The beauty of a horror anthology is that each story stands on its own merit: a uniquely dark tale, with its own terrifying threats and hapless victims.
Enjoying The Dark Pictures Anthology is like sampling a taster menu of horror treats, with only the Curator to guide you between courses.
However, for the eagle-eyed and diligent, there’s a long list of links hidden throughout the series.
Each story contains at least one hidden reference about past and future games. Be it on a shirt or a newspaper, it’s oh-so-satisfying to uncover links to past stories and clues that hint to the future.
Have your deductions proven right so far? Let’s go over three entry-level Easter Eggs that you surely must have found by now!
1: Conrad’s shirt in Man of Medan, the first entry of the Anthology, foreshadows the lore of Little Hope, the second game, which drew inspiration from the Salem Witch Trials.
2: Within the dreadful hull of the Ourang Medan lies a newspaper that alludes to a lost expedition in the Zagros Mountains. You’ll learn more about this expedition in House of Ashes, the third and latest addition to the Anthology.
3: Time doesn’t go forward, but backwards as well. Some House of Ashes players may have noticed a cameo to Little Hope in a certain key flashback scene of the story.
Together, these elements contribute toward a shared, “Dark Pictures Universe” in which all episodes connect with each other. A world filled with horrors, where deadly forces lurk in the shadows: twist of the mind or real, human, or inhuman.
But what about the hints to the fourth game? In case you’ve yet to find any, here’s a gift from the archives:
4: In Little Hope, you can uncover a magazine about a certain Kate Wilder investigating infamous killers. Let’s hope her eagerness to shed light on mankind’s worst murderers won’t get the better of her!
5: Just like Conrad, Nick wears a shirt with a city name on it. Many a murder happened in Chicago (especially around 1893).
Alas, our time is running out, so we’ll leave the rest to your imagination and sharp eye.
But we’ll meet again. Soon enough. . .
