Silent Hill: Dying Inside [Paperback]

Scott Ciencin (Author), Ben Templesmith (Author), Aadi Salman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2004

Troy Abernathy doesn't believe in ghosts or demons - except those of the mind. The glory-seeking doctor's world is shattered when he brings patient Lynn DeAngelis to Silent Hill. There they confront the source of her seeming delusions... and find themselves trapped in a realm of unspeakable terrors!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Ciencin is a New York Times best-selling author of more than 50 books from Random House, Simon & Schuster, and many more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: IDW Publishing (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932382240
• ISBN-13: 978-1932382242
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,184,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, September 8, 2004

By 

Nekretaal "Nekretaal" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silent Hill: Dying Inside (Paperback)

This book, based on the five issue miniseries starts off promising, with great Templesmith (30 days of Night) art and an intelligent story about a therapist and a disturbed patient who travel to the town of Silent Hill.

However, at chapter three, the story and Templesmith are both abruptly discarded. New artist Salman takes over. He has an interesting artistic style, but the difference in the artistic style is jarring. It is also hard to follow the story from the artwork. Moreover the direction the new story takes, about a biker chick who practices witchcraft, doesn't make sense with what came before it.

Why didn't this book stay with the same artist and the same story?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Make this your first and only Silent Hill comic purchase, December 30, 2005

By 

T. Wilson (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silent Hill: Dying Inside (Paperback)

If you're a fan of the Silent Hill franchise as I am, you're probably looking for something that expands on the mythos surrounding this little New England creepshow.

What you get in Dying Inside is Scott Ciencin's first attempt to tell a SH story as guided by horror comic legend Ben Templesmith. Fans of Ben's artwork will see the evolution of his linework between his previous "Cal McDonald" pieces and most recently, "Fell." Until book three that is.

For some reason, IDW dropped Ben in favor of comic artist Aadi Salaman starting with book three. Strangely, the whole story shifts at that point as well, making books 3 - 5 a sequel to Dying Inside, but not a part of the original tale as the story arch title would make it appear.

While Aadi's artwork does fit the mood, and isn't a total 180 from Ben, it does show a lack of visual flow from panel to panel, often leaving the reader to fill in the blanks where Scott's story was probably light on detail. In the end, it's like listening to a hyperactive four year old tell you about his trip to the mall... but with pictures.

If you can get around all of the bad points, Dying Inside does want to share some interesting twists with the mythos. You have to really work at it though.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Fans, February 9, 2006

By 

AmbiguousJay (Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silent Hill: Dying Inside (Paperback)

I was very excited when I picked this TPB up since I couldn't think of a better publisher to attempt a comic series attached to the popular Konami survival horror game, Silent Hill. The fact that Ben Templesmith (probably best know for his work on the hilarious Cal McDonald mystery series with writer Steve Niles) was the assigned artist only increased my expectations. IDW managed to surprise me by completely missing the mark.
Dying Inside opens with the introduction of a disillusioned doctor named Troy Abernathy, a man who has become disgusted by his own fame and popular self help books. A friend of his asks him to try his hand at helping a mentally disturbed patient named Lynn DeAngelis, since they can't seem to pinpoint the source of her fears. Lynn apparently used to be a young journalist, who suffered some kind of attack while filming in a town called Silent Hill. Troy becomes emotionally invested in his patient, as he thinks he understands the reasons why this girl is tormented by her past. he makes the mistake of taking her back to Silent Hill to confront her inner demons, but naturally, they end up having to deal with real blood-craving monstrosities caused by a small child named Christabella. The reader later finds out that Troy's past is full of nasty little secrets, thanks to a manifestation of his dead wife and best friend (whom we later find out Troy killed with a shovel). In an incredibly dramatic fashion, he sacrifices his own life, so Lynn can escape. She apparently DOES and is picked up by some elderly couple on the side of the road. We never find out what happens to her later, as the story takes a different twist completely. Lynn's digital camera is intercepted at the hospital and her video is watched by a bunch of Goths, who decide they could make some money by visiting the town themselves. Around issue 3, Templesmith is ditched for Aaadi Salaman, which effectively destroys the mood Templesmith effectively created with his style. Lauryn, the punk leader of the Goth teenage group, apparently has ties to Silent Hill and Christabella is later revealed to be her deceased younger sister. Her friends are slaughtered and Lauryn finds out she has some vast demonic power over the town, and somehow uses it to defeat her sister and turn her friends into zombies. All of the Silent Hill fans are now scratching their heads and saying "What just happened?"

The story is very disjointed and full of plot holes. Honestly, the comic reads like Scott Ciencin just gave up on the story after the second issue, then had the rest filled in by a Mary Sue fanfic. The story really has no ties to the original game and fails to do it justice. I probably should have stuck to buying the first two issues of Dying Inside, since the story and art didn't offend me as much as the sudden transition to super powered punker-witch Lauryn.

I'd probably suggest picking up the first two issues to fans as well, but don't expect much originality when it comes to settings and monster designs. The creatures are taken straight from the games and the backgrounds are practically nonexistent. Aside from some of the blood graffiti in the street scenes, the rest of the comic fails to deliver any spooky surroundings. Salaman seems to have confused blurry, dark smears for tension and mood creating backdrops.