Video Game / Maid Of Sker

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Maid Of Sker is a First Person Horror game by Wales Interactive and released 28 July 2020.

Set in 1898, the protagonist is music composer Thomas Evans who arrives at Sker by train due to a letter he received from his lover, Elisabeth Williams, urging him to compose a melody and come to her aid. Once inside the house, he is called by Elisabeth via the in-house phone, only to hear that everyone in the house and on the grounds is violent and will hurt him. The player gets tasked with finding four music rolls and save Elisabeth from the attic...without getting caught or killed first, that is.

Gameplay is inspired by Silent Hill and Outlast, and focuses on sneaking past enemies while exploring the mansion and surrounding area while the saving system alludes to Resident Evil, just with a phonogram instead of typewriter.

Heavily inspired by the historic place Sker House as well as the novel The Maid of Sker by R.D. Blackmore, it is located on the fictional Sker Island, drawing from both British and Welsh folklore as well as other mythology.

A Gaiden Game, Sker Ritual, was released on Steam Early Access on October 6th, 2022, with the game seeing a full release on April 18th, 2024, about a year late of its announced planned release of Spring 2023. Unlike the original game, it's a horde-based co-op First-Person Shooter heavily inspired by Call of Duty: Zombies.

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Maid of Sker provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents: While not the physical abuse kind, both Prudence and Isaac groomed Elisabeth since birth, including her lullaby being a part of the mermaid song. When Elisabeth rebels upon her mothers death, Isaac and Abraham first try to pressure and gaslight her into it, then lock her into the mansion to stop her from interfering.
• Accomplice by Inaction: Elisabeth wanting to avoid this is what starts the plot. She could just leave, but the idea of abandoning innocent people to the horrors of the hotel doesn't sit right with her.
• Alas, Poor Villain: While still complicit in the crimes of the family, Prudence Williams has a Heel Realization just as she is about to die and while not asking for forgiveness, it's hard to not feel bad for her being genuinely sorry of dragging her daughter into it.
• The All-Seeing A.I.: Despite all Quiet Ones being officially blind, Abraham Williams always knows exactly where Thomas is, even when he is silent and not moving.
• Anachronism Stew: There are a some machines and technologies in the mansion that wouldn't yet exist, especially not in a private home. Justified because it's mentioned that Isaac developed all of them himself.
• Androcles' Lion: Thomas meets a dog a few times that belonged to Prudence. At one point, the dog is trapped in a bear trap and can get freed by Thomas. The dog later selflessly distracts the Quiet Ones upon risk of its own life so he doesn't get burned alive.
• And Your Little Dog, Too!: The first obvious sign that Isaac is evil? An early phonogram where he hurts his late wife's dog and then calls for his brother to kill it.
• Arrange Mode: The Challenge Mode game modes, added in a later patch, are arcade-style challenge runs that allow you to go on a plot-free run-through of the Sker Hotel and surrounding grounds with an arsenal of weapons including a revolver, shotgun, and rifle, blasting your way through the Quiet Ones.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: The only thing that can hurt Abraham Williams? A gigantic electrocution machine.
• Apocalyptic Log: The phonograms of Elisabeth. They start when she was yet unaware of her family's history, follow her reaction as she finally does and end with her falling victim to the song.
• Asshole Victim: Isaac and Abraham Williams. They are indisputably evil and end up getting corrupted by the song just as anyone else in the hotel.
• Ax-Crazy: Elisabeth, ironically. She falls under the song's spell without Thomas potentially noticing and guides him to collect the very music rolls that will enslave him to her.
• Bad Boss: Isaac Williams. He wants to know if the melody works when it's just a recording. So he decides to test it on the hotel staff.
• Bad Samaritan: Elisabeth. She offers support and helps by suggesting where to go next. Only for the reveal that she has been nicely guiding Thomas into his own enslavement through the song.
• Bear Trap: The area around Sker Point is scattered with them, as the dog painfully finds out.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Isaac and Abraham Williams. Technically also the late Jebediah Williams.
• Big Fancy House
• Bilingual Bonus: Being set in Wales, the game features plenty of welsh, including all songs being sung in it.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: It starts with Jebediah who on purpose caused ship wrecks to steal their cargo and ends with Isaac who kills his own hotel guests. Elisabeth is the first to actually decide to not be a homocidal maniac.
