I'm actually surprised that the various European and United Kingdom Home Fronts haven't been delved into for horror games much before. I understand that the Occupied and Axis-aligned countries had enough true horror there that you really don't need monsters, but the Home Fronts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and especially Great Britain work out quite well.
In a time with loud bombs a'crashing, sirens a'wailing and incendiaries a'burning, your neighbours probably won't hear you scream. Especially if they've taken shelter. The shelters themselves are overburdened by shelterers so you can come across nearly anyone in those claustrophobic confines. You might even find yourself in a little-used shelter with a dangerous person for company.
The black outs drop you in darkness, turning a simple act such as crossing the road into a deadly exercise (especially when a shelled road could have treacherously deep pools of water), and preventing you from seeing just who is following you or what that snuffling sound down that alleyway is all about.
The government can get away with doing strange things which don't mean anything to you. Cardboard tanks may lurk around a building, a block of flats could suddenly become off-limits, and odd fellows in suits could tell you to move along or forget that thing you just saw, and even the media will back them up on it.
There's just such horror potential there, even if you don't spike the risks with burning buildings, gas leaks, black out gangs and having to pull people out of the rubble, dead or alive and perhaps maimed.
But yes, still in musing mode so I thought I would post up a bit on why I adore the essential premise of Horrors on the Home Front.
I do think the sheer darkness of everything is a big part of it, and the satisfying twist that in the night light is actually a danger to you. It also has some quite dystopian elements in terms of the unquestioned power of the government and so on.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the government doing strange things, you might want to look into the towns of Tyneham, Mynydd Epynt and Imber in the UK, and Bonnland in Germany, if you haven't already. They were taken over "for the duration of the war" by the militaries in question, then residents refused permission to return. They've all since been compulsory-purchased and are used for military training.
Some more interesting places can be found at http://www.abandonedcommunities.co.uk/index.html including some close enough in time to be associated with wartime issues despite not being specifically ralted (like St. Kilda).
"related" not "ralted"...
DeleteWow, that's cool. Thanks for the tip!
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