Sam Barlow is a British

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

designer, best known as the writer and designer of '' Her Story'', the two British ''

Silent Hill is a horror media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four main games—'' Silent Hill'', '' Silent Hill 2'', '' Silent Hill 3'', and '' Silent Hill 4: The ...

'' games '' Silent Hill: Origins'' and '' Silent Hill: Shattered Memories'', '' Telling Lies'' and ''

Immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...

''. He previously worked as a game director at

Climax Studios Climax Studios is a British video game developer based in Portsmouth that is best known for their work on the 2004 action role-playing game '' Sudeki'' and the 2007 and 2009 survival horror video games '' Silent Hill: Origins'' and '' Silent H ...

, before leaving in 2014 to become an indie game developer. He published his first independent game, '' Her Story'', in June 2015, his first venture in a genre he has called the "desktop thriller." In 2017 he founded Half Mermaid, a video game production company based in Brooklyn, New York.

Interactive fiction

Barlow was active in the

interactive fiction Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...

scene of the late 1990s, most notably releasing the game ''

Aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

'' in 1999. It won the

XYZZY Award The XYZZY Awards are the annual awards given to works of interactive fiction, serving a similar role to the Academy Awards for film. The awards were inaugurated in 1997 by Eileen Mullin, the editor of ''XYZZYnews''. Any game released during the y ...

for Best Use of Medium. Like his later ''Silent Hill'' games, ''Aisle'' features a psychologically damaged viewpoint character, a contemporary setting and a positive meaning at its heart. In March 2016, during the

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...

, Barlow announced he had joined the interactive media firm Interlude, later rebranded as Eko, to help them develop an interactive media reboot of the 1983 film ''

WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American techno-thriller film directed by John Badham, written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, and starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Ally Sheedy. Broderick plays David Lightman, a ...

''. The work '' #WarGames'' launched in early 2018.

Influences

Barlow frequently cites novelists and film directors as having influenced his work. He claims that

Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

and

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...

influenced his work on '' Silent Hill: Shattered Memories''. Both ''Silent Hill'' titles reference

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

('' Silent Hill: Origins'' features a performance of ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'', whilst ''Silent Hill: Shattered Memories'' has multiple references to ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

''). He has also been inspired by

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

, Mark Z. Danielewski,

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Her writing career spanned over two decades, during which she composed six novels, two memoirs, and mor ...

, ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...

'' and

Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and no ...

. Consistently his most frequently cited influence is

, for example: "I bored everyone with Hitchcock and talking about his techniques and his ideas of suspense" and "Hitchcock said that all horror goes back to childhood, that's why it's a universal thing – it's a fundamental". Barlow cites Cronenberg's '' The Fly'' and

Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...

's '' Cat People'' as showing how best to reboot an existing story.

Video games

Canceled games

References

External links

Half Mermaid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Sam Living people Silent Hill Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) British video game designers British video game writers Interactive fiction writers