Supermassive and Bandai Namco’s Dark Pictures anthology debuted with Man of Medan in 2019, and developers followed up with Little Hope and House of Ashes in 2020 and 2021. So far, the survival horror franchise has received a mixed reception, though some critics praised House of Ashes as a definitive step up from the previous games. Hopefully, that trend continues with the next installment, The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me.
Developers recently shared The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me’s new story trailer, introducing its protagonists and mysterious villain. Players will have to lead their party of hapless videographers through an array of elaborate deathtraps when the game releases for PC and consoles this fall.
The trailer begins with a man named Charles Lonnet, owner of Lonnet Entertainment, who receives an invitation from the mysterious Grantham Du’met. The reclusive Du’met invites Lonnet and his team, including a character voiced by Oscar winner Jessie Buckley, to record footage of his creepy hotel inspired by H. H. Holmes’ Murder Castle. What initially appears to be an eccentric aristocrat’s morbid pet project soon reveals itself as an elaborate death trap designed to torment its new guests.
Historically, H. H. Holmes was the alias of a late 19th-century serial killer believed to have killed up to ten people in the US until his arrest in 1894. He’s best known as the owner of the “Murder Castle,” a hotel he ran in Chicago. The Castle was said to contain numerous secret rooms and death traps. While these claims were greatly exaggerated, the story inspired multiple works of fiction and pop culture.
Of course, Du’met’s hotel in The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me is far more elaborate than its real-world inspiration. The trailer shows a building packed with hidden doors, moving walls, deadly traps, and bizarre puzzles. One of the trailer’s more prominent examples includes a prisoner tied up beneath a swinging scythe. Another grotesque set-piece features a partially decomposed corpse being puppeted around by mechanical parts. Viewers will also spot several animatronic mannequins, including a few that have more than a passing resemblance to the game’s protagonists. This implies that The Devil in Me’s antagonist may have a closer connection to its heroes than they realize.
The Devil in Me will be the fourth installment in The Dark Pictures Anthology and serves as the finale of “Season one.” In addition, Supermassive Games reportedly holds the trademarks for five additional The Dark Pictures games and a spinoff series titled The Dark Pictures Presents. Thus, fans may hear more from The Dark Pictures for quite a while after The Devil in Me releases in autumn.
The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me releases in fall 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.