Yes, we’re still upset about Silent Hills getting cancelled.
We feel as though we’ve been robbed of one of the greatest survival horror games that could’ve been. But with rumours abound of multiple Silent Hill projects in the works, we live in hope that we’ll have at least one new Silent Hill game to sink our teeth into soon.
Until they’re officially announced, however, we’re left in limbo. But it has given us time to reflect on all the wonderful – and scary – moments the Silent Hill series has given us so far. Here are some of them, in no particular order.
Locker Surprise
Silent Hill is known for letting the feeling of dread set in as you move through the game, constantly wondering what will happen next. Just when you start to feel secure and safe, something falls out of a locker making a loud noise, also making you crap your pants in the process. A body falls out of a locker to be exact.
During one moment in the first game, Harry wanders into a locker room and finds one locker covered in blood and rattling as though something is inside. When you open the locker you’re expecting something to jump out at you, you’re bracing for it. Everything is clenched and then, there’s nothing. Just a whole lot of blood. But, you’re not going to get off that easy. As you go to leave, not seconds after you’ve taken a relieved breath, a body falls out of a locker in front of you. Probably scaring you half to death and quite possibly forcing you to rush to the bathroom. Classic Silent Hill.
Related: Remembering the Brilliant Vocal tracks of the Silent Hill Series
Eileen’s Giant Face
Eileen Galvin is Henry Townsend’s neighbour in Silent Hill 4: The Room. During the game, at St. Jerome’s hospital, a giant Eileen head may appear. What’s creepy about this, other than the fact that it’s a giant freaking head, is that the eyes will follow Harry as he moves around the room. The head will also make creepy breathing sounds. Later, with Eileen actually accompanying him, the head will still appear in this room though it takes no notice of Eileen herself, always following Henry.
Every encounter in Silent Hill is seemingly a manifestation or representation of someone (or something) significant in the lives of the protagonists. Maria in Silent Hill 2, for example, looks practically identical to the protagonist’s wife Mary. Eileen’s giant head in Silent Hill 4 is just another intriguing example of the ways that the characters imaginations can create horrific manifestations.
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Pyramid Head First Encounter
This moment is one of our absolute favourites in the series because of its subtlety. Towards the beginning of Silent Hill 2, its protagonist James is wandering around an apartment building when eventually he comes across the figure of Pyramid Head. Unlike other horror games, this encounter isn’t in your face scary. It’s simply unsettling. Pyramid Head is standing there on the other side of a set of bars, neither of you able to get to each other, and yet there’s something really, truly terrifying about the exchange.
It doesn’t help that James’ radio, which gives off static whenever you’re near an enemy, has a constant loud buzz as you stare at your creepy friend through the bars. Your first encounter with Pyramid Head, quiet and unmoving, is one of the most iconic moments of the series.
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Mannequin Store Room
One of the best moments in the Silent Hill series (that we wish we could forget) is the mannequin store room from Silent Hill 3. In this moment you’re playing as Heather Mason as she wanders into a store room with mannequins in various forms at Hilltop Center. One mannequin, set up at the centre of the room, looks unassuming. That is, until you turn around a corner.
After turning, you’ll hear a strange scream followed by a loud noise like something dropping heavily to the ground. When you go back, the once pristine mannequin has lost its head, and there’s blood everywhere. An unsightly scene to say the least and just creepy enough to make the list.
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Ultimate Jump Scare
This one might be a bit controversial considering Silent Hills P.T. isn’t a full game, or technically a part of the series as it never became anything more than a short demo, but it’s so incredibly memorable that we think it still deserves a spot on this list.
Anyone that has played P.T. will remember it. The big jump scare. Sure, some people don’t like jump scares. To some, jump scares are big signs that say “We don’t know how to really scare you so we’ll just make you jump out of your socks,” but when it’s done right, it’s done right.
In Silent Hills P.T., this jump scare can happen at a bunch of different spots during your playthrough, and it is absolutely horrific. The character following you around during the demo, a creepy young woman with a terrifying face, grabs you and basically slams her face into yours until you collapse, and then she just stares at you with a big smile on her face. We’re getting heart palpitations just thinking about it. Although Silent Hills will never happen, we’ll always have this sweet moment to remember it by.
The Mirror Room
Heather Mason, protagonist of Silent Hill 3, has a fear of mirrors, so this next top moment is one that makes sense under the circumstances.
When Heather goes into this particular room, one entire wall is made up of this large mirror. When you try to leave, you discover you’re stuck. Then, via the mirror, you realise that blood is beginning to pour out of the sink and crawl up and down the walls and floor. Even worse, the reflection of Heather in the mirror will begin to slowly get covered in blood as well. Being afraid of mirrors, it’s obvious that this moment is meant to get into the subconscious mind of the character, and players surely feel that in this moment too.
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The Dog Ending
One of several really strange endings that you can get in the Silent Hill series, the Dog Ending can be achieved after beating Silent Hill 2 three times, getting each of the different endings. After you do this a key will appear inside a doghouse in the game. Using the key, you can enter the Observation Room at the Lakeview Hotel and you’ll be greeted by Mira.
This ending reveals that Mira, an adorable Shiba Inu, has been controlling Silent Hill all along. Messing with James’ mind. Forcing him to kill all those people. Oh the humanity! A lot of weird things happen in Silent Hill, but this is by far the weirdest.
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The Long Hallway
Perhaps one of the most spooky moments of Silent Hill 2 happens about halfway through the game when you are walking down an innocent looking hallway with Maria. As you walk, the hallway seems painfully long and just gets longer and longer until finally you see Pyramid Head right behind you.
Since the controls for Silent Hill are notoriously bad, it’s often a challenge turning around corners, so in a painfully endless hallway trying to run away from a creature that can kill you in one hit, it can be a bit, well… nerve wracking. It doesn’t help that he legitimately almost catches up to you, too.
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The Devil’s Pit
Silent Hill: Downpour is probably one of the most unloved games in the series. Still, we really enjoyed our time with it despite its issues, and it’s got quite a few really good moments.
One of our favourite moments in Silent Hill: Downpour is when you ride into The Devil’s Pit. Downpour’s main character, Murphy, hitches a ride on a mining cart and speeds down into the pit, getting bombarded by monsters along the way.
It’s not a very Silent Hill-esque scenario as it’s very action based, but it’s still pretty freaky. The narrator tells you the story of The Devil’s Pit as you make your way down and you have your controller gripped as hard as you possibly can ready for something to happen.
Buy Silent Hill: Downpour on Amazon
They Looked Like Monsters to You?
The final moment on our list is one of the more iconic Silent Hill moments and happens towards the end of Silent Hill 3.
Talking to Heather about everything she has experienced in Silent Hill, Vincent states, “They looked like monsters to you?”. This is in reference to the creatures that she has encountered. It implies that every single monster Heather has killed wasn’t actually a monster, but a normal person. And it changes everything because it would mean that Harry, James, and Heather, the three protagonists from Silent Hill 1, 2, and 3 respectively, were possibly all cold blooded murderers killing people who they thought were monsters.
The problem with this theory is that it is full of holes. Most people think that Vincent was simply joking with Heather and that they were all clearly monsters. Others wonder, if they were real people, how Harry, James, and Heather weren’t wanted for murder after their stories were over. It’s definitely one of the biggest questions of the series, and the debate over it is still going. And that’s why it makes the list.
