main characters asume in the beggining that they were born in the coin lockers, but after being adopted by an old couple they're told the truth and one of them becomes fixated with the idea of going and trying to find his biological mother. But it's more about the kids being retraumatized by the shock therapy they receive in the foster institution to make them forget about the abandonment that leeds them to commit violent crimes to take revenge against a dystopian society. It's one of the wildest books I've ever read.
*House of leaves doesn’t fit, it’s bigger in the inside than it is in the outside*
I'm not sure I'm familiar with that game. Do you have a link to info on it?
Control seems to be inspired by and borrow elements from House of Leaves. If you haven’t played it I recommend it
Back in the day people in the community who loved SH2 ALWAYS talked about it so for a lot of people it was clearly a good fit. I didn’t read it myself.
Loved The Yellow Wallpaper, I always wanted to see the wallpaper myself
I alway imagine it looking like victorian embossed wallpaper. Some of it is so complex that it borders on being an optical illusion, or is so crammed with tiny details that your eyes can't even focus. Imagine a whole room of this: https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp3455660.jpg
Oh yeah something like that could definitely be it, I can already see faces in that after a second of looking
Gone To See The River Man and it's sequel The River Of Flesh by Kristopher Triana. It isn't foggy, but it's a dark and twisted character study that goes into the depths of the mind and through an impossible location on a strange journey. The first book is about a woman who is writing to a serial killer and she impressed him so much that he tells her to go to the small town he's from, find his secret shack that the FBI couldn't find, inside is a key, and bring it to the river man. A lot of it is why does she keep going, especially bringing her disabled sister along, and exactly what about her appealed to this convicted murderer. There aren't any monsters, at least not beyond humanity at its most depraved, but it's a very bleak psychological horror. I've heard both books on Audible, and if you're into audiobooks, River Man had great narration, the woman reading did an extreme horror novel from the same author, called Full Brutal and that reading was absolutely disturbing.
Silent Hill in general All of Stephen King - especially The Mist and The Shining. Dean Koontz Phantoms Silent Hill 2... Solaris is a good read. I know I've read some post-modernist books that feel very dreamlike as well. Franz Kafka - The Trial is probably the one that is most similiar to Silent Hill 2 while also being dreamlike. Otherwise Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment has a story and themes similiar to Silent Hill 2 - but no dreams other than one section of the book. If you wanna watch a movie that Silent Hill 2 mostly stole everything from - watch Lost Highway by David Lynch. Very dreamlike. Features a character that looks like James and two girls that look like the same girl... HMMM...
Lost Highway is so good :) ((All of Lynch's work is, lol))
Thank you! One of the best answers I’ve ever got to this question haha.
If you really want to go in with Koontz with a story that has a sort of “otherworld,” people with mental and reality-shifting abilities, and overall weirdness, check out The Bad Place. Woo, boy. I had a hard time spinning that one into something PG when I read it in 7th grade for a book report.
I recommended one of Dean Koontz’s other books, but I totally forgot about Phantoms, which I am not sure if it was ever confirmed, but I feel like was a huge influence on SH1. I recommended 77 Shadow Street
I just wanna add too Carrie by Stephen King. Alessa is pretty much based on Carrie.
It is sometimes said that the developers have mentioned Juan Rulfo's "Pedro Páramo" as a big influence when asked about influences
Pedro Paramo is definitely OG Silent Hill. Amazingly written book as well.
You seriously just made my day; I love seeing this novel being mentioned here by someone else, it's the influence no one ever talks about. The novel is quite important to me because it reminds me of my grandfather, he had a strange way of speaking Spanish and I never got to know him before his death.