• Body Horror: At first it seems like the Quiet Ones simply wear a bag over their head. When Isaac takes his off, we see how severely deformed their heads have become, with hair loss being the mildest issue. You can find notes that indicate the final step of the initiation ritual that creates the Quiet Ones is having their face dosed in kerosene and burned off, which is why they're all blind.
• Brain Washed: What the song does: the listener will be naturally inclined to do whatever the singer wants them to such as driving their ship into a cliff or visiting a hotel for no reason.
• Break the Cutie: Elisabeth goes through a lot of horrible stuff, not even counting finding out about her family's messed up legacy. And in the end she falls victim to the song herself sometime during or before the game despite her best attempts to stop it.
• The Brute: Abraham Williams, Elisabeth's uncle. He is at least two heads taller than Thomas, can easily break through walls, one hit halves Thomas' health and his steps sound extremely heavy. Elisabeth warns Thomas via the phone that he might be on the second floor based on the noise of crashing. Cue her being proven correct when he breaks through a wall to snatch an item you need.
• But Thou Must!: No, there is no option to grab Elisabeth's wrist and just run out of the house. You either play the counter-music or follow her request for the music rolls.
• Call-Back: While exploring the first floor, players can find the body of Matilda Norton who is missing her head. Then later, when reaching the attic, players find a mannequin with the head of a dead woman. Since most players might have missed or forgotten the former, it serves well in fooling players into thinking it's Elisabeth's head and she is dead.
• Chekhov's Gun: Thomas' music sheet from the very beginning. The music sheets are the only way to get the good ending.
• Closed Circle: Even if Thomas were able to get out of the mansion's grounds, the map at the train station shows that the next village is a long walk away and the only train at earliest arrives the next day anyway.
• Collection Sidequest: The music boxes.
• Contrived Coincidence: You find a prototype weapon in the garden workshop, yet the ammunition for using it just happens to be strewn randomly across the house.
• The Corruption: What happens when (willingly or forcefully) undergoing the Initiation Ceremony. For an additional layer, while the ritual causes one to be Brain Washed, the failed attempt to fix it entirely broke everyone, adding an extra dangerous layer of corruption.
• Crazy Sane: Elisabeth. She is able talk and move normally, doesn't attack Thomas on sight and even does things such as plan and order the Quiet Ones. Yet she is very much an insane victim of the song, just as everyone else.
• Creepy Cave: After escaping getting burned alive, one passes through one filled with Gorn. The mines from the first quarter of the game might also count.
• Creepy Cemetery
• Cruel and Unusual Death: In the bad ending, this happens to the siren who gets set on fire, stabbed and finally shot. And then there are the various traps of the hotel such as the spike bed, hidden guillotines and trap doors.
• Damsel in Distress: Elisabeth. Subverted, when she is revealed to have been a non-mute Quiet One either from the beginning or after her abduction and since just faked being one.
• Darkness Equals Death: The game doesn't start becoming actually dangerous until Thomas goes into the dark basement. Only to find out that it has become night time when he finally escapes it. Even applies to the endings, with the good ending having the sun rise while the bad ending is still in the middle of the night.
• Dark Secret: The Williams have made very sure that no one knows about them having a literal siren hidden underneath the house.
• Determinator: Thomas braves the Quiet Ones on his search for Elisabeth and the music rolls she wants. Even almost being burned alive doesn't stop him.
• Distress Call: The letter that causes Thomas to arrive at Sker Island. During the game, she keeps using the telephones spread around the mansion grounds to check in on him and ask for help.
• Door to Before: Once you have been to the attic, any area you walk to usually circles back to earlier areas, now with you being able to unlock the doors that previously prevented you from fully exploring the floor you're on.
• Dramatic Unmask: Isaac takes his sack off at one point to show why the sacks are definitely appreciated.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Remember the poor man that got smashed through a window in the basement? The Quiet One that does that to him is Abraham, the boss of the 2nd floor.
• Elaborate Underground Base: Not only is the basement appropriately massive for a mansion that size, but the house is also connected to an elaborate mining shaft complex that was clearly meant to offer an emergency exit.
