Hello everyone!

So, I'm trying to figure out the origin of the initial plot point in Silent Hill 2. I realize that it's possible that the game creators, themselves, came up with it. But Silent Hill seems to take from so many influences, I wouldn't be surprised if they got this idea from somewhere else. What's the primary source for the plot point where James receives a letter from his deceased wife? Are there any other books/movies in which a similar premise occurs?

Thanks!

In my opinion: As far as i understand, alot what happens in Silent Hill to James is a manifestation of his mind, of course not everything, since we have other characters there who influence the surrounding a bit, too.
So i think also this letter is a manifestation of some kind. I mean if he could create monsters with his fears then a letter would be a piece of cake, right?
What I'm trying to say is that the autors may wanted that we come to this conclusion and it was planned from the beginning.
I also saw alot of horror/mistery movies where physical matter were created by protagonist's mind and/or demonic power.

^ I think the OP was asking where in other media the idea of a letter from a dead person may have come from, not whether the letter was a manifestation or what it may symbolize.

I saw this post a while ago, but didn't respond because I couldn't think of any specific examples. Which is weird, because it seems like I've definitely seen something along these lines in movies or books before. After a bit of thinking and digging, the closest thing I could come up with is the movie Letter from an Unknown Woman, but even that doesn't line up too well with Mary's letter. I feel like I'm missing a glaringly obvious example here.

yeah, i was just writing down what was on my mind concerning that topic ^^
unfortunately i also can not remember a movie that would have a similar letter setup as it is in the game.

Thanks for the help, and any ideas help. I'll probably still check out the movie you mentioned, Aman, in any case. Solaris feels vaguely related too. I wouldn't be surprised if the creators of Silent Hill were also influenced by a Japanese source, which we generally aren't familiar with. Of course, it's also possible that it was completely original on the Silent hill team's part.

thanks!

I don't know exactly but maybe you can find something in the Movie 'Jacobs Ladder'.
As we all probably know, the creators of this game were inspired alot by this movie.
It is also a nice movie to enjoy in the evening, in case you didn't see it yet.

Both Solaris (1972) and Jacob's Ladder had heavy influence on the game, for sure. Another I could mention is Memento. It only came out a year before SH2, so I'm not sure how much (if at all) it influenced the creators of the game, but the similarities are numerous. While Leonard Shelby wasn't exactly contacted by his deceased wife, his main motivation is tied up in finding her killer. If we're looking for a comparison to the letter specifically, I'd say his tattoos would stand in nicely. We also learn at the end (beginning?) that...

I think you're right about all of these sources being potential links to the game, but I still haven't found anything that directly connects to the plot point of finding a letter from your dead wife. Except, maybe I should watch Letters from an Unknown Woman.

There is a possibility the letter was not real in the first place, and was a manifestation of his own guilt. Remember, the further you got into the game, the further the letter faded, until . After that, the letter disappears along with his reason to come to Silent Hill. I believe that the letter fading is symbolic of , and once that realization is made, he no longer needs the letter. Thus its disappearance.