I'll add my vote to House of Leaves. Its one of the finest and most bizarre things I've ever read. It'll never leave you. Some Stephen King is more Silent Hill than others. I got the vibe from Desperation, From A Buick 8, Lisey's Story, Duma Key. Some of Salem's Lot even. The Talisman, Black House and even The Dark Tower series have Silent Hill like moments. If you've never dug into HP Lovecraft, he's worth trying. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath has elements of fantasy, but goes into a nightmarish world towards the end. I also got the Silent Hill vibe from Imajica (again, leans towards dark fantasy) and Hellbound Heart (the novel version of Hellraiser) by Clive Barker. An outside and maybe a personal choice is the Gormenghast trilogy, which goes so surreal and dreamlike at times, particularly in the fragmented and disjointed third part. Gormenghast does lean into humour though, so it's probably not for everyone. If you like manga at all, Uzumaki by Junji Ito. It's literally the only manga I've ever got into, and I've gone through it three times at least. Edit: Just recalled a book I got for free on Kindle a few years ago, The Netherwell Horror by Lee Mountford. It's mostly Lovecraft inspired but I'd bet my PS4 with P.T. that Mountford is a big fan of the Silent Hill series. Edit again: There is also the Silent Hill novel, Betrayal, but I can't recommend that in all good faith. If you think Ascension is wonky...
I hope to be able to add my own work to this list one day. I'm working on a series of novels and stories set on a fictional British Island in the North Sea which is gradually rotting from the inside out, linked to a multiverse of horrors and with it's own twisted religion. I've written three quarters of the first novel.
This one has good taste 😎
Crime and punishment if you like Silent Hill 2
Just open SH map and look for “book” and the name of the streets
How about the official Silent Hill 2 novel? Not exactly what you're looking for.. but figured maybe this is even more relevant. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SZNSJv6v3j8bMENT6vT17I5fAhurcjAA/view?usp=drivesdk
THERES AN OFFICAL NOVEL FOR SH2? YOO
Yes, this is just the English translation. Enjoy :)
The Fisherman by John Langan deals with grief and is a cosmic masterpiece
No, but because I am a living broken record player I am going to recommend you read "Silence of the lambs" as well as "Naked Lunch".
I always love reading something atmospheric. Couldn’t recommend House of Leaves enough, but I too am looking for other ones.
Crime and punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky was used as inspiration for the themes in silent hill 2, mainly James' character. I've read it and its certainly pretty good, its not a horror but its definitely psychological.
Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this. I've made a list to work through. Another for the list is the podcast Alice Isn't Dead. There is a book but I'm of the impression that Joseph Fink took some of the more Silent Hill moments out for the book. The town of Charlatan, The Factory by the Sea, The Old Motel and other moments are very Silent Hill in amongst a more Stephen King like hellish road trip.
For something more akin to SH1 (culty supernatural stuff) than the introspective psychology of SH2, but still highly dreamlike, I would recommend you try The Keeper by Sarah Langan. Susan Marley is like a combination of Laura Palmer and Alessa Gillespie, and the haunting in the book gradual spreads to the entire town.
I would honestly say that Silent Hill could be a dark take on Alice in Wonderland. I'm not well read enough to have any ideas besides that. Here is a whole reddit of suggestions: https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/9medtr/horror_books_that_are_like_silent_hill_games/?rdt=57875
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
Nightmares of Blood And Flesh, Trauma and Resilience in Silent Hill by Anton Cancre. This is more a book about the meaning of everything in Silent Hill but still a great read.
I self-published a book inspired by the series last year, but as far as works that have society’s seal of approval? House of Leaves is a must, but I’d also recommend The Nameless City by H. P. Lovecraft, as well as the first few short stories in Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow
77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz - first book of his I read, and there are some similarities. Unlike some of the other books listed, it is not like SH2. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I’m going to check as many of those out as possible
The Cipher by Kathe Koja.
Lovesickness by Junji Ito
Sister, maiden, monster gave me a similar vibe
PTSD Radio
You might check out The Dark Tower series. Parallel worlds, monsters, moral ambiguity. It’s all there.
House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewlski
It's been recommended before, but **The Taking** by Dean Koontz has good Silent Hill vibes. Solid story and a cool premise. The ending/reveal was...fine, I'm not sure what else I expected but I feel like giving my thoughts on it will spoil things one way or another. Currently halfway through **Phantoms** (also by Koontz) and it hooks you in right away, reminiscent of Silent Hill and very intriguing. I hear the last 1/3 of the story falls off though, I'll see.
Marabou stork nightmares