Early-Bird References to Silent Hill 4: The Room That You May Have Missed in Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 was released for the PlayStation 2 on 24th September 2001 to highly favourable critical reception, with a Metacritic score of 89, and earned a spot in the hearts of fans of the original. Often regarded as one of the greatest horror games of all time, Silent Hill 2 is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, in the series. On the other end is Silent Hill 4: The Room. Receiving favourable reviews but not well-liked among fans of the previous games, Silent Hill 4: The Room is often seen as the lesser out of the Team Silent games (though it has gained a cult following for its uniqueness) and is even subject to many rumours that it was not originally meant to be a Silent Hill game at all.

Rumours are all they are though and the proof is in the pudding. In this article, I’ll be going over Silent Hill 4: The Room foreshadowing found in its predecessor, Silent Hill 2.

"Article About Murder Incident"

The biggest reference to Silent Hill 4: The Room in Silent Hill 2 is the character Walter Sullivan, who is mentioned multiple times in Silent Hill 2 and is the antagonist of Silent Hill 4. He and his crimes are first mentioned in a newspaper scrap in the rubbish chute outside of the Wood Side Apartments. The memo, known in-game as the “Article About Murder Incident”, details the gruesome deaths of the Locane Twins and the suicide of Walter Sullivan himself. This memo covers the seventh, eighth, and eleventh victims of Walter during his pursuit of the 21 Sacraments.

‘The police announced today that Walter Sullivan, who was arrested on the 18th of this month for the brutal murder of Billy Locane and his sister Miriam, committed suicide in his jail cell early on the morning of the 22nd. According to the police statement, Sullivan used a soup spoon to stab himself in the neck, severing his carotid artery. By the time the guard discovered him, Sullivan was dead from blood loss, the spoon buried two inches in his neck. An old schoolmate of Walter Sullivan's from his hometown of Pleasant River said "He didn't look like the type of guy who would kill kids. But I do remember that just before they arrested him he was blurting out all sorts of strange stuff like 'He's trying to kill me. He's trying to punish me. The monster... the red devil. Forgive me. I did it, but it wasn't me!'.” The schoolmate then added "I guess now that I think of it, he was kinda crazy." ’

Jimmy Stone AKA the Red Devil in Silent Hill 4: The Room.

The article also mentions the “Red Devil”. While it was once thought that the Red Devil was foreshadowing for Pyramid Head (also known as Red Pyramid Thing), it was revealed in Silent Hill 4 that the Red Devil is actually cultist priest and executioner Jimmy Stone. Jimmy was given the name Red Devil for his red executioner’s hood, which he wore during Silent Hill’s ritualistic murders. After driving a young Walter to fulfil the 21 Sacraments ritual with his right-hand man and fellow priest George Rosten, Jimmy served as the boy’s first victim in what can only be described as an ultimate act of karma. Don’t worry about George, by the way. He was the sixth victim.

It's also worth pointing out that Jimmy and George possibly appear in the painting "Crimson and White Banquet for the Gods" in Silent Hill 2, which features two town executioners, one with a red executioner's hood.

"Trick or Treat"

Fans of Silent Hill 2 will remember the Trick or Treat trivia game in that awkward elevator ride with sexy mind manifestation Maria in Brookhaven Hospital. Fans might also remember the questions and answers as well, because, unlike other riddles in the game, they always remain the same. The questions in Trick or Treat are all simple ones that can be answered by players who have been reading the memos and looking at the map; the second references the “Article About Murder Incident” memo specifically. A good gamer is an observant one.

“Silent Hill witnessed a gruesome murder a few years back. A brother and sister were playing in the road when they were attacked and chopped into pieces with an axe. Torn flesh, smashed bones, splattered blood, and finally... What a terrible tragedy. What a gruesome end to such innocent lives. What was the name of the murderer who committed this vile act?”

The answer, of course, is Walter Sullivan. If the player knows this and the two other questions, they will be able to open the optional Trick or Treat Box, which holds two ampoules and five boxes of shotgun ammunition. Should the player get the answers wrong, the box will be permanently locked and James’ health will go in the red.

Labyrinth Graveyard

The Labyrinth is one of the more mysterious settings in Silent Hill 2, as it is one of the few places without a map and it is unknown if the area exists in the first place. Located deep underneath Toluca Prison and the Silent Hill Historical Society, the Labyrinth is a maze that changes depending on the person who is in it, similarly to the town. We see this through supporting characters Eddie and Angela, the former’s Labyrinth being refrigerator-like and cold and the latter’s being representative of flesh and the sexual abuse she faced regularly.

The graveyard is the final area of the Labyrinth before the player must fight Eddie, who has gone insane from the town’s influence and the trauma from the bullying he received during his life. One of the more peaceful areas in the game (partially due to “Fermata in Mistic Air” being played after James found Maria’s corpse minutes before), the indoor graveyard is small and green, one of the more rare colours in the game aside from James’ jacket and the outdoor graveyard near the town’s entrance. There are no monsters or threats in the room but there are nine graves that can be read by the player and one that serves as a save point.

Out of the nine graves that can be read, only five of them have names. Three of those names belong to characters in Silent Hill 2: Eddie Dombrowski, Angela Orosco, and the protagonist James Sunderland. One named grave belongs to an unknown character in the series, Miriam K, who is simply known as a “traitor.” The final name, of course, belongs to Silent Hill 4’s Walter Sullivan.

BONUS: Clearing Up A Misconception

There is a very popular theory that the phrase “there was a HOLE here. It's gone now” found in Neely’s Bar is a reference to Silent Hill 4: The Room and Walter Sullivan’s use of holes to travel through Otherworlds. While this does hold some ground, it is still just a theory and should not be taken as canonical information, like many seem to think it is.

In a tweet, Silent Hill 2 Monster Designer Masahiro Ito credited the phrase to either 3D Room Designer/Modeller Takeshi Miura or Scenario Writer Hiroyuki Owaku before giving his own interpretation of the line.

“If I remember correctly, it was by the modeller/artist of the structure Takeshi Miura or the writer Owaku. Not me. But I love this. Because it's like this told James that he had already had no place to hide himself.”

However, in a follow-up tweet, Ito clarified that his interpretation of the line holds no bearing on the unknown canonical meaning. It is also worth mentioning that if the line is Miura’s, it may be connected to Silent Hill 4: The Room since he is credited as a Background Designer in the game. The odds are less likely, however, if the line was penned by Owaku, as he did not work on Silent Hill 4 and is only credited with writing lyrics to some of Silent Hill 4’s soundtrack.