Hunger

Hunger is an entry into the series of comics based on Silent Hill. It appears exclusively on The Silent Hill Experience. It is essentially an hour-long video comic with no voice acting.

The story of Hunger was written by Scott Ciencin and is a post-Team Silent work. Its canonicity is debatable and it is often merged into the "Silent Hill comic" universe due to the appearance of certain characters and concepts from those comics with little mention of game-specific lore. A small cameo of James Sunderland and Mary Shepherd-Sunderland of Silent Hill 2 appear, however.

Synopsis
Hunger concerns itself with Douglas Brenneman and his fiancée Rosy and takes place over the course of a 12-hour period.

Having once been a top-notch journalist, Douglas has since lost his position and now finds himself a resident of the all-too-perfect town of Silent Hill. Douglas, always the journalist as heart, is consumed with finding the next big story to get him back on top. When a 911 call is made from an abandoned house and the responding officer is murdered, Douglas is determined to make this his next big story. During the course of his search, Silent Hill seems to change before his very eyes — his neighbors begin acting odd and a mysterious man with white hair seems to be following him.

As time passes, events become increasingly more gruesome-- people begin to kill and cannibalize one another, demons populate the skies and streets, and Rosy has disappeared, caught in the madness that grips Silent Hill. Douglas, finding Rosy working as the town librarian and unfamiliar with him, finds a file while trying to speak to his love. From the file, Douglas learns of a Dr. Aickmann practicing out of Brookhaven Hospital, who has taken to kidnapping fertile women in the hopes of using them as "broodmares", as Douglas puts it, for a multitude of otherworldly denizens. Having gone to Brookhaven to hear Aickmann's tale, Douglas prepares to kill the doctor when the mysterious, white-haired stalker, known as Whately, makes himself and his intentions known to Douglas.



Whately, an apparent member of the Order and herald of Samael, informs Douglas that Silent Hill will serve as a staging point for an incursion of god-like beings from another plane of existence. Douglas is told that his role in this madness will be as a chronicler, and is tasked with writing of the events that are occurring in Silent Hill as he and Whately converse, in what will be titled The Book of Samael. Everyone has a story to tell, says Whately, and Douglas has been chosen to tell the Order's. Branding the journalist with the Brand of Samael, Whatley gives Douglas the chance to leave Silent Hill. If he chooses to, the brand will keep him safe from harm, so that he may fulfill his duty. People will think his tales of Silent Hill insane, but he is most assuredly sane, Whately says, and what is happening in the town is real. He may also stay, to forever be with his love, Rosy.

Choosing to stay, Douglas falls to Rosy's feet. She then transforms and rips his throat out.

Characters

 * Douglas Brenneman - A journalist with the Silent Hill Gazette, Douglas stumbles upon the scene of a double murder and thinks he comes across the story that'll restore his reputation.


 * Rosy - Douglas's fiancée, Rosy disappears shortly after Douglas happens upon the murder scene and his new story.


 * Whately - A mysterious stranger, Whately orchestrates the downfall of Silent Hill and the birth of Samael.


 * Dr. Aickmann - Responsible for obtaining prospective surrogate mothers for Samael and his ilk, Aickmann works out of Brookhaven Hospital.

Reception
Internet comedian Lewis "Linkara" Lovhaug reviewed Hunger on his webshow "Atop the Fourth Wall" – a show dedicated to making fun of bad comics. He claimed it was the best of the Silent Hill comics written by Ciencin, praising it both for the story's mystery and for giving a more concise explanation as to why the town in the comics acts as it does, though still criticizing the artwork - the first half for the occasionally awkward expressions characters make and the second for what he considered murky or drab coloring and poor penciling.


 * | Linkara's review

Trivia



 * The notion of an entire town of residents becoming blood-thirsty and avaricious due to seemingly demonic influence was a theme explored in the Stephen King novel Needful Things.


 * The first-person shot of the pistol being fired is an edited viewshot from Doom 3.


 * The art style is similar to that of the illustrated storyboard cutscenes of the noir video game Max Payne.
 * The journalist shares a first name with the detective following Heather Mason around in Silent Hill 3.
 * Whately shares traits with Claudia, primarily her looks and her goal of bringing about a deity to the town.