• End-Game Results Screen: Upon finishing, the game lists playtime, difficulty and how many of the collectibles have been found.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Painfully averted as Isaac doesn't shed a single tear for his wife's early death, only being concerned on replacing her fast so his hotel can stay open.
• Everything Trying to Kill You: All Quiet Ones want you dead the second they hear you. The only things not trying to kill you are the mansion's many traps, even though they feel like they would.
• Extremely Short Timespan: You start the game at sunset and - depending on the ending - either finish earliest in the middle of the night or latest at sunrise.
• Faux Affably Evil: Isaac and Prudence most likely ran their hotel like this, seeming like gracious hosts while murdering their guests. During the game, this applies to Elisabeth, who fell under the song's spell and is trying to manipulate Thomas by acting helpless and lovely into helping her gain power.
• Females Are More Innocent: Elisabeth tried to stop her father, in the end even at risk of her own life. Prudence participated in the horrors, but as she is about to die, she realizes her errors and writes a letter in which she hopes Elisabeth will avoid the same. Even the siren is more like a wild and scared animal than a monster.
• Final Death Mode: Hard mode gives only very few health and ammo items, the Quiet Ones insta-kill and they become extremely alert, now hearing you from further away.
• Foreshadowing: A few.
  • When standing before the closed gates of the hotel, a woman can be heard singing a song through an open window. Hinting that Elisabeth is not only not in the attic, but also actively spreading the song.
  • One note mentions that originally, Sirens were described to look like harpies instead of mermaids. We find the siren, a harpy trapped in a bird cage.
  • The man that gets set on fire. It's what Quiet Ones do with anyone they catch and what will await Thomas.
  • Similarly, meeting Henry Hughes who is locked behind an octopus door. He is only the first of many musicians that got a grizly death for daring to compose a counter melody.
  • The note about the cult ritual. Thomas gets to experience it first-hand in the bad ending.
• First-Person Ghost: Averted. Thomas' legs are visible when looking down as is his full-body shadow when he walks in front of light sources.
• For Want Of A Nail: As shown by the challenge missions, if Thomas had brought with him even an axe, he could very easily cleave his way through all the horrors of the estate. With a revolver, a shotgun and a rifle by his side and the frightening, monster-infested journey turns into a house tour.
• Fragile Speedster: Thomas is pretty fast while sprinting since he dies very fast when attacked. His sprint meter is sadly very short though, making it not a good strategy against most enemies to just run away.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: The Phonic Modulator can stun the Quiet Ones by emitting music. It doesn't work on Abraham though with no explanation as to why.
• Gender-Restricted Ability: It's implied that similar to the myths of sirens, the song doesn't work as well on women. All Quiet Ones are male and Elisabeth is the only sane person in the hotel. Until you find out she has become corrupted, too, though she is still considerably more sane than the other enemies. Which might also explain why Prudence was the only to realize her wrong-doings and free herself from the song.
• Genre Shift: The first major patch for the game introduced a separate, non-story based "Survival Mode" that plays more like a traditional First-Person Shooter, in which you make your way through the hotel fighting enemies with turn-of-the-century weaponry, though enemies retain the deliberate pace from the main game. Sker Ritual is a full-on co-op horde shooter with faster paced combat, larger amounts of enemies, and World War I-era automatic weaponry.
• Gothic Horror: It's set in a mansion in 18th century Wales.
• Guide Dang It!: Unless the player is determined to explore every single area, finding all music sheets is a challenge. As is figuring out how to get rid of Abraham Williams.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: You find multiple corpses of people who happened to find out that the hotel is a fan of guillotines of all things.
• Heal Thyself: You find bottles of a more than questionable looking liquid claiming to heal everything from headaches to asthma that work as the game's health potion.
• Heartbeat Soundtrack: Happens either when Thomas is about to run out of air (from running or holding his breath) or when a Quiet One is very close-by.
• Hell Is That Noise: The rattling breath when being near a Quiet One.
• Here We Go Again!: In the bad ending, Elisabeth will be the third generation of her family that decides to use the siren's song for evil purposes.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Since the Quiet Ones are blind, Thomas can stand fairly close to them without being noticed. He has to hold his breath though to pass them really closely.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Isaac Williams wanted to test his melody recording on his staff. He ends up just as corrupted as them.
