Seeing as how the story of Alan Wake is ripe for novelization, it works out to be a pretty good read.  Granted, if you’ve played the game to completion and just want to have a read-at it again, then the novel is a good deal.  But seeing as how there’s nothing really there ‘except’ for the story, if you didn’t care for the story, then I really couldn’t recommend it.  But that’s just common sense, right?

Rick Burroughs does an amazing job of making Alan Wake out to be a total prick.  Bitter fights between Alan and Alice, Alan’s arrogance and pure distaste for even his own fame, all of them are present and in full force in the novelization.  Burroughs adds in more interactions between characters to make the story seem more like a novel and less like a video game.  As such, the past and motives of other individuals are explored, even though the narration is based around Wake’s actions and motives.

Burroughs acknowledges Sam Lake and Mikko Rautalahti for their feedback on the manuscript, so it can be said that what’s in the book could be taken as cannon.  That have to make this novel a little better off than your general fanfiction fare.

The only bad thing, is that there’s very little different in the story.  There are a few instances however, such as where Nightingale briefly reminiscences about a time when he wasn’t a total lush, or some kind interaction between Rusty and Rose, but little else.  Some of the speech might be different, but in essence, it’s the same story.

If you’re interested, you can pick up Alan Wake by Rick Burroughs on Amazon.com.  The novel is great for people who are already fans of the Alan Wake series, or even folks who wanted to pick up the game, but felt like $60 was just a bit too steep.

Alan Wake: The Novelization is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

Website - More Posts

Episode One: Nightmare
“Night Springs Episode 1: The Quantum Suicide”

TV Shows is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

Website - More Posts

A Friend in Need

You found Barry–or at least the next best thing

25

Keep playing the game until you meet up with Barry.  He’ll stick with you throughout most of the rest of the level.  You can always tell where he is by those Christmas lights he’s draped around himself.  Unfortunately he doesn’t offer a whole lot of insight as to what is going on, but he does bring his trademark wit and that fashionable jacket to the table.

Words Will Never Harm You Trigger all of the furnaces in the basement

You can use most of these blast furnaces to destroy The Taken.  There are a lot of them, and some of them are in unusual hiding places.  Just be sure to stand back, as the blast will also harm you.You can use most of these blast furnaces to destroy The Taken.  There are a lot of them, and some of them are in unusual hiding places.  Just be sure to stand back, as the blast will also harm you, contrary to what the title says…

License Revoked Complete the episode without using a single vehicle

20 When you’re given the opportunity to hitch a ride, hoof it instead.  Make it across the field to the switch, and back again without using a vehicle.  This is the only instance where there is a vehicle in the game–unfortunately making it through is no easy task.  Your best bet is to destroy the possessed objects and The Taken before you make the return trip, and use the LB to dodge, dodge, dodge!When you’re given the opportunity to hitch a ride, hoof it instead.  Make it across the field to the switch, and back again without using a vehicle.  This is the only instance where there is a vehicle in the game–unfortunately making it through is no easy task.  Your best bet is to destroy the possessed objects and The Taken before you make the return trip, and use the LB to dodge, dodge, dodge!

Cardboard Companions Discover all of the cardboard standees

25 –Odin Anderson – After you go through the general store, turn to the right.  Go around to the side of the building where you’ll find it. –Sarah Breaker – just before you cross the broken road, turn to the left.  Follow it around to where the typewriter words are. –Barry Wheeler – found just inside the church on the left-hand side. –Cynthia Weaver – right after you create the bridge and drop down through the train car, look around on this rock. –Tor Anderson – Just past the Safe Haven, after you go through the challenging street-light field –Alice Wake – Once you reach the second bridge puzzle, go to where the switch is.  Turn around and head back to where the standee is.

Tick-Tock Discover 10 hidden alarm clocks

30 1–The first clock is inside the Staff Only room in the Diner, sitting on the counter. 2–At the playground, just on the other side of the two fallen trees when you first enter. Jump over them to get it. 3–In the basement with the furnaces.  It’s behind the stairs, you have to go all the way around to get it. 4–In the forest, battling invisible Taken, there’s a television sitting in an arm-chair.  From the chair, head to the right.  Once you find the train-tracks (or when you find them if you didn’t head to the right…) follow them to an abandoned train car. 5–Keep following the track down from where the last train car was.  There’s another train car here, but you don’t have to go into it, just go around it.  There’s a yellow tent with typewritten words on the outside.  Destroy the words and head inside the tent. 6–In the street-light field, stick to the left.  The clock is located in the wooden fences near some rocks.  There’s an opening between the fences, and the clock is sitting on some rocks. 7–In the Demolition Derby field, check the large piles of logs. 8–At the end of the pier after “The Trap.”  Climb the ladder and walk out to the end of the pier. 9–In the container-maze, after fighting the Taken with a Chainsaw, keep to the left.  Run past the patio table and toward the fence at the corner of the building. 10–In Alan’s apartment, shortly before the final boss battle.  Check his study.

A Friend Indeed You found the point of contact with Thomas Zane

50 You met up with Thomas Zane in Alan’s apartment, making it to the final boss battleYou met up with Thomas Zane in Alan’s apartment, making it to the final boss battle

Fast and Furious Make it through the final battle in less than 1:30

25 You need to destroy all the TVs that surround the large flatscreen several times, while avoiding possessed objects and the occasional Taken.  Remember all of those flare guns and flares you picked up during the rest of the level?  Using them makes this achievement a piece of delicious cake.You need to destroy all the TVs that surround the large flatscreen several times, while avoiding possessed objects and the occasional Taken.  Remember all of those flare guns and flares you picked up during the rest of the level?  Using them makes this achievement a piece of delicious cake.

Run-on-Sentence Complete the episode without reloading the game or restarting a checkpoint

50 Practice indeed makes perfect.  The Signal can be one of the most challenging parts of Alan Wake–save your flares and flare gun ammo and keep checking over your shoulder.  Sometimes it’s best to make a mad-dash for that one functional street lamp.Practice indeed makes perfect.  The Signal can be one of the most challenging parts of Alan Wake–save your flares and flare gun ammo and keep checking over your shoulder.  Sometimes it’s best to make a mad-dash for that one functional street lamp.

The Signal – Achievement Guide is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

Website - More Posts

Below are the manuscript pages for Departure, that are found in Episodes 5 and 6

Episode 5 – The Clicker

Nightingale Reads the Manuscript

Nightingale tried to make sense of the manuscript.  It was disjointed and strange.  He didn’t understand half of it, but it all rang true.  He took out his hip flask when he reached the page that described how he reached the page that made him take out his hip flask.

It wasn’t the booze that made his mind reel.

Nightingale Attacked by the Dark Presence

Nightingale felt the situation veering out of control, but the gun at least felt steady in his hands.  He was ready to fire, resolved that he would let this happen over his dead body—and yet he hesitated.  He had seen this moment before—read it in the page.

He was transfixed by the déjà vu and the horror that he was a character in a story someone had written.  Then the monstrous presence burst in behind him and dragged him into the night.

The Dark Presence Set Back

The darkness that wore Barbara Jagger’s face was furious.  The story in the manuscript had been making it stronger all the time, but now the light had set the writer free and hurt it, weakened it.  It was only a matter of days before the Dark Presence would be strong again, but meanwhile, it would be difficult to recapture the writer.

Cynthia’s Work

Cynthia Weaver worked hard, following her obsessive rituals, sometimes fighting them, but always giving into them in the end.

She haunted the halls of Bright Falls’  abandoned power plant.  She marked her caches with light-sensitive paint that could only be seen by eyes that had been touched by darkness and saved by light like she’d been.  She was preparing defenses and supply lines for the war she knew would come—the war between the forces of light and darkness.

The Dark Presence Hunts Wake

For it to be free, the Dark Presence needed the writer to finish the story.  Again and again, the story let it get frustratingly close to the writer without letting it capture him.  It was bound by the events depicted in the manuscript.  But it could pursue the writer indirectly, put others on the task and stop those who would help him.  It took over everything in its path, made them its puppets and sent them after Alan Wake.

Alice Trapped in the Dark

Alice had screamed until she had no voice left to scream.  Around her, the darkness was alive.  It was cold and wet and malevolent and without end.  She was a prisoner, trapped in the dark place.

The terror would have burned her mind out, but one thing made her hang on: she could sense Alan in the dark.  She could hear him, she could see the words he was writing as flickering shadows.  He sensed her too, he was trying to work his way to her.

