Fear for the Flesh: The Artists Who Influenced Silent Hill 2
The surreal, macabre inspirations behind one of gaming’s greatest works of psychological horror
The works of art that Silent Hill 2 pays homage to are innumerable, drawing from the full breadth of film, television, literature, music, and traditional mediums. But among the many sly references and obvious allusions, there are artists whose influences are so indelible that they’ve become a part of the game’s very DNA, influencing the atmosphere, locations, and grotesque creatures that populate its world.
Francis Bacon
CG and character artist Takayoshi Sato cites Francis Bacon’s body of work as one of the most profound influences on Silent Hill 2’s art direction, and it takes only a cursory glance at his paintings to see why. Created in part as a reaction to the unimaginable brutality and suffering of the Second World War, Bacon’s art is obsessively preoccupied with human grotesqueness. His figures are violently warped, blurred, and distorted, often appearing to be little more than lumps of flesh, often frozen in moments of clear terror or torment.
