"In my restless dreams, I see that town.
Silent Hill."
Dear viewer, I kindly ask you to participate in a guessing game with me.
I am going to describe a place to you,
and we'll see if you can guess the name of this place based on my clues.
Ready?
Fire.
Brimstone.
Monsters. Demons.
Screams of relentless agony.
What place do you think I am describing to you?
If you guessed "Hell," let me ask you this follow-up question. How do you know?
Depending on your religion, or lack thereof, Hell takes many forms and isn't always decorated with fire.
What is the correct version of Hell?
Nobody has ever been to Hell, and if they have and were able to return
there is no objective way to determine if they are telling the truth. This isn't to say that Hell isn't real, though.
Hell is very real. One experiences Hell when a family member tragically passes away, or when one suffers
unforgivable betrayal, or when one is poisoned by their vices. With so many different versions of Hell,
I think it's fair to say that what Hell is
greatly depends on the person defining it and how their version corresponds with their own horrors.
But if that is the case, can there be one objective version of Hell? One place of pure terror and agony that is
universal to all human beings?
Probably not, but what if there was a place?
A physical place where everybody's worst nightmare could be realized? An infinite number of Hells existing simultaneously,
crafted exclusively for each individual who enters, and from which there is no release?
Welcome to Silent Hill.
Before exploring the specific elements of Silent Hill,
I figure we should give a broad overview of the town itself. Doing this should give you all a greater appreciation,
as well as greater understanding, of things like the monsters, The Order the Otherworld, etc.
The town is obviously taken over by this malevolent,
supernatural force that is never explained in a straightforward way.
Based on my research into the series, there is a
coherent explanation for all of Silent Hill's madness, and in order to understand, we have to examine the town's history,
which goes as far back as the 15th century.
Silent Hill is located in what is known today as the American state of Maine. Prior to Europe's colonization of Eastern
North America, the town went by a different name.
According to an item that can be found in Silent Hill 2,
the Book of Lost Memories, the area was named "The Place of Silent (or
'Silenced' Spirits" by the local native tribes. The name comes from the legend of the people whose land was stolen from them.
Spirits meant not only their dead relatives,
but also the spirits that they believed inhabited the trees, rocks, and water around them. According to legend, this was where the holiest
ceremonies took place.
Apparently, this power inherent to the land didn't always
conjure monsters, blood, and fire.
"The power of the town was not evil in nature,
but due to a number of factors, the power that this place held was greatly distorted."
Now you may be asking what exactly
does this power do, and why did it become distorted? We don't need to theorize about
parallel dimensions or aliens because the Lost Memories tome
explains the lands power directly.
"In the town of Silent Hill, a power exists that gives
discernible form to people's innermost thoughts. The town is not merely showing the characters or nightmares,
but actually manifesting elements of their unconscious minds."
Seeing that the Native Americans treated this land is sacred,
it would make sense to live and act as morally as possible, especially on that land. That way, when they
manifested their innermost thoughts, they could do so in an enlightening, safe manner.
But when the Europeans arrived, several acts of evil occurred which
manipulated the lands power. The natives were forced off of the land. Several died at the hands of the Europeans by murder or epidemic.
Around 1810, the land became a penal colony - a prison, as well as Brookhaven
hospital, were built.
It was around this time that the land was called Silent Hill, an ironic name given that there were likely
innumerable screams from the tortured prisoners in that prison. Around the time of the Civil War,
a prisoner of war camp was built which became Toluca Prison, building upon previous decades of brutal punishment. As we approach
present day, more and more people began to disappear under the most mysterious
pretenses. A drug trade began, based around a drug called PTV, made from a plant called "White Claudia," and an overzealous
religious cult gained greater control over Silent Hill's various socio-political and economic functions.
It was even rumored that when town officials mysteriously died,
it was because their policies were not in line with the cults plans. There are more events like these,
but they will be discussed in relation to the other topics in the next few videos.
With all of this, and more, happening on this land throughout the centuries,
it makes sense that Silent Hill's power would be so corrupted that it would no longer be used as a means for
transcendental meditation. Instead, Silent Hill became its own force of nature,
feeding on the darkness lying in the hearts of all humans.
And depending on the amount of darkness in your heart, the town would respond accordingly.
We still have a lot of questions to address regarding the town's power.
Why does it seem that the people who come to the town seem to perceive it differently from one another?
Why do some people perceive it in the same way as others do? Are all their perceptions correct or incorrect? If they're correct,
how can that be physically or logically possible? I'll begin to address these questions
in the next video.