If you have played Alan Wake Remastered on Switch (or any other platform) then you’ll certainly notice that the opening line is quite unique in that it directly quotes the exceptionally popular author, Stephen King.
This was a deliberate decision from the game’s writer Sam Lake, who said Eurogamer that he “really, really, really wants” to be able to open the game with a specific King quote, presumably because the story itself draws so much inspiration from King’s extensive work.
Thankfully, the perfect quote was found in an article written by King in Entertainment Weekly called ‘Why Hollywood Can’t Make Horror Movies’. According to Lake, the right to use the quote was purchased for just $1. Here’s exactly what he said:
“When creating the original Alan Wake, I really, really wanted a quote from him to start it. I understood that he wanted $1 so we could use it. [It was] very generous.”
The quote used in Alan Wake reads:
“Nightmares exist beyond logic, and have little joy in explaining; they are the opposite of the poetry of fear.”
It summarizes Alan Wake’s experience pretty well, doesn’t it? We can certainly see why Lake would want to use it. Indeed, much of the story is wrapped in a veil of mystery as you work to uncover what happened to Alan Wake’s wife, Alice, and fight off hordes of enemies known as the ‘Taken’.
Sadly, the game’s port on the Switch isn’t the best way to experience Alan Wake. Because poor image quality seriously degrades the experience, we gave it a 6/10 in our review.