• Hollywood Darkness: With the exception of a basement jumpscare, all areas (inside and outside) are bright enough to justify Thomas never trying to even pick up a candle.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: Abraham Williams can get electrocuted and Isaac Williams hears the final melody. Both simply knocks them out for a moment, with especially Abraham recovering the moment you are more than one room away from him.
• Hope Spot: Reaching the attic has Thomas spot a woman singing. It's a mannequin with the head of a dead woman and a recording.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: While there is technically a monster in the form of the siren, she never actually hurts anyone. All the death and gore is thanks to Jebediah, Isaac and Abraham Williams.
• Idiot Ball: At the end, if the player enters the main hall, Elisabeth will do the classic "Thomas? Is that you?". Justified since she is corrupted by the song and controlling the Quiet Ones, thus not having any reason to be afraid of alerting them.
• Incest Subtext: At first one hears a phonogram of some man listening to Elisabeth's singing lessons while creepily complimenting "her lungs" to be like her mothers. We later find out it's her uncle.
• Initiation Ceremony: A necessary step to join Jebediah's Secret Circle of Secrets. Once The Corruption had infected Isaac, he simply forces everyone he finds to do it. The steps are: douse the initiate to cleanse them, have them listen to the song, cover their head with a sack to block all their senses except hearing.
• Insane Equals Violent: The Quiet Ones have been driven insane from the song. Now they attack any noise origin the second they hear it.
• Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: Be it a table or couch in a hallway, a small wall or fence on the grounds or a tree the height of Thomas' ankles, he will not try to get past the obstacle and rather waste 15+ minutes to find an alternative route.
• Interface Screw: Getting hurt makes the edges of the screen glow red. Holding your breath for too long causes the screen to turn black and white.
• Ironic Name: Most of the villains have questionable or ironic names.
  • Jebediah means Friend of God who happens to have cause untold deaths by wrecking ships and later formed a cult.
  • Isaac means One who laughs/rejoices who all notes and recordings depict as a sour, violent and apathetic man.
  • Abraham means Father of Many yet he is the one of the two brothers who hasn't fathered even a single child.
  • Prudence means cautioness and yet she was the first to immediately offer singing the siren's song herself, just to see what would happen.
• It's All My Fault: In desperation, Elisabeth used her unfinished counter-melody. After witnessing the result, she blames herself for the state of the Quiet Ones.
• Jumpscare: A few. Special mention to Abraham's two crashes through a wall, the wooden beam in the basement, Isaac's hallway scare and the title screen.
• Karma Houdini: Jebediah never got persecuted for the countless ship wrecks he caused. Prudence died as a beloved singer. Isaac and Abraham are presumably cured of the corruption and the game doesn't mention in any way what happened to them for their deeds. The only mention of any punishment is a letter of Prudence, saying that if there is justice in the afterlife, then she will be suffering through it.
• Kill the Lights: Isaac's jumpscare has him turn off all lights in a hallway.
• Last-Minute Reprieve: Thomas only barely avoids being burned alive thanks to a dog making enough noise that it draws the Quiet Ones away.
• Late to the Tragedy: By the time Thomas arrives, the incident that Elisabeth was worrying about has already happened and he has to survive through the aftermath. Justified in that she specifically told him to only come when he has his melody ready else he won't be able to help her without it anyway.
• Laughing Mad: Hearing Elisabeth's phonograph of doing one is one of the more obvious hints that the song has corrupted her.
• Leitmotif: You always hear three separate melodies throughout the game. At the very end if you give Elisabeth the four music rolls, you hear the song in full.
• Locked Door: Some are locked with sliding locks from the other side, others with specific keys. All doors can be unlocked, but it might take a lot of backtracking.
• Ludicrous Gibs: You find bodies with their upper torso missing. Some are justified due to guillotine traps spread across the hotel, but with others it leaves one wondering what happened to the victim.
• Made of Iron: Thomas keeps falling multiple feet into various kinds of holes. The worst that happens to him is having a piece of glass or rock stuck in his arm.