Barry in the Sheriff’s Station

Barry was in his element, making calls, making things happen, even if he didn’t entirely know what those things were.  He wouldn’t let the hot sheriff chick down, even if every noise he heard from outside—and he heard plenty—made him jump.  He had only paused to text Al a message, told him to hurry up.

Suddenly, Barry froze in mid-dial: a window broke somewhere in the building, and then the lights went out.

Barry in the General Store

Barry got back to his feet inside the Bright Falls General Store and dusted himself off.  Right next to the cans of baked beans was a locked case filled with flare guns.  And yet, he were was conveniently placed barrel of crowbars!

Barry’s smile widened as he realized that this was the classic movie scene where the hero had to gear up and arm himself to the teeth.  Barry threw himself into the role.

Wake’s Plan

The story I had written in the cabin had come true.  Touched by the Dark Presence, I had written a horror story, but the end was still missing. The story was incomplete and the last unfinished page of the manuscript still sat in the typewriter in the cabin study.  If I could get back there, if I could read the page, then I could write my own ending to this story and save Alice.

The Falling Helicopter

Sarah was almost starting to relax.  Maybe they could turn this into a win yet?

Suddenly, there was a piercing sound, like a table saw gone wild as a hundred birds made out of shadows swarmed into the rotor.  The chopper bucked wildly and the board lit up, telling her what she already knew: they were going down.  Barry Wheeler screamed next to her.

Zane’s Shoebox

Thomas Zane knew he had to remove all that had made this horror possible, including himself.  That was the only way to banish the dark presence he had unleashed and now looked at him through the eyes of his dead love.  But he also knew that despite his best efforts, it might someday return, so even as he wrote himself and his work out of existence, he added a loophole as insurance—an exception to the rule.  Anything of his stored in a shoebox would remain.

Cynthia on her Way to the Dam

Making her way through the water pipe alone, Cynthia was angry at the writer.  Foolish young man, taking unnecessary risks.  And the way he broke the rules!  Didn’t he understand what was at stake?

Since the terrible days in the 70s, she hadn’t wavered once.  As hard as it had been.  She was tired of protecting the town all these long years and now only wanted to rest.

The Poet and the Muse Lyrics (pt4)

The Poet and the Music Lyrics by Old Gods of Asgard
The chorus:

And now to see your love set free
You will need the witch’s cabin key
Find the lady of the light gone mad with the night
Find the lady of the light still racing in the night
That’s how you reshape destiny

Children of the Elder God Lyrics (pt 1)

Children of the Elder God lyrics by the Old Gods of Asgard,
The first verse and chorus:

Warriors, torchbearers, come redeem our dreams,
Shine a light upon this night of otherworldly fiends,
Odin’s might be your guide
divorce you from the sane
Hammer’s way will have its say,
rise up in their name
Oh, Memory and Thought
Jet Black and clawed
Children of the Elder God
Scourge of Light upon the dark.

Children of the Elder God Lyrics (pt2)

Children of the Elder God lyrics by Old Gods of Asgard
Second verse and chorus:

Scratching hag you can rake
Your claws and gnash your
Crooked teeth
You’ve taken slaves like ocean waves now feel the ocean seethe
Father Thor, bless this war
Between the dark and light
In their songs let their wrongs
Bring dissolution’s night
Oh Memory and Thought
Jet black and clawed
Children of the Elder God
Scourge of light upon the dark

Episode 6: Departure

The Dark Presence Wants to Stop Wake

The Dark Presence was no longer trying to capture the writer so he could create the ending it wanted.  The writer knew too much.  He was too strong, and he carried a weapon left behind by Thomas Zane, something that could hurt it.

Now the darkness was doing everything in its power to simply stop the writer from ever reaching Cauldron Lake and the dark place it came from.

The Trail of the Dark Presence

The bottom of Cauldron Lake was a graveyard of things the lake had claimed in one way or another over the decades.  The Dark Presence brought them up in its wake, scattering the rotten, waterlogged hull of an old boat here, the remains of a long-ago crashed airplane there.  Trees shattered under the impacts.  The earth groaned.  It didn’t even notice.

Thomas Zane’s Last Dive

Zane cut its hard out, but it didn’t die.  The thing that wore Barbara’s face kecrooning sweet nothings, sugar laced with poison.  He put on the suit, untied the monster from the chair.  The thing in his arms thrashed weakly, but he held fast.  He stepped outside, off the pier and into the dark water, a sinking pinprick of light, descending toward the bottom that never came.

The Dark Place

The dark place I found myself in was unlike anything I had ever imagined.  It wasn’t solid, it flowed.  It was conceptual and subjective.  For someone else, an artist in another field, it would have been very different.  I could sense the story of the manuscript all around me.  The words and ideas floating in the air, poised to become real.

The Way through the Dark Place

After Zane had gone, I stood alone in the shifting dream that was the dark place.  I had to find a way to the cabin.  I had written myself a way through this place in the manuscript.  I followed the idea of a path.  I had written myself across the ocean that blocked my way, and with that, there was a bridge to the island beyond. The idea of the cabin flickered in the underwater darkness.

I willed the cabin to be real.  And it was.

The Poet and the Muse Lyrics (pt1)

The Poet and the Muse Lyrics by Old Gods of Asgard
The first verse:

There’s an old tale wrought with mystery of Tom the Poet and his muse
And a magic lake which gave a life to the words the poet used
Now the muse she was his happiness and he rhymed about her grace
And told her stories of treasures deep beneath the blackened waves
‘Til the stillness of one dawn, still in its misty crown
The muse she went down to the lake and in the waves she drowned.

The Poet and the Muse Lyrics (pt 2)

The Poet and the Muse Lyrics by Old Gods of Asgard
The second verse

The poet came down to the lake to call out to his dear
When there was no answer he was overcome with fear
He searched in vain for his
treasure lost and too soon the night would fall
Only his own echo would wail back at his call
And when he swore to bring back his love by stories he’d create
Nightmares shifted in their sleep in the darkness of the lake.

The Poet and the Muse Lyrics (pt 3)

The Poet and the Muse lyrics by Old Gods of Asgard
The third verse

In the dead of night she came to him with darkness in her eyes
Wearing a mourning gown, sweet words as her disguise
He took her in without a word for he saw his grave mistake
And vowed them both to silence deep beneath the lake
Now it’s real or just a dream one mystery remains
For it is said on moonless nights they may still haunt this place

Sarah and Barry in the Well-Lit Room

In the end, Barry wasn’t going to shoot Sarah, they both knew that.

Once she had no chance of catching up to Wake, Barry gave up the gun and sat down on the floor, shielding his face from the merciless glare of the Well-Lit Room, “I don’t think I’m ever gonna see him again,”  he said in a weak voice.

Sarah didn’t have it in her to be mad at him.  Besides, he was probably right.

Zane’s Poem

I’d first heard the poem in a dream, recited by a strange UFO-like light.  I’d read it again in the cabin, in a book by Thomas Zane:

For he did not know that beyond the lake he called home
Lies a deeper, darker ocean green
Where waves are both wilder and more serene
To its ports I’ve been
To its ports I’ve been.

Departure – Episodes 5 & 6 is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

Website - More Posts

Below are the manuscript pages for Departure, that are found in Episodes 3 and 4.

Episode 3: Ransom

Randolph Calls the Police

Mr. Randolph liked Rose.  That little smile she had, how she was still sweet when life had tried so hard to make her bitter.  Wasn’t any of his business what she did in her trailer, but those strangers, the writer and his smart-ass sidekick looked like trouble, and they’d been in there for hours.  Way past her normal bedtime.  He reached for the phone and called the Sheriff’s Station.

The Dark Presence Sleeps

For decades, the darkness that wore Barbara Jagger’s skin slept fitfully in the dark place that was its home and prison.  It was hungry, and in pain.  It dreamed of its nights of glory when the poet’s writing had called it from the depths and given it a brief, terrible taste of power and freedom.  The rock stars had stirred it form the deep sleep the poet had sunk it back to in the end.

When it sensed the writer on the ferry, it opened its eyes.

Nightingale in the Radio Station

Nightingale stared through the broken studio window into the dark woods.  He turned around, started to walk out, but Maine grabbed his arm, “Young man, you almost shot me!  You don’t shoot off rounds at people like that, what’s the matter with you?”

Nightingale shook his arm free, marched out. His cheeks burned with rage and humiliation.

