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Alan Wake<\/strong> kicks off with a memorable quote from noted horror author Stephen King. In a game with Energizer batteries and Verizon ads (which were stripped from the 2021 remaster), this real-world crossover made more sense, given its subject matter. And it turns out that quote license only cost Remedy a single dollar.<\/p>\n

Sam Lake said he \u201creally, really, desperately wanted\u201d the quote<\/h2>\n

As reported by Eurogamer, creative director Sam Lake said he \u201creally, really, desperately wanted\u201d to start the thriller with one of King\u2019s quote. King was reportedly on board, too, hence the small price.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating the original Alan Wake, I really, really desperately wanted a quote from him to start it off,\u201d said Lake. \u201cIt\u2019s my understanding he wanted $1 for us to get the rights to use it. [It was] so very generous.\u201d<\/p>\n

King has seemingly not mentioned Alan Wake publicly or at least tweeted about it in any fashion.<\/p>\n

The quote, spoken by protagonist Alan Wake, is as follows: <\/p>\n

\u201cStephen King once wrote that \u2018Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there\u2019s little fun to be had in explanations; they\u2019re antithetical to the poetry of fear.\u2019 In a horror story, the victim keeps asking \u2018why?\u2019 But there can be no explanation, and there shouldn\u2019t be one. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest, and it\u2019s what we\u2019ll remember in the end. My name is Alan Wake, I\u2019m a writer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The quote is not from one of King\u2019s books, but an EW article King penned about why he thinks Hollywood can\u2019t do horror. In it he talks about the 2008 thriller The Strangers and argues for smaller horror films are generally better because they don\u2019t demand big explanations that can suck the energy out.<\/p>\n

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