• Mad Scientist: Isaac William whose inventions are all over the mansion. While homocidal tendencies may or may not count as madness, him getting corrupted by the song definitely count.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: Jebediah's method of earning money. Have a ship crash into the cliffs, then collect the cargo and dismantle the ship. Even if anyone misses the ship or finds parts, no one can prove it was anything but an accident.
• Malevolent Masked Men: The aesthetic of the Quiet Ones, with all of them being male and having their head covered with a sack.
• Man on Fire: Anyone that isn't added to the Quiet Ones gets hunted down, covered in alcohol and then set on fire. Thomas only barely manages to avoid this fate.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Can Isaac Williams teleport? Or is Thomas falling under the melody's influence and is hallucinating because of it?
  • There is one room on the 1st floor east wing that is entirely black with only selected areas that are lit when getting close and with something hunting you. When you leave it and look at the map, not only are you on the opposite side of the floor, but there is also no room marked for the door that you just left. Whether or not that room is real or just you wandering around mindlessly to the song is never explained.
• Mind-Control Music: Hearing the full song forces you to obey the will of the singer and hearing parts of it repeatedly makes you susceptible to suggestion. The only way to break it is by hearing a counter-melody.
• Multiple Endings: There are two, based on if the player has all music rolls and/or all music sheets. In either case, the player has the choice to leave to find the rest or decide on whether to trust her or not.
  • Downer Ending: By trusting Elisabeth, it is revealed that she too has been corrupted by the song. She blasts the full song, causing Thomas to also fall under its spell. They (and Abraham) arrive in the cave where Elisabeth orders the Quiet Ones and Thomas to kill the trapped siren. The ending text implies that she then used the song outside the hotel grounds for power.
  • Bittersweet Ending: By playing the song himself, Elisabeth is revealed to have been corrupted, but wakes up from it just in time to stop Abraham from attacking as she starts to sing. She causes all Quiet Ones to be stunned, only for Thomas to free the trapped Siren. But the Quiet Ones might be too far gone to be saved, the musicians that helped save the day died for it and even in the best case, Elisabeth will be without any family.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Elisabeth, desperate to protect the hotel staff, decides to use the unfinished counter-melody against her father's music rolls. Instead of protecting them from corruption, it entirely breaks their minds.
  • Thomas in the bad ending: Even though all notes and phonograms say that the music rolls play the siren song and that said song does corrupt the listener, he blindly gives the music rolls to Elisabeth instead of the music sheets that would counter the song.
• No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom: The outside area is linear at all times, even when in the middle of the forest.
• Nothing Is Scarier: You can hear footsteps from above you, the house constantly creaks and moans and while the Quiet Ones are fairly easy to avoid, they are silent enough to possibly appear out of nowhere from around a corner. Once the player meets Isaac in the last quarter who can apparently teleport, the game becomes Paranoia Fuel.
• Not Using the "Z" Word: The Quiet Ones are alive, but behave very much like zombies, down to the way they walk.
• Off with His Head!: A few bodies found on the grounds are missing their heads.
• Ominous Music Box Tune: The small music boxes one can find all play the same song which is part of the siren's song.
• Only One Name: Averted, every character that has a name has their full name in the game. Not the credits, the game itself.
• Only One Save File: You save via the phonograms. There is only one save file and it saves over the last one automatically.
• Opening Narration: The game opens to Thomas re-reading Elisabeth's letter explaining her situation and why Thomas has a music sheet with him.
• Our Sirens Are Different: Early on, a melody that can be heard repeatedly is referred to as "the siren's song". The melody is from an actual siren that had been found trapped and injured in a ship wreck and has since been kept in a cage underneath the hotel. In contrast to most uses of this trope, it's implied that it's less a case of Compelling Voice and more about the melody and lyrics as both Prudence and Elisabeth can do it.
• Peek-a-Boo Corpse: An early room in the basement had a corpse wrapped in a blanket hang right behind a door, offering a minor jumpscare upon opening it.
• Pet the Dog: A literal case at Sker Point where you can not just save the severely scared dog out of a bear trap, but also pet it.
• Please, I Will Do Anything!: Said twice, both times by Henry Hughes. It saves him from neither getting abducted by Abraham, nor from getting killed by Isaac.