Sarah Distrusts Nightingale

Sarah trusted her gut, and her gut told her that Agent Nightingale was an asshole.

He felt wrong, and it wasn’t just the smell of stale booze.  It was the way he flashed his badge, pulled rank, and the look in his eyes when he wanted answers.  Where was Alan Wake?  What was this about an accident?  Where was his wife?  And most importantly, why did she let wake go?  He wouldn’t answer her questions, “Federal business” was all he’d say.

Wake Attacked by a Possessed Object

The pipe wrenched itself loose from the bridge’s steel framework.  Wrapped in darkness, it floated in mid air, twitching spastically.

For a moment, I didn’t understand what I was looking at. The heavy object lurched at me with impossible force.  I threw myself out of the way, but just barely. When I turned my flashlight on it, it shook in a dark rage, before it flew at me again.

Wake and the Dark Presence in the Lodge

I slammed the door shut right in his smug face.  He pleaded for me to open the door.  True to form, the asshole actually thought I would obey.  I had no sympathy left.  No guilt, either, not for him.  I took a moment to savour the scream.  I bet I had a smile on my face.

It was all that I had time for.  The Dark Presence was inside the lodge with me.

Wake Attacked by the Dark Presence

A darkness surged toward me, sucking everything loose from the ground into its depths, tugging at my clothes.  I saw the flare the kidnapper had dropped and thew myself toward it just as I felt my feet leave the ground.  The darkness embraced me with the force of a tornado. Somehow I managed to light the flare.  The darkness roared and cast me away.  I fell, toward the dark waters of the lake far below.

Rose Visited by the Dark Presence

Rose didn’t know how the strange old lady got in her trailer, and she looked…wrong somehow.

The woman showed her teeth in an approximation of a smile and traced a finger down Rose’s cheek, “Pretty girl,” she said.  Rose felt as if she was falling asleep, but her knees didn’t buckle.  The crone spoke in a whisper—her words ice cold and dark in Rose’s ear.

Rose Touched by the Dark Presence

Touched by the Dark Presence, Rose was lost in a dreamland where everything was drawn in black and grey crayons.  The old lady had promised her that all her wishes would come true.  She would be Alan Wake’s muse.  She was smiling so hard it hurt her face. She crushed a bottleful of sleeping pills into the coffee.  Deep down inside, she was screaming in terror.

Walter Fights Danny

Danny had stepped out, but what stumbled back in was something else.  Something alien, a monster.  Walter tried to kill it, first with his fists then with a chair.  It wouldn’t die; instead it kept coming, unaffected by the beating it had taken.

After Walter managed to kick it down the cellar stairs, fear took over.  He ran, got behind the wheel, gunned the engine.  The booze wouldn’t make him forget, but he knew he had to try.

Wake Attacked by a Bulldozer

The bulldozer’s engine roared to life.  Mud and rocks flew as it fought for traction.  It crashed the concrete walls and landed heavily in the yard.  If it were an animal, it would have shaken its head after the impact, fixed its eyes on me and charged.

Of course it had no head, nor eyes.  Shadows crawled on its form, twisting it into a monster.  Then it came for me.

Wake and Night Springs

Even after all this time, hearing the Night Springs theme caused a surge of conflicting emotions in me.  It had been my first writing gig.  Barry had known a guy who knew a guy, and suddenly I’d been a semi-regular writer on the show.  I’d always been ashamed of the work, felt it was trash.  I had wanted to be an artist, a novelist.  It had taken a long time to learn to be proud of the work.

Sarah in the Radio Station

With Nightingale gone and the night wind blowing in through the broken studio window, Maine stared at Sarah.  The Sheriff looked away.

Maine’s voice shook with barely controlled anger, “That boy’s doing more drinking than thinking.  I hope you know what you’re doing, Sarah.  He’s got a sickness in his eyes.  You take my word for it: he wants Wake for a reason, and it’s not for anything good.”

Thomas Zane in Love with Barbara Jagger

When Thomas Zane fell for Barbara Jagger, it happened fast.  She was young, vibrant and beautiful, full of life. He had never been a very happy man, and without any seeming effort, she changed all that.  Zane felt good for the first time in his life.  Everything she did was another piece of a jigsaw puzzle he hadn’t even known he’d been missing.  And best of all, she made the words flow, strong and sharp.  She was his muse.

Wake Touched by the Dark Presence

Some of the Taken retained echoes of their former selves, but these were just the nerve twitches of a dead thing.  Nothing remained but a shell, covered and filled with darkness.  In most cases these puppets were enough for the purposes of the Dark Presence.  But for anything more elaborate, as with the writer, it was different.  It needed his mind.  And so rather than taking him over completely, it merely touched him.

Wake and Barry in the Cell

I stared through the bars of the jail cell.  Barry stood behind me, swaying on his feet, looking as ill as I felt.  Agent Nightingale stood on the other side of the bars with Sheriff Breaker.  Nightingale had a stack of manuscript pages in his hand.

He seemed unhinged as he gloated, “Well, I’ve got you now, Raymond Chandler.  It’s all here, all the evidence, including conspiracy to murder a federal agent.”

Wake and Casey

Things were never as simple in real life as in fiction.  I had lost count of the times I had wished there’d be a clear reason for my writer’s block.  Something to fight, something to lash out on.  There wasn’t.  I was filled with doubt.  I was nothing like the hero in my books.  Alex Casey had gone through his life with single-minded determination, never wavering from his goal.

Even now, I was angry at myself.  Angry at Alice, angry at Barry.  I was fumbling and had no plan.

Nightingale in the Majestic

Even behind the closed doors and curtains of his grimy room at The Majestic, the local motel, Nightingale could feel the locals’ eyes on him, the unrelenting pressure of their judgment.  He forced it out of his mind.  For all he knew they could all be under Wake’s spell already.  You do what you have to do to get the job done.

He took comfort from the bottle in his hand, “Please,” he thought, “Just let me get through this.”

Mott at Cauldron Lake

Mott had checked all of Stucky’s rental cabins.  There had been no sign of the Wakes.  It was dark when he’d found their car parked at the end of the road by Cauldron Lake.

It made no sense.  They must have taken a wrong turn, but there was no sign of them, and the car had already been there for hours already. Frustrated, Mott stood on the rotten ruin of the footbridge that had once led to Diver’s Isle, before it sank beneath the waves years ago.

The boss wouldn’t be happy.

Wake Wakes up in the Lodge

I tried to hold onto Alice, but her form melted away.  I was losing control. Dr. Hartman stood in her place.  I wanted to hit him, but my arms were jelly.

He smiled.  It was a reassuring smile, and I hated him for it, “I had to give you a sedative, don’t fight it.  You went through another rough period.  Right now it’s very important that you stay calm.  We don’t want you to have another episode.  You’re a patient at my clinic, you have been for a while now.”

Mott on the Ferry

For Mott, spying on the writer on the ferry had been a disappointment.  His boss had made Wake out to be something special. He’d gotten a good, long look of the wife though, and liked what he saw.  Mott had fantasized about goading Wake into a fight, but it hadn’t happened.  Still, he’d get his chance to see if the writer had anything in him.  He’d been promised as much.

Hunters Taken

The hunters were big, thickset men, confident at home in the woods.  They were feeling good, running on beer, ghost stories and camaraderie late into the night.  It did them no good as they were taken by the Dark Presence, sucked deep into a darkness far worse than any ghost story they ever told or heard.

Doc Examines Barry and Rose

Doc sat down heavily.  He’d examined Barry and Rose.  Barry was already recovering.  Rose was another story: she was conscious, but she was barely present, almost delirious, disturbed, “touched in the head” they used to say.

It wasn’t the first time Doc had seen someone in such a state, but it’d been over thirty years.  Doc poured himself a stiff drink.  He hadn’t forgotten a thing.

Wake Reads a Page

I lifted the page in front of my eyes and read it.  In it, I lifted the page in front of my eyes and read it.  In it, I lifted the page in front of my eyes and read it.  In it, I lifted the page in front of my eyes and read it…..

Tor Hits Nurse Sinclair

Lightning flashed behind the windows of Cauldron Lake Lodge.  Tor Anderson laughed and held the steel hammer above his head.  Nurse Sinclair was trying to calm him down without success.

Tor grinned madly and shouted: “My hammer’s up!  Here’s a friendly poke from Mjollnir, wench!”  He brought his hammer down with all his might on Sinclair’s head.  “We’re on a comeback tour, baby!”

