Recently a website was posted to the Remedy forums called This House of Dreams. The website is a blogspot account (same as this site) which feature several poems and stories which seem to focus on the Alan Wake universe.
CLICK HERE for the website.
There are several interesting things about the poems/stories posted. It's been suggested that this is to pave the way to the announcement of the second Alan Wake game; I'm unsure about this. The posting date starts on the 23rd February; the day after the release of American Nightmare. So it's likely, if this is a Remedy creation, that it's post promotional work for the game. After all the game focuses on the blend between reality with fiction. So a blog in first person fits into the game's theme perfectly.
Although with that being said Sam Lake did post a link on Twitter quoting the reversed section in Balance Slays the Demon; "It will happen again in another town called Ordinary*". Furthermore since American Nightmare was stated as being outside of the main canon, it can be considered that Mr Scratch might make another appearance. The reappearance of Scratch can be linked to the handwritten lines within poem eight; “In
this hall of mirrors / built by liars / I’m a pale reflection of myself –
Pool.”. The poem itself is a reference to one of the Address Unknown episodes in Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.**
There's another reference to the first Max Payne game in poem eight, in the final stanza; "Beyond the labyrinth of me/
When you’re lost/
You’re lost in your own company". One of the Nightmare levels involves the player running through Max's house chasing the antagonist which is later revealed to be himself. Although it could also be seen as the poem mirroring American Nightmare when Mr Scratch creates a never ending cycle to trap the protagonist. In addition, in the write up of the dream, it mentions; "Joss's a real angel" which, as I read it, I had the moment from MP2 in my head; when Mona says "You're a real angel Max".
In poem nine, the final stanza finishes on "When I sleep I have two hearts/
Your heart and mine/
Your two hearts and mine". Which links back to something that was mentioned in a TV broadcasting from the original game; "There's a hole in her chest where her heart should be". In the game's backstory, Thomas tried to bring Barbara back from the dead by using a combination of his poetry (left in a shoebox) and the power at Cauldron Lake. Barbara came back but was a mere puppet for the darkness. After realising his mistake, Thomas cut out Barbara's heart to kill her. "Your two hearts" sounds like it's the physical and metaphorical heart...Or she's part Timelord.
The poem, William Blake's Auguries of Innocence was used as the game's tagline; “Some are born to endless night.”It's also printed on the top of the game's novelisation.
Finally, the blog's name, This House of Dreams, a very similar title to House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski which was stated as being one of the literary inspirations for Alan Wake. And a similar style can be seen in the blog itself with the poems coming from a number of narrators; Old Gods of Asgard as well as Thomas Zane, with the majority influenced by the Dark Presence. And sections of poems 4 and 5*** were mentioned both in the original AW game and in Balance Slays the Demon.
It will be interesting to find out the truth about this website. Make sure to leave your views in the comment box below!
*Strangely enough it is a real place in Virginia, US.
**On the same page is a small drawing in ink which looks a lot like the side of Bird Leg Cabin.
*** I presume that E would be Emil Hartman. The lines mentioned to be his "favourite" are the same which were engraved on the sundial at Cauldron Lake Lodge which was placed in memory of Thomas Zane.
4th June 2012
This House of Dreams Website
