SILENT HILL F writer explains how horror in the game is like salad dressing

Silent Hill f is shaping up to be a haunting and unforgettable entry in Konami’s legendary horror franchise and writer Ryukishi07 he just provided the perfect metaphor for it. Speaking at Anime Expo 2025, he compared the game’s blend of supernatural and psychological horror to salad dressing.

“It’s like salad dressing,” Ryukishi07 said, describing the narrative style of Silent Hill f. “You shake the herbs and oil and they blend together. But after a while they slowly separate and you can see the layers.”

Those images actually track if you’re familiar with how silent Hill works. Since then Silent Hill 2the series has thrived by interweaving supernatural terror with the internal psychological unraveling of its characters.

You’re never quite sure whether what’s happening is real or just a manifestation of the protagonist’s trauma. Ryukishi07 even used it Silent Hill 2 as a prime example of this style, in which the truth and the fractured perception of the protagonist James are constantly at odds.

Known for his dense and emotionally charged work in the When they cry visual novel, Ryukishi07 said he approached Silent Hill f otherwise. Instead of building characters with heavy backstories first, he started with a central theme and built characters around it.

“This time I wanted to create the characters by focusing on the theme,” he said, comparing the theme to “salad.”

Set in 1960s Japan, Silent Hill f follows high school student Hinako Shimizu as she finds herself trapped in a fog-choked nightmare filled with horrific creatures. It looks like a classic silent Hill setup, but Ryukishi07 teased that the story isn’t just about fear.

“I want people to understand that this is a story of sadness and love, not just horror,” he explained. “These elements are necessary to build a real and impactful horror experience.”

There’s still so much we don’t know Silent Hill fbut it’s clear that we’re having an emotionally complex, shocking, and terrifying experience with an unreliable narrator at the center. If Ryukishi07’s metaphor is any indication, things will start off smooth but eventually reveal a darker, more fragmented reality lurking beneath the surface.

The game marks Konami’s first mainline silent Hill title since 2012, and fans of survival horror and psychological fiction are watching it closely. It’s a new era for silent Hilland was sparked by a tasty and twisted recipe that promises to leave players deeply troubled.