Episode Four – The Truth

Thomas Zane’s Writing and Assistant

Zane could feel the poems taking form, shaping things.  As he experimented, he imagined he could almost feel the power surging through the keys of the typewriter.  It exhilarated him, but there was a fear, too.

If not for his young assistant, Emil, he would have given it up.  But Emil convinced him otherwise.  He too had a way with words.

Barry in the Lodge

Hartman kept talking, giving Barry the grand tour, clearly proud of the place.  He went on about his hunting trophies and Barry was impressed, but [Barry] was here on business.  He raised his voice, cut through the monologue, “Hey Hartman?  Where’s Al?”

Hartman stopped in mid-sentence, annoyed at the interruption.  He nodded at the hulking orderly standing nearby.  The man smiled and clapped a practiced hand on Barry’s shoulder.

Hartman Watches Wake Fall

Hartman followed the fall of Alan Wake with his binoculars.  When the writer hit the water, he ordered Jack to take the boat to him.  The spot was easy to see in the dark even with all the extra lights in the boat.  The flare floated and kept burning even in the water.

Jack turned the radio louder as the engine sputtered.  The music was loud and clanking, something the Anderson brothers would no doubt have enjoyed, but Hartman chose to ignore it.  Wake was finally within his reach.

Hartman’s Mission

Hartman knew he was no creator.  He had no ambitions on that front, and he certainly didn’t want to end up like every artist he had worked with here: damaged in ways that were hard to describe, or worse.  It was enough for Hartman to maintain creative control and provide direction.  To be a “producer.”  That was what most of these people were in need of anyway.

Of course, suitable subjects were few and far between.

Wake Sees the Old Gods Stage

I stared at the Viking paraphernalia that littered the area, surrounding an unlikely centrepiece: a full-sized stage, complete with an impressive sound system with all the trimmings, including a dragon.

It took a special kind of crazy to build something like this in a remote field.  When the sky split open with a deafening boom and the music started blaring, it felt strangely appropriate.

Barry Attacked by a Taken

For the moment, Barry was just glad he had survived the fall.  He had been separated from Al, and there was no easy way to climb back up.  He told himself he’d be okay, okay in the gloomy forest at night.  He would just have to wait a while for Al to find his way down.

Barry turned when he heard the heavy footsteps and saw the movement: the man-shaped shadow lunged at him from the bushes, an axe held high.  Barry screamed and threw up his hand.  The world exploded.

Mott in Charge

Mott knew that Wake was smarter than him: Wake had more money, a beautiful wife, everything.  And Hartman said that Wake was important.  That made him better than Mott.  But Mott was calling the shots now.  He’d expected Wake to whimper and grovel, but instead, he seemed willing to fight.  Mott knew he’d gotten under Wake’s skin.

If only Mott actually had his wife.  The thought made him shiver.

Mott Fails Hartman

Hartman wasn’t happy.  Mott could see it in his eyes.  He quickly lowered his own; he’d made a mess of it and he knew it.  The shame of failure was hard to bear.  He hadn’t expected Wake to say he needed more time, and he’d blurted out “two days,” less than Wake had asked for, to show him who was in charge.  But that wasn’t part of Hartman’s plan.

Hartman and the Power Failure

Hartman hurried down the corridor.  He had disliked leaving Wake when he was surely at his most susceptible to therapy, but this was not an ordinary storm.  Wake had been writing, and he had woken something in the depths of the lake.  Now it was coming for him.

Hartman had naturally prepared for a situation like this.  The idiot brothers would keep Wake distracted while Hartman double-checked everything, just to be sure.

Hartman Sedates Wake

Hartman watched as Wake’s features slackened.  The man was bull-headed, no doubt: even lying on the bed, he’d almost broken Hartman’s nose the second time.  But with a little time, he could break Wake down, give him proper direction.

Wake was easily the most promising subject he’d had, well, since Tom really, “Sleep well, Alan,” Hartman whispered with a smile, “Let me take care of you.”

He sniffed hard to clear his throbbing nose: swallowed blood and barely tasted it.”

Nightingale Arrests Wake

Agent Nightingale stared at the passed-out writer.  The man was sleeping off one hell of a night.  [He] felt a stab of envy at Wake’s oblivion, but he had a job to do.

He put the gun to Wake’s head, and almost became a murderer.  His hand shook and his throat felt tight and dry. Biting his teeth, he tried again to pull the trigger.  He lost the nerve.

Wake stirred—Nightingale would have to settle for an arrest.

The Patients Escape the Lodge

The storm raged on as the Anderson brothers walked unsteadily away from the clinic with the other patients in tow, knowing that they wouldn’t return.  The darkness around them seethed with horrors, but Tor and Odin were unafraid.

Their eyes glinted with guile.  They knew every secret path, and there was blood on their hands.  They had fought these shades before.

The Dark Presence at Large

The Dark Presence followed the choreography laid out to it in the manuscript, growing stronger and stronger, moving like a storm from one scene of destruction to the next.  But it was still bound to follow the story and chained to the dark place it came from.  When the story reached the end it longed for, it would finally be free.

The Anderson Brothers in the 70s

It’s 1976.  Madness reigns at the Anderson Farm.  Contrary to all logic, the headiest ingredient of their moonshine is unfiltered water from Cauldron Lake.  The Andersons feel like gods.  Odin can’t stop laughing—he contemplates cutting his eye out.  Tor runs across the field, naked, trying to catch lightning.

Their songs have power.  Something ancient is stirring in the depths, coming back.

The Mystery of the Missing Week

Again, Alice’s screams rang in the stillness of the night.  I saw myself run toward the cabin, flashlight in hand.  I followed my past self.  I was an out-of-body observer, a time traveler in a crazy, drunken dream.

This was the beginning, the night Alice had disappeared.  The mystery of what had happened during the missing week was about to reveal itself.

Walter at the Anderson Farm

When he stopped the car at the Anderson farm, Walter felt relieved: oblivion was close at hand.  The brothers wouldn’t miss a jar of moonshine or two from the booby hatch.  But when he saw the man on the porch, he knew who it was.

Driving for his life and knowing it was useless, he didn’t realize he was crying until he couldn’t see the road for the tears.

Hartman During the Missing Week

Hartman had never felt as anxious during the week after Mott had managed to lose the Wakes. Their car stood by the path that had once led to Diver’s Isle.  Hartman thought about Thomas Zane’s cabin in the depths.

It was only a matter of time before Wake started writing.  They had to be found, and fast.

The moment he had heard on the police radio that Sheriff Breaker had picked up Wake, he was already in his car, driving toward town.

Hartman Considers Mott and Wake

For a moment, Hartman considered strangling the idiot.  Mott was mean-spirited, but easily manipulated: an emotional infant who lived for his approval.

Wake, by contrast, was a far more difficult subject.  Mott had given him too much leash.  In two days, who knew what could happen?  Hartman would have to find a way to rein him in, and quickly.

Mulligan Questions Nightingale’s Orders

Deputy Mulligan tuned Thornton’s chatter out.  He didn’t think writers were particularly useful people, and a huge manhunt or one struck him as idiotic, certainly not worth the missed opportunity for coffee and pie.

It wasn’t even clear what the man had done, except run from them at the trailer park.  Mulligan knew he wasn’t alone: the sheriff’s patience with the Fed was running out.

Nightingale Finds the Manuscript

As the deputies hauled Wake and Wheeler away, Agent Nightingale eagerly examined the stack of papers Wake had been carrying.  It was incomplete, a collection of random pages.  But there was enough: he saw his own name in there, among others.

His hands shook with emotion.  Finally, it was proof.  He had been right all along.

Departure – Episodes 3 & 4 is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

Website - More Posts

The manuscript pages are an integral part of the storyline.  They reveal important plot points about characters and certain events that take place in the story.  More importantly, Alan needs these pages.  The pages will lead him to Alice, he’s certain of it.

If you’re not interested in finding the pages, but just looking to see what they actually say, you’ve found the right place.  If you choose to find the pages on your own, turn back now because there are some heavy spoilers ahead.  Here you’ll find the detailed manuscript pages of the first two episodes of Alan Wake.

Episode One: Nightmare

Title Page

Departure
By Alan Wake

Wake Attacked by a Shadowy Murderer

The man turned to face me.  His face was covered in shadows.  It was hard to make him out in the darkness of the forest that surrounded us.  But the axe he lifted was plain to see.  It glistened with the blood of his victim.