• Plot-Triggering Death: The early demise of Prudence Williams causes Isaac to get Elisabeth involved who (due to being neither corrupted nor indoctrinated) is horrified of what is expected of her.
• Rage Against the Reflection: There isn't a single mirror in the entire mansion that isn't broken. Some have writing in blood on them with writing such as "Who are you?".
• Rasputinian Death: The siren in the bad ending. She gets set on fire, stabbed and finally shot.
• The Reveal:
  • Elisabeth has become corrupted by the song. Though possibly more The Un-Twist, as not only can a phonogram be found of Elisabeth laughing evily, but also the wording in the Last-Second Ending Choice makes it really obvious that she can't be trusted.
  • There is actually a real siren underneath the manor and the song has been what it has been singing for decades.
  • The hotel didn't decline due to Prudence's death because there was no more entertainment. It was because without her hypnotizing song, nobody wanted to go there anymore.
• Reviving Enemy: You electrocute Abraham with a massive coil? He's back to walking in less than two minutes. Isaac's mind is shattered further with music? He is back in time for the ending.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: One of Thomas' weapons in the Challenge Mode scenarios is a revolver, which kills most enemies in a single headshot, has plentiful ammo and has a large enough clip size and fire rate that keeps you from being overwhelmed.
• Room Full of Crazy: Later areas of the game have pagan-looking shrines and decorations. Special mention goes to the attic, the music room and the garden.
• Run or Die: While the rule whenever sneaking past a Quiet One fails, this is the modus operandi of surviving Abraham Williams who - despite being blind - always knows exactly where Thomas is.
• Say My Name: It's impossible to finish this game and not know that you are called Thomas as Elisabeth keeps saying it in every phone call and multiple phonograms.
• Scenery Porn: The game features a gorgeous view of the mansion and it's grounds. Quickly becomes Scenery Gorn when entering and seeing the blood stains and decrepit furniture.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The semi-last goal of the game is called "Escape the Hotel!". It only changes when Thomas finds out that Elisabeth is still alive.
• Secret Circle of Secrets: Jebediah's cult of the Quiet Ones. In contrast to the usual fare of black robes and latin chanting, entry requires exposure to the siren song and covering your head with a bag with the specific idea to not see anything and only listen.
• Secret Diary: At least two recordings of Elisabeth were made specifically with the intention of no one - especially none in her family - ever hearing them.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Isaac with his fancy suit and top hat.
• Shattered Sanity: What Elisabeth's attempt to counter the Mind-Control Music lead to: usually people are simply Brain Washed but still behave like normal people. After she tried to counter it with an unfinished song, everyone became mute and mindless, wandering the halls like a zombie.
• Songs in the Key of Lock: One puzzle requires the player to press piano keys in a certain order. There are also multiple puzzles involving ringing bells.
• Sound-Only Death: What happens to Henry Hughes when Thomas passes the locked door that traps him. Played with as he is in fact proven to be alive later, but only when Thomas sees his actual death.
• Sprint Meter: Thomas has a very short one. Justified since he is simply a musician.]]
• Stealth-Based Game: You're not completely helpless as you do eventually acquire a sonic device with limited charges that stuns nearby Quiet Ones for several seconds, but otherwise you're not going to be able to get your hands on any weapons and the main focus of the game is stealthing around enemies rather than confronting them directly.
• String Theory: One of the last rooms to unlock has such a board. It is unclear what it is about as Thomas neither interacts nor comments it.
• Supernatural Light: Thomas sees a big ball of light with "tendrils" a few times: once when arriving at the grounds, right above the swamp. Again in the chapel and then again when in the mines, inside a cage hanging in a cave. While not explained exactly what it is or does, the bad ending shows the siren turning into it upon death, thus possibly linking it to her trying to escape or similar.
• Super-Strength: Abraham Williams is a giant of a man who easily walks through walls as if they're made of paper.
• Super-Persistent Predator: Abraham Williams will hunt you relentlessly, isn't blind unlike the rest of the Quiet Ones (and thus cannot be hidden from), and is surprisingly fast given his size.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Isaac wanted to corrupt his staff and guests, only to fall for it himself.
