The Town to Abandon All Hope

In writing these poems about film and book horror series, with many more still to explore, I've come across numerous franchises I had previously overlooked or forgotten. This discovery is one of the true joys of this endeavor and keeps me motivated to continue. With the industry's constant growth, it's unlikely I'll ever run out of material. For this installment, however, I wanted to shift focus slightly to a beloved horror game series that later became a movie and was pivotal in drawing me into the genre. I didn't want to concentrate on any specific installment, so I aimed to keep the content broad, using only a few iconic characters for illustration. If you're a fan of horror games, you've likely played this one, and with the recent remake of its most popular installment, I felt it was fitting to create something in its honor.

A waking nightmare or a sign,

Every thinner becomes the line.

A creeping fog engulfs all thought,

Undoing all I’ve been taught,

About the world and the natural order,

The closer I come to the Silent Hill border.

Searching for a lost child or wife,

Will this end the sadness and strife?

Broken down, no turning back now,

Pressing forward, ever repeating this vow;

I will find you, I will make this right,

I’ll bring you back into my light.

Passed the empty playground and shops,

Now with more mannequins and props.

Not a soul walks the street,

Ashen snow, now the scenes complete.

There’s something moving in the gloom,

In the shadows where a hospital loom.

A uniform resembling times passed,

Implications and the sight a stark contrast.

Red stains smearing the white,

A lone nurse caressing the night.

The featureless face of scarred skin,

All outward emotion is hidden within.

The scalpel glistens in the dark,

Now it’s a gruesome trademark.

Moving unnatural; aimless with no domain,

An embodiment of pure anguish and pain.

This hospital is simply a tomb,

Despair, just ready to consume.

Empty rooms with no one to mend,

Another clue becoming a dead end,

No signs or trace of them here,

But this is only the tip of the spear.

Onward, further into the mania,

Underground, burning like Centralia,

Something has followed me through the mire,

The scraping echoes like a choir.

Steel rubbing along the road,

A heavy, burdensome load.

The torturous noises grow near,

Inspiring and instilling the fear,

When the creature comes into view,

A mans body with a ghostly hew.

A white apron and a great blade,

A head that’s severely decayed.

Flesh replaced by rusted steel,

A great pyramid that can never unseal.

Escape is the only choice,

To live and later rejoice.

The school is the final hope,

As I walk this frail tightrope.

The ghosts endlessly haunt the halls,

Once children, now just names on the walls.

Searching for some form of peace,

Lashing out, they wish for release.

My heart fills with their torment,

All I can do is lament.

The final door has come,

Let this nightmare be done.

Inside there is nothing but black,

The Nothing has taken it back.

Somewhere between dreams and awake,

The final step I must take,

To confront the darkness for their sake.

In the ether, I find my kinship,

For none leave Silent Hill’s grip.