He grinned madly.  The shadows were alive, distorting his features.

It was a scene from a nightmare, but I was wide awake.

Wake Fights a Taken with Light

The Taken stood before me.  It was impossible to focus on it, as if it stood in a blind spot caused by a brain tumour or an eye disease.  It was bleeding shadows like ink underwater, like a cloud of blood from a shark bite.

I was terrified.  I squeezed the flashlight like my life depended on it, willing it to stop coming any closer.  Suddenly, something gave, and the light seemed to shine brighter.

The Dark Presence Wakes Up

For a long time, the Dark Presence had been weak, sleeping, nothing but a half-forgotten nightmare or a shadowy flicker in the corner of an eye in the forest at night: not real enough to properly exist, but too evocative to fade away completely.

Now it was waking up, the writer like a fly caught in a spider’s web, each jerk and kick vibrating the strands that led deep into its lair.  It was aware of him now, and it could use him.

All he’d need was a little motivation.

Wake Attacked by Birds

I heard them before I saw them, swooping down from the sky and screeching as they came.

I spun around just as the cloud was upon me.  For an instant, I stared into a hundred dead eyes, black pearls glittering in the darkness.

I raised the flashlight and the swarm exploded like fireworks.  Feathers burned, turned into ash.  I couldn’t hear my scream above theirs.

Wake Finds Pages

At first I kept finding the pages as if by accident.  The book I couldn’t remember was either a terrible and true prophecy, or an act of creation that had re-written the world.  I began to hunt the pages feverishly, for they held the answer to the mystery.

With it I could save myself.

With it I could save Alice.

TV in the Gas Station

I stepped into the gas station’s garage.  It was dark and quiet.

The place was a mess, like someone trashed the place, or that there’d been some kind of fight.  Light spilled into the room through an open window at the back, and I made my way toward it.

Without any warning, I was blinded by a bright light.  An old portable TV on the shelf had come alive by itself.  Impossibly, I could see myself on the screen, talking like a madman.

Wake Lies to the Sheriff

“The cabin on Cauldron Lake?” she asked.

The sheriff looked at me suspiciously.  The early morning light flooded through the office windows.  I would probably never have gotten out of the woods alive without her help, but I couldn’t tell her the truth of what I’d faced the previous night.  She’d think I was lying, or crazy.  She’d lock me up.

And she wouldn’t help me find Alice.

Stucky Taken

Stucky spat on the garage floor and tried to shake the cobwebs from his head.  Ever since the couple never showed to pick up the keys, things had been fuzzy.  Something—a feeling—caught his attention.  Stucky looked up and stared as his brain tried in vain to process the horror before him.  He stumbled back, knocking over a can of oil: a black pool spread across the floor while he struggled for a brief moment, then let go as the unrelenting darkness engulfed him.

Rose Daydreams About Wake

Rose knew she’d been gushing, but right now she didn’t care.  As far as she was concerned, her brief meeting with Alan Wake was literally the high point of her life.

She watched as he got in the car with his wife.  She was pretty, and confident. At ease with Wake, not like Rose.  They were perfect for each other.

She’d have given anything to be called their friend.

Barry’s Arrival

Barry Wheeler was bouncing off the walls.  He’d jumped on a plane after his calls were ignored by both Alan and Alice for several days.  It could mean that they were both on another honeymoon, but Barry didn’t buy it.  Al had been way too unstable for that—not sleeping, messed up.

Barry had years of experience dealing with Alan Wake, and he couldn’t ignore it: something was wrong.

Toby the Dog

Toby knew the smell: it was the man, the nice man who always gave him treats and never got tired of playing with him.  Toby wagged his tail in excited anticipation and gave a joyous bark.

Then there was another smell—a wrong smell—and it was alien enough to stop Toby in his tracks.  Confused, he growled deep in his throat.  The wrong smell was coming from the nice man.

Blind animal terror pierced the dog’s brain an instant before the axe followed suit.

Rose is a Fan

Barry took another sip of the heavenly coffee.  He grinned at Rose.  Surely, this was love.  Rose gushed on, breathlessly: “The new one will be a masterpiece, I know it!  You must tell him not to listen to the trolls in the forums saying Departure will never get finished.  He should take his time and make it perfect, I can wait.”

Episode Two: Taken

The Sudden Stop 1

It’s true what they say about the fall and the sudden stop at the end.  I’d lain there in the snow while the lucrid chain of scenes that had led me here kept playing in my head.  A rerun of my own private snuff movie, a memory of my corpse.

Alone at my own wake.  Thinking in metaphors again.  The femme fatale was gone, only a sour taste remained of the kiss that killed me.

The Sudden Stop 2

This was a late goodbye.  Thirteen years after I’d gotten my revenge, it had finally caught up with me.  It had been a long time to bear the pain.  My blood painted the snow red—a gruesome slushie—disolved all the painkillers and leisurely dripped down to the sewer, mingling with the bile of the city, becoming one with it.

I can see them now.  My wife, my baby.  Honey, I’m home.

The Dark Presence in the Diner

In spite of its human mask, to describe the Dark Presence as intelligent would have implied human qualities on something decidedly inhuman.  Nonetheless, it found the one spot in the diner that was dark enough.  Some light spilled into the corridor, ravaging it, but it took the pain, horrible as it was.  The writer would soon fix that.  He would be coming to the one place where it still had power.

Wake at Lover’s Peak

The kidnapper fired his gun one last time and the shadow vanished into the darkness it had come from, “See?  Nothing to it, Wake!”

The thought of Alice in his hands was revolting.  We stood on the wooden platform of Lover’s Peak, the waterfall and the mountain behind us, the lights of the radio mast blinking red in the heights above.  I fought with the urge to take a swing, forced myself to speak.

“Let’s cut the act now, where’s my wife?”

Alice Sees a Shadow

Alice looked through the viewfinder, lining up the shot.  Cauldron Lake was breathtaking.  Something caught her eye: a figure standing in the shadows behind the cabin, like a thin woman in a black dress.
She lowered the camera and looked again—no one there, just a collection of bushes that looked vaguely human-shaped.  She shook her head and laughed.

Barry Doubts Wake’s Sanity

Barry had never gotten along with Alice, but he knew Alan loved her with an almost frightening intensity.  And now something had happened to Alice…and here was Al, armed with a gun and saying things people got put in padded cells for.  It was as if his friend had experienced a mass psychotic episode and was totally disconnected from reality.  It scared the shit out of Barry.

Rusty Dying

The air in the Visitor’s Centre was heavy with an awful smell, as if some rotten drowned thing had crawled up from its grave.  Rusty kept coughing blood, my eyes were drawn to the twisted shape of his broken leg.  The attack had been vicious.  Max whined in his cage.  Rusty’s eyes were wild with fever and terror.

He gasped: “Mr. Wake!  It happened just the way it was on that page!”

Rusty Attacked by the Dark Presence

The Visitor’s Centre was sturdy, but the impact turned the front of the building into splinters.  Rusty was thrown across the lobby like a ragdoll, and hit the far wall hard.

It didn’t hurt until he tried to move, and saw his leg bend the wrong way, felt the broken rib stabbing him on the inside.  Rusty howled in pain and fear, suddenly afraid to die alone.

Wake Reaches a Safe Haven of Light

At the last instant, I changed direction and threw myself down; the axe splintered the trunk of the tree.

I stumbled into the pool of bright light.  My lungs burned, I was too exhausted to move.  I tensed as I waited for the killing blow, but it never came.  I raised my head.  Nothing moved in the darkness beyond.

For the moment, bathed in the cold light I was safe.

Rusty’s Final Thoughts

In that last instant of consciousness, Rusty thought about Rose.  He was older than she was; Rose was barely out of her teens.  But she made him feel young, and forget what a train wreck his long, dead marriage had been.

He still wore the ring.  He had been waiting for her to tell him to take it off.  Now she never would.

Wake Sees the Torch Symbol

I turned the corner, afraid of what the flashlight’s beam might reveal.  Suddenly, a roughly painted symbol of a torch glowed in the light.  Behind it, hidden by a rock, sat a battered metal trunk.  It was here for a reason, packed with supplies: batteries, flares, ammo.  Things you need to make it through the darkness of the night.  Something left behind by someone who knew what I knew, and more.

