Developer Pieces Interactive has re-imagined the survival horror classic Alone in the Dark for a modern audience, telling an all-new tale of horror in a familiar setting. Players will once again travel to Derceto Manor, a place with a dark past and sinister creatures lurking within its walls. Pieces Interactive and legendary monster designer Guy Davis worked to create a terrifying new set of enemies for Alone in the Dark players to face as they investigate Derceto's secrets and struggle to escape alive.

In a conversation with Game ZXC, Pieces Interactive art director Rikard Ryberg spoke about working with Davis to design monsters for players to encounter. Ryberg talked about how players will see a mix of enemies they may remember from the original Alone in the Dark but brand new foes as well. As the original game did, Pieces Interactive and THQ Nordic drew inspiration from the works of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors who contributed to his Cthulhu Mythos, while also leaving space to make original monsters who bring something new to the re-imagined game.

Guy Davis Is The Mind Behind The Monsters

Guy Davis is a well-known creature designer whose previous work includes Pacific Rim, Monster Hunter, The Shape of Water, and much more. Ryberg revealed that the Pieces team gave Davis basic background information and details about each monster, but generally gave him free rein when developing Alone in the Dark's creatures.

We had this early idea that all monsters would originate from somewhere, their own lair or nest of sorts. Combining the basic idea of an origin with the initial brief as a starting point, we pretty much gave Guy Davis free rein to come up with ideas. We tried not to enforce too many visual cues on him, but instead, we gave him a ballpark box of what we expect in terms of size, speed, and the general type of the enemy.

The result is a varied slate of enemies for players to face - very few of which have been shown off in the trailers, leaving plenty of mystery for the game's full release. In the proud survival horror tradition that the original Alone in the Dark pioneered and titles like Resident Evil and Silent Hill continued, players will have very little in the way of fighting these monsters, instead relying on their wits should they wish to leave Derceto alive.

H.P. Lovecraft's Influence Is Very Present

The original Alone in the Dark drew influence from the horror works of H.P. Lovecraft, especially his Cthulhu Mythos, which centers around unknowable outer gods beyond human comprehension. Several monsters drawn directly from Lovecraft appeared in the original game, including the ocean-dwelling Deep Ones and the Nightgaunts which haunted Randolph Carter in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. Ryberg confirmed that Lovecraft's influence can still be felt in the upcoming reimagining.

Ryberg described Alone in the Dark's horror aesthetic as a mix of "low-key Lovecraftian themes" and "Southern Gothic." THQ Nordic producer Andreas Schmiedecker felt that what makes the game unique is that Derceto is located in the deep South, rather than the "typical Lovecraftian New England setting." This allows Alone in the Dark to include references to Lovecraft without being fully beholden to the rules and settings of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Mikael Hedberg, the game's creative director and writer, did confirm that Lovecraft's particular brand of eldritch horror does lurk deep within the game's DNA. "I don't want to risk spoiling anything," Hedberg told Game ZXC, "but the Lovecraftian and supernatural aspects of the game come in due to something called the Hartwood curse." Players will be able to learn more about this bizarre curse that affects the Hartwood family - and the monsters that lurk within Derceto - when Alone in the Dark releases later in March.