Remedy shares its thoughts on Alan Wake inspiration, what consitutes a thriller, Mr. Scratch

Remedy's head of franchise development Oskari Häkkinen, and creative director Sam Lake sat down will Hell Decent to talk about their inspirations when creating Alan Wake, whether a possible sequel will contain more horror elements, and just who or what Mr. Scratch is.

According to Häkkinen, there's a "fine line," between horror and thriller, and the later is what Remedy considers Alan Wake.

"Horror is often associated with blood and gore, with Alan Wake we are going for a more cerebral experience where we add the psychological layer that really taps into a players emotions to be not only scared about the events that are happening, but also the terrifying events that might happen," he said. "I think there certainly is a fine line between the two, however we feel thriller describes Wake better.

"Stimulating emotions is what good entertainment is all about. It’s apparent that we worked with components such as light and dark for instance. We felt they are emotional touchstones that can be used in a wonderful way in a thriller – we all have a primal instinct where light entails safety, while darkness and creeping shadows evoke fear."

As far as Mr. Scratch was concerned, Lake offered: "Maybe we’ll find out at some point, but it might turn out to be something very unpleasant," he said. "Maybe we should hope we’ll never have to find out. You have been warned."

You can read the full interview over on Hell Decent, where neither Remedy man would be baited on announcing a sequel in the works.