Nightingale’s Arrival

Agent Nightingale didn’t want to be in Bright Falls.  These little communities revolted him, and he didn’t like the trees or the coffee.  He now knew that impossible horrors lurked behind the storefronts and smiles.

He desperately wanted to turn the car around and just drive until he passed out or ran out of road and booze.  But he had a job to do.  He had a writer to catch-at any cost.

Alice’s Fear of the Dark

On more than one occasion, Alice had tried t oexplain to me how it felt to be afraid of the dark.  To her, darkness wasn’t simply an absence of light, but something more tangible than that.  IT was something you could touch and feel, worse than that, it was something with a mind of its own.  Something malicious and malign.  For her, things changed when they were wrapped in darkness.  They turned into something else, something foreign, and nothing was safe or innocent anymore.  I’d never really understood what she meant until now.

Wake Hears a Chainsaw

The night had been one desperate situation after another.  I was exhausted, and by body felt as if it had been chewed up and spat out.  The flashlight was heavy in my hand, and each pull of the trigger sent a painful shock up my arm.

But I was finally out of the woods and things were looking up.  That’s when I heard the chainsaw.

Barry in Elderwood

When Barry saw the darkness attack the Visitor’s Centre, it made him a believer.  The man Al said he’d shot—they hadn’t just been locals on crank.  Somehow the world had changed.  Like the channel had been switched without warning.  You think you’re watching a sitcom, and you’re really watching a horror show.  When the birds started attacking the cabin, Barry wasn’t surprised, just terrified.

Nightingale Fires at Wake

The FBI agent’s command froze me in place.  I considered surrender.  IT was all falling apart anyway: I could give in, let someone else deal with it.

But it all felt wrong.  Call it instinct: his posture, the way he held the gun, he was no friend.  Shots ringing in my ears, I leaped for the hole in the fence and stumbled into the darkness beyond.

Wake at the Dark Presence’s Mercy

The Dark Presence had touched the girl to lure the writer into a trap.  Now it was night and he lay helpless, drugged, lit only by the flickering of the TV screen filled with static.

Shadows coalesced in the room as The Dark Presence leaned close to the writer, ready to touch him again: “Back to work, boy.”

Rose and Rusty

Rose knew that Rusty was in love with her, and she liked him too.  She liked him a lot.  He taught her how to dance, and life had certainly taught her the value of a man who was gentle.  He treated her well, made her smile, made her feel good.  But Rusty wasn’t the prince of her dreams, and that tended to underline the unbearable truth: she was no closer to that Hollywood magic than he was.

Barry Meets Rose

Nobody in Bright Falls seemed to know where Al was, but Rose, the waitress at the diner, had seen him.  From what Barry could tell, Al pretty much fell off the face of the earth when he left the diner.

Rose was just the kind of fan but Al hated, but she really tried to help.  She was smart, too—knew a lot about what was going on in the town, knew a lot about Al, even knew who Barry was.  Barry liked her.  That was no big surprise.  When it came to women, Barry and Al rarely saw eye-to-eye.

Sarah Thinks About Wake

Sarah didn’t care about the legal threats Wake’s agent had made.  She let Wake go without argument because there was something about him she couldn’t quite put her finger on, something that reminded her of her father.  She didn’t think Wake would hurt his wife, then she thought about the way he waded into Hartmann, that hair-trigger rage flaring up without warning.

Deputies at the Logging Site

The logging site was a mess.  The modular office had been pushed off the cliff.  Deputy Thornton climbed up from the wreckage, excited, breathing hard from the exertion, “Nobody there.  It’s weird, don’t you think that’s weird?”

Bored, Mulligan let out a mighty snort, “Hell, it’s always weird Thornton, just a question of sorting out what kind of weird it is this time around.”

Wake Feels the Dark Presence

Shadows stirred, and the wind picked up as I ran through the forest.  I felt the Dark Presence turning its gaze towards me.  Then the moonlight was blotted out buy the shadows that raced violently across the ground, moving too swiftly to be natural.  Darkness gathered between the trees and melted again to reveal the Taken.

No natural path had brought them there.

Wake’s Despair

There was no misunderstanding.  Cauldron Lake was where Alice and I had stayed, but there was no cabin, and there was no island.  I was missing a week.  What had happened to me?  What had happened to Alice?  I had to get her back.  I couldn’t face life without her

Departure – Episodes 1 & 2 is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

Website - More Posts

Alan Wake

The protagonist of the story, Alan is a best-selling novelist.  Unfortunately, his career has recently taken a turn for the worse–when writing is your game, writer’s block can be a fatal hit.  For the last two years, Alan has been unable to write and has been having difficulty sleeping, making him edgy and violent.  During the events of the game, it’s possible that his insomnia has driven him almost to the point of madness.

Alice Wake

Alice is an accomplished photographer and described by many as a natural beauty.  Alice has been Alan’s muse since the two of them first met.  Being a devoted wife, she is deeply concerned with Alan’s self-destructive behaviour and wants to ensure that he gets back on the right path.  She set up the vacation to Bright Falls to help Alan get over his writer’s block and get him back to work.  But Alan isn’t alone with his demons–Alice has a crippling phobia of the dark.  Something that doesn’t quite help in a place where most power is obtained through rickity old generators.

Barry Wheeler

Although you probably wouldn’t guess it, Barry has been a friend of Alan’s since childhood.  Barry has watched Alan’s decline both as his friend and his agent.  He’s on top of everything back in New York, keeping things rolling, setting up tours for Alan even though he hasn’t written a thing in two years.  When Alan stops returning his calls, he rushes out to Bright Falls to the aid of his friend.  When he gets there, he finds himself completely out of his element, but is ready to fight to the hilt for the safety of his good friend.

Sheriff Sarah Breaker

A smart and authoritative young woman, Sarah Breaker and her deputies definitely have their hands full with the upcoming annual Deer Fest.  Breaker doesn’t let Alan’s celebrity get the better of her.  She’s determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of Alice’s disappearance though, even if she does have Agent Nightingale breathing down her back the entire time.  As confident piloting a helicopter as jailing a drunk logger, she doesn’t let her badge weigh her down.

FBI Agent Robert Nightingale

It’s unclear why Agent Nightingale has come to Bright Falls, only that he’s after Alan Wake.  What is clear however is that he doesn’t want to be there.  Whatever is drawing him there must be very important–he’s commonly seen in an intoxicated state, bosses around the local law enforcement and expresses a clear dislike of Wake and the rest of the residents in Bright Falls.  It would appear however that Nightingale is going through a breakdown of his own.  Nightingale’s motives and the results of his investigation in Bright Falls are more clearly explained in the book that accompanies the Collector’s Edition of Alan Wake, The Alan Wake Files.

Dr. Emil Hartman

A brilliant psychiatrist and author of The Creator’s Dilemma, Hartman specializes in the long-term treatment of troubled artists at his Cauldron Lake Lodge.  Considered distant and arrogant by the townspeople, Hartman’s methods are unorthadox, and his results uncertain.  Some patients are restored to their former artistic lives after a few months, while others remain under his care for years without any improvement.  When Alan Wake ends up in his care, it’s unclear whether Hartman can help him–or if he even wants to.

Rose Marigold

Rose is a waitress at the Oh Deer Diner (a.k.a: The Bright Falls Diner in some instances).  She’s an avid reader, and as such, is caught light a deer in the headlights when he steps into the Oh Deer.  Alan clearly expresses his distaste for over-eager fans, but that doesn’t deter her.  She considers her chance meeting with Alan Wake to be the best point of her life so far.  Kind of depressing.

Rusty

Rusty is a park ranger in Elderwood National Park.  Generally a nice guy, perhaps a bit of a pushover.  His career choice and actions express that he loves animals and can be seen helping Max the dog in the game.  Alan Wake first comes across him in the diner, around the same time he first meets the Anderson Brothers.  Rusty is a pretty big fan of Rose’s coffee, and in finding the manuscript pages you can see that there’s a fair bit more going on with Rusty and Rose.  But perhaps it’s a love just not meant to be?  Rose is infatuated with Alan Wake…some guys just have all the luck.

Cynthia Weaver

Cynthia Weaver can first be seen at the Oh Deer Diner when Alan and Alice first roll into town.  She’s carrying a lamp with her, which is strange, because it’s daylight.  She looks down the hall into the darkness and warns Alan that ‘you can get hurt in the dark.’  This is a statement that keeps coming up routinely throughout the game–it can be seen scrawled across rocks in yellow, photosensitive paint.  Maybe she’s onto something?