• Title Drop: Literally on posters right at the train station, where it's mentioned that Prudence Williams was the former Maid of Sker and that Elisabeth will be the new one.
• Toilet Horror: There is a jumpscare involving a burning bathtub and one toilet stall that begins to rattle the moment you get close.
• Too Dumb to Live: Thomas got a letter from his lover, begging him to come to her rescue after he wrote a melody. He does...without any weapons, a torch or anything other that would be reasonable based on the letter Elisabeth wrote.
• Tragic Monster: The siren is essentially just an animal whose song happens to cause the listener to follow what the singer intends. While probably dangerous in theory, the creature never hurts anyone, instead it keeps getting trapped, caged, tortured and in one ending even killed.
• Trail of Blood: Seen regularly, the first prominent one is in the main hall leading up the stairs.
• Trapped-with-Monster Plot: Both Elisabeth and Thomas end up stuck in the mansion with a swarm of Quiet Ones out for their heads.
• Trauma Conga Line: Specifically for two:
  • Elisabeth first has her mother die while her father doesn't care, she then gets pressured into stepping into her mothers shoes, finds out her father wants her to perform a mass hypnosis by singing, then finds out he is a serial killer. It gets topped off by her becoming corrupted by the song at some point despite her best efforts and - if the bad ending is chosen - becoming a power hungry human siren.
  • The siren suffers from this. It is first found in the wreck of a ship, having been captured and trapped there. Too injured to defend itself against Jebediah, it gets trapped by him who uses it to wreck more ships. It then gets inherited by Isaac who uses it to lure guests into his hotel. And in the bad ending, all the decades of suffering reward it with a painful death via fire, stabbing and a gun wound.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change: The game requires the player to sneak as they have no way to defend themselves and even when given an item to stun enemies, it is only temporary and with limited ammo. Cue Abraham Williams who forces the player to run for their life as he can always find the player and is very fast.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: While Thomas doesn't talk ever, his answer options when calling Elisabeth at least often mention the most shocking or unusual things. Yet he never even once mentions the Supernatural Light.
• Victorian Novel Disease: Prudence died of this a few years before the start of the game.
• The Voiceless: Thomas doesn't speak a single word, his replies are only in choice boxes.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Any player that started to feel safe around the Quiet Ones gets a big wake up call when they first meet Abraham.
• Wham Line: You know you got the bad ending when you hear Elisabeth promise that Thomas will have a place in her new world.
• Wandering Walk of Madness: The Quiet Ones don't really patrol as much as that they wander within a certain vicinity. The only thing that makes them stop is noise which causes them to violently attack whatever caused it.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to the Quiet Ones in the good ending? Specifically to Isaac and Abraham Williams? Did they get cured? Persecuted? You never find out.
• What You Are in the Dark: Elisabeth had - at multiple times - the chance to simply run away from her family and wash her hands of his fathers plans. Despite nothing being in it for her, she stays and actively works against him to protect the staff and future guests who aren't even aware they are in danger. And when her first attempt to save everyone fails, she still stays behind to figure out a way to fix everything.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: While not specifically stated, it's implied that the siren isn't evil or trying to kill anyone. Singing is simply what it does, either in general or as self-defense. But it is the reason how Jebediah and Isaac got a song into their hands that allowed them to kill and torture countless people. All while being trapped, starved and tortured itself. The song is proven harmless in general in the good ending where the siren sings as she is freed, yet neither Elisabeth nor Thomas react to it as the creature doesn't seem to have bad intentions for them.
• Would Hit a Girl: Isaac has no reservations about it which also extends to all Quiet Ones. Examples include the list of Isaac's Ledger, the clearly female bodies in a cave and Elisabeth getting attacked in the attic.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Thomas went through the entire mansion and grounds, collected stuff while at constant risk of death, at one point even despairing as he hears Elisabeth get attacked. In the bad ending, the happy reunion with her gets soured by her immediately playing the siren song, putting him under her control with the promise that "he will have his place", implying there isn't any actual love for him left.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In the bad ending, once she gets her hands on the full recording of the Siren's song, Elizabeth no longer needs the Siren itself and has the now brainwashed Thomas execute it to demonstrate his fealty to her.

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