If your only experience with silent hill is the movie, then the actual lore might appear rather daunting and confusing when you pick up one of the many titles. Silent Hill the movie took a lot of liberties with the story which is a polite way of saying it crapped all over it.

The actual town of Silent Hill in the series is actually a thriving tourist town with a theme park and several natural attractions. This is revealed in about all the titles with a few exceptions. In the original Harry is taking his daughter to their favorite vacation spot, in number the sequel James doesn’t think twice about going to the town and each time the characters are surprised that the town appears deserted like it was occupied one minute and then poof everyone was gone the next.

Why then do the games always feature an abandoned town? The place you visit is called the Fog World; it is mirror of the real world and lies between the real Silent Hill and the hellish Other World or Nightmare world. The Nightmare world is heavily influenced by one particular person and is a reflection of their nightmare but the Nightmare world does exist outside this so one could speculate it is a subjective piece of space.

If Silent Hill is based more on occult and alternative plains of existence then what does a burning coal mine have to do with the series? Absolutely nothing. While Silent Hill did have a coal mine it was shut down in 1036 and became a sightseeing area. Hollywood in their eternal disrespect for the video game medium took liberties with the series and combined a lot of different aspects of the series while ruining any depth they might have had for the movie adaptation.

As noted Silent Hill has many occult themes as the area of Silent Hill has always been a mysterious place. Stretching all the way back to before the 16th century it was considered a holy place by the Native Americans. Not suprising a cult was born of the towns intrigue called The Order. The Order principally worships the beings from the Other World and Fog World where they believe their God Resides.

In each of the series’s entries The Order plays a prominent role in the events and you learn more and more of their influences over not only the town of Silent Hill but the surrounding areas.

Yet what makes Silent Hill an enjoyable series beyond its complex and deep mythology and history is that anyone can jump into any of the titles and enjoy them for the horror and story they tell. (With the exception of Shattered Memories for the Wii, this title is not cannon and should be skipped for multiple reasons.) For fans each title adds more and more to the lore of the game and for that reason Silent Hill has a loyal following despite Konami’s mistakes with the series.

If you are interested in learning more about the Silent Hill Series check out the following links

Mythology: http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Mythology

Time Line: http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline

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