The Anderson Brothers (Tor and Odin)

Every town has their resident weirdos, and in Bright Falls, that honour belongs to Tor and Odin Anderson.  The two of them were part of a rock band back in the 60s known as The Old Gods of Asgard.  Their music and lifestyle reflected that of Norse mythology so much so that they changed their first names to match the persona of the band.  Currently they’re both patients of Hartman’s at Cauldron Lake Lodge.  They’re not dangerous, mind you…maybe.  Or maybe they seem to know more than anyone gives them credit for?  Being crazy does tend to help you ‘understand’ crazy.

Pat Maine

What small town would be complete without its own hometown radio station?  While Alan doesn’t tend to listen to much music, it’s clear that the folks of Bright Falls like their main man Pat Maine’s nighttime radio broadcast.  Turn on any radio that you find in Bright Falls and you’ll hear his welcoming voice.  If something’s going on around town, you bet that Pat Maine will be picking up the info and broadcasting it to the people.  A good friend of Sheriff Breaker and on the side of the law, it’s clear from the start that he doesn’t much care for Agent Nightingale.  On the plus side, he does take a liking to Alan Wake.

The Lady in Black

Shorty after Alan and Alice arrive in Bright Falls, Alan is greeted by a strange woman.  Who is she?  Where did she come from?  How did she get Stucky’s cabin rental keys?  And why does she want to meet Alice so badly?

Alan Wake Characters is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

Website - More Posts

So their only fate now?  To be put out of their misery by Alan Wake.

WIP–Images coming soon!

The Taken

Taken are humans who have been possessed by a dark presence.  While they still look and sound much like their former selves, they are now merely husks of those former selves.  They are murderous, mindless puppets who despite Alan’s best efforts, cannot be saved.  Their shields are their shadows, and to truly end their misery, their shadows need to be abolished.

Taken come in several varieties depending on the people that they used to be.  Just like people, they come in all different sizes and can take different levels of damage as well.  Taken carry weapons and some of them can even teleport short distances.  What is the most frightening about The Taken is that they will re-appear in an area if Alan doesn’t move on quickly.  Their shadows will regenerate if not completely destroyed, causing Alan to blow through batteries, and health at a significant rate.

One of the best tactics against regular taken are to be quick on your feet.  The Taken can come at you from anywhere once they’ve initiated an attack.  Be sure to always check behind you during enemy encounters–hiding in the shadows, The Taken can easily sneak up behind you.  Be ready to dodge as well!

When the Taken attack in numbers, it’s easy to become overwhelmed.  The game suggests that if they become too much for you, run for a Safe Haven–once you’re in the warm light, The Taken will disappear back into the shadows.  Be warned though, that doesn’t mean they’re gone.  Travel back into the same area and they’ll be back to hunt you down.  To give yourself a little bit of breathing room, use a flare to hold them off for a few seconds to make your escape, or to get yourself into a better position.

Ravens

Unfortunately, The Darkness can envelop more than just people.  Also succumbing to the Darkness are Ravens.  Ravens are not dangerous when by themselves.  Their real threat is in their numbers.  They will swoop down and attack in flocks.  The best method for disposing of these flying menaces is with a single, well-timed shot from the Flare Gun, right into the centre of their flock.  If a Flare Gun is unavailable, just be sure to keep your flashlight ready–The Ravens fall quickly against light.

Poltergeist Objects

The Darkness can even control inanimate objects, such as cars, barrels, gates and furniture.  Even the Earth itself is an enemy against Alan Wake.  These things can be destroyed using various light-sources.  Your best bet is to destroy them with the flashlight–if in dire circumstances, something a little more powerful.  Be ready to dodge when they come at you.

Alan Wake Enemies is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

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There are going to be a few major spoilers here, a bit of speculation on our behalf as well.  Your best bet is to play the game to completion, and then check back here for the low-down on The Alan Wake Files.

The booklet is a bit of an account of a librarian’s visit to Bright Falls a few weeks after the events of Alan Wake.  The librarian’s name (actually, he’s a Library Assistant) is Clay Steward.  He resides in Madison, Wisconsin and has travelled to Bright Falls after having had a series of dreams involving Alan Wake.  Much like in a ‘real’ novel, Steward’s bio is on one of the sleeves of the jacket, and there’s a large foreward at the beginning of the book.

The Alan Wake Files starts out by examining FBI Agent Robert Nightingale’s personal effects, notably his personal notes and interviews.

This section is a work in progress–check back again for more information on The Alan Wake Files.

Where indicated, The following text is taken directly from the book and is copyright of Remedy Entertainment and Microsoft.

Nightingale’s Field Notes

Day One (Night)

Exhausted.  Missed the turn off.  Took 2 hours longer than planned.  Trees are pretty, but hell, they all look alike.  This place really is in the middle of nowhere.  And not the exact middle.  That would be too easy.

Sun’s already down.  Motel stinks and not even in a good Chicago way.  Majestic my ass.

Got to check in with the local Johnny Law in the morning.

Haven’t really grilled the local yokels yet.  Don’t think the moron at the front desk counts.  Wish I had the Bureau’s backing.  Some official resources would help.  But then there’d be a lot of explaining to do.  And I’ve got no better way to burn my free time.

Still have a few favours I can call in if I need some heavy lifting.  Better this way.

Day Two

Johnny Law turns out to be Janie Law.  Sheriff Breaker comes from a cop family, knows diddlysquat.  Usual hostility to feds.  Don’t know whether to uyse honey or salt on this one.  Don’t know if I have enough honey in me.

She did make the phone call I needed.  Let’s consider her pliable.

Diner’s a great place to get all friendly with the townies.  They had a cardboard cutout of Wake propped up near the door.  One of the waitresses is supposed to be a big fan.

Day Two (Afternoon)

How to get to our boy before he hurts anyone.  That’s the million-dollar question.

Do these people know what they’re dealing with here?  Good God, it’s like watching toddlers play with nitro!

Interviewed locals at the trailer park.  Suspect there’s something behind all these dopey country facades.  Everybody knows more than they’re telling.  Or maybe they just don’t, which is even scarier.  Wake did a number on that waitress.  Sweet kid, but can’t tell night from day.

Day Three

Noises last night.  Some damned animals.  Went out again, got lost again.  Goddamn trees.

Can’t believe how slippery some guys are.  Talked to the front desk moron this morning.  Didn’t seem to know zip about Wake.  Got real quiet when I mentioned him.  In fact, could be he just ran out of thoughts.

I’m getting nothing out of these people.

Day Three (Night)

Scanner picked up confused distress call response.  Domestic violence, or burglary or vandalism or kidnapping.  Deputy Dawg can’t decide.  Little Janie Law’s got her hands full.

Things here are just strange enough that I’m sure I’m on the right track.

Found Wake’s agent.  Followed him a bit.  Tubby tried to lose me.  Maybe Wake’s so slippery because his buddy’s so slimy?

Day Three, Practically Four

Can’t go on like this.  Daylight is harsh when there’s no sleep.

Saw Lady Diogenes with her lamp in broad daylight.  I forget her real name, got it written somewhere.  How to get to Wake.  Is someone hiding him?  Extremeism in the cause of sanity is no vice.  Whatever it takes.

Local head-shrinker’s name keeps coming up: Hartman.

Day Four

Didn’t sleep a wink.  Scanner just got weirder through the night.

Wake is one elusive bugger.  Is he the only one?  Is it him holding up the whole house of cards?  What’ll happen when I pull?

Wish I could be sure, but not to decide is to decide.  Have to do what’s necessary when the time comes.

Feels like I’m alone in the wilderness here.

Day Four (Afternoon)

A partner isn’t like a co-worker, or a friend, or even a brother.  He’s your guardian, your keeper, your other wife.  He keeps you on the dead straight, calls you on everything the others let slide, and has your back when the shooting starts.  That’s where I failed Finn.  I owe it to him to keep going, even when everything’s gone dark.  When the craziness back east started, he couldn’t explain it either.  That’s when he needed me most, but I blew it.

I have to make it right.

Day Four (Night)

Hartman seems to be the big man on campus.  Very protective of his patients.

Skimmed through his self-help book–what a load.  He’s got a sweet little racket going at “The Lodge.”  Gut tells me he’s involved in all this somehow.

Going for a drive, can’t think in here.  Am I going down like Finn?

Not if I shoot first.

Day Four, (Night–Much Later)

Sounds are getting weirder all the time.  Soemthing happening just outside of town, out by some farm.  Flashes of light, too. Could be kids with firecrackers, getting edgy and starting a barn fire.

Probably ought to get some batteries for this stupid flashlight if there’s time.

Will I have it in me to do what’s necessary when the time comes?

While Steward does feel the need to add in his own commentary (I write as if Steward is an actual person here…), it’s pretty much superfluous.  What Nightingale is saying is really…self-explanitory.  What Steward isn’t clear upon (he’ll write something along the lines of ‘this is conjecture’) or even hazards a guess at is what Nightingale refers to in his last notes.

What was he planning on doing?  If you look at the game, it’s clear that he was planning on shooting Wake, on more than one occasion.  But why?  Of course, all we can do is theorize and speculate.  But what if he wasn’t planning on shooting Wake, but himself?  He wonders if he’s going down like Finn back east.

These are definitely Nightingale’s personal notes, unrelated to his official notes or even notes that he would keep in a booklet belonging to the Bureau.  Similarly with police and security-officer notebooks, personal notes are not permitted in these booklets.  The booklets do not belong to the officer, they belong to the police service and can be requested back at any time, and when you’re finished with the notebook, it’s handed back to the service.  So…I guess you could say this is Nightingale’s version of a diary.

While Steward does feel the need to add in his own commentary (I write as if Steward is an actual person here…), it’s pretty much superfluous.  What Nightingale is saying is really…self-explanitory.  What Steward isn’t clear upon (he’ll write something along the lines of ‘this is conjecture’) or even hazards a guess at is what Nightingale refers to in his last notes.

What was he planning on doing?  If you look at the game, it’s clear that he was planning on shooting Wake, on more than one occasion.  But why?  Of course, all we can do is theorize and speculate.  He wonders if he’s going down like Finn back east.  Well what happened to Finn?

It’s later learned through Steward’s rather informal contact with the FBI that Nightingale’s partner Finn died in the line of duty.  The details surrounding said incident are hush-hush, but what are the odds that it’s remarkably similar to what’s going on in Bright Falls?  Probably 100%, because Nightingale said so in his personal notes.  So…that probably would have explained a lot, had it been in the game.

Indeed, Nightingale’s notes (we learn his first name is Robert in the Alan Wake Files) depict him much like the game does.  The game does a great job of making you want to hate Nightingale–he’s an alcoholic, badge-heavy asshole who hates Bright Falls and towns like them.  Plus, he wants to kill the progtaonist.  His notes are full of incorrect speech (err, writing) mannerisms that not only make him seem like a prick, but ignorant as well.  Poor guy just can’t get a break it seems.

The interviews with the local yokels seem to paint a similar picture of Nightingale, save for a very few.  Okay, none.  They basically tell you what you already know from playing the game.  They lay out a lot of the events for the game, such as Rose drugging Wake and Wheeler while under the influence of The Dark Presence and Nightingale firing at Wake in the radio station.

What’s also explained through this informal little contact (that also violates about a million different codes of ethics by one Pablo Rovira Diez) is that Robert Nightingale wasn’t even on FBI time when he came to Bright Falls.  So…they let him just keep the fancy windbreaker and the badge–you know, for old time’s sake.  But while we’re on it, the manuscript pages do say that he has a certain way about flashing his badge and pulling rank, so…perhaps it was a Colgate Cavity Club badge all along?

What is never answered is what happened to him after the events of the game.  The closing cut-scene was rather strange, and there was a blurb in the game about the darkness taking over anything that the writer failed to write about.  Or perhaps it was Wake’s intention all along to torment the guy for the rest of eternity?  Everything at a price, Alan.

What Else is in the Book?

There’s some excellent material added into the book as well, some of Alan Wake’s old writings that are far too numerous and bloated to post here.  They don’t serve any purpose to the main story, either.  Just fan-service for a dude that doesn’t even exist.

Some other interesting articles crop up in Steward’s research, about the town of Bright Falls, old newspaper clippings.

There’s even a section of manuscript found that doesn’t quite tie into the story as well.  It’s a lot better written and longer than the manuscripts you find in the game.  They’re an interesting read in themselves, but they don’t shed very much light into the main story.

If you wanted to learn more about Dr. Hartman’s methods, there’s an entire ‘chapter’ devoted to his book, The Creator’s Dilemma.  In it, it discusses the Engagement Therapy and The Flow.  One must wonder if there’s actual psychology based behind this, because it sure as hell reads like it.  It’s complete with guise that it was written with the help of the ego of a man with an alphabet soup after his name.  It might strike you as odd, seeing as most of the patients at Cauldron Lake Lodge really look like they belong in a ‘regular’ mental institution, regardless if they’re creative or not.

There’s also a section on Bright Falls History, apparently taken from a larger book, edited by Conrad Breaker.  Since there are a million different last names that could have been used for this character, one also wonders whether this is one of Sheriff Breaker’s relatives–yup, good old Dad gets all the goods from daughter-dearest.  But wasn’t he a police officer in some big city?  Perhaps he also got a kick out of the paranormal in Bright Falls as well?  It was compiled in a dossier created by Nightingale, who sliced it out of a book at the library.  It explains of the weird goings-on in Bright Falls and makes Nightingale look more and more like a certifiable nut.

Other articles include a tabloid article regarding Wake and the paparazi, a police report from the night Thomas Zane and Barbara Jagger disappeared and the response to Steward from the FBI regarding Nightingale (apparently a Freedom of Information Act request can get you pretty far, even with priviledged FBI personnel files).

Who is Clay Steward?

So who exactly is Steward?  Well, folks who are quick might recognize him as the person in the “Nightmare” portion of the game.  It almost sounds as if the two of them are friends from way back, but there’s no indication anywhere in the book that the two of them had met each other before.  Steward doesn’t mention a dream similar to what Alan experienced, either.

Perhaps the two of then connected in a dream is what called Steward to Bright Falls? Perhaps the folks at Remedy ran out of names and thought they’d slip a fast one by us?

Apparently Steward conducted his investigation at a great personal cost.  He left his wife and newborn son Milo (plug, anyone?), both of whom are extremely estranged to him.  Great personal cost meaning “I wanted to leave them, so I did.”

Perhaps we’re to look more here to make comparisons between Wake and Steward?  Or perhaps this is all just mindless fluff?  There is a rather interesting note at the end of the book, in Clay’s Afterword….

“At the time of printing, I am still unaware of whether Alan Wake is dead, missing, or in hiding.  There was one night when I was walking back to the Majestic on the Elderwood trail and I thought I saw a man that looked like Lake rounding a bend in the trail.  I called out and started jogging, then running after him, and while he seemed to walk at a steady pace, I never was able to catch up.  There was even a brief moment in which he looke dback and I saw that it was him.  He smiled at me as though he were letting me in on a big secret.  Just before rounding the bend.  When I caught up, he had vanished.”

And even more interesting…..

“My dreams have stopped and I consider my part in this matter to be complete.  Before leaving Bright Falls, I threw my dream journal into the lake and hopefully returned my visions to their source…..”

“When I finally left Bright Falls and returned to Madison, I looked for Anna and Milo.  The apartment was empty and Anna’s family refused to answer my alls.  They were gone and I was abandoned, alone.  I searched for almost a year before finally making contact.  I now work as an assistant in the basement of the university library, shelving books mostly but occasionally fixing network problems and waking sleeping students at closing time.  On those brief occasions when one of these students catches my eye and they look away too quickly or they are over-polite, I get the sense that they’re afraid to catch what I have.  Perhaps they look down at me with my anxious manner and ill-fitting clothes, convinced that I am one of life’s forgotten and poor beyond pity.  I let them look down, smug with the pride of my secret.

See, they don’t understand what I have.  They don’t know that when I finish work, my back sore and my feet as heavy as cinderblocks, that I catch a bus to the other side of town where I climb six floors to a small but well-kept apartment.  They have no idea that when I open that door and see my beautiful wife and boy look up at me and smile, that I am awash in the light and warmth of a thousand suns.

They don’t understand that I have treasures beyond their imagining.  That I am untouchable, alive, and that I walk in light.”

Alan Wake Files is a post from: Rely on Horror

Janus

I love to be scared - the anxiety, the adrenaline. Whether its being enveloped by a good book, teetering on the edge of my seat in the theatre or plunging head-first into the world of survival horror, I want to be there.

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