Announced during Xbox's E3 conference, Blair Witch, Bloober Team's upcoming psychological horror game is only a couple of weeks away from its planned August 30 release date. Inspired by the films series, Blair Witch is coming to Xbox and PC, and will take players back to Black Hills forest in search of a young boy that has disappeared two years after the events of the first film.
The Blair Witch Project is a cult-classic, and while its two sequels received more mixed reviews from critics, there's plenty to be excited about with the upcoming game. From characters to locations to terrifying creatures or fun Easter Eggs, here are 13 weird things from the Blair Witch films that should be in the game!
13 The Blair Witch Project Film Slate
Bloober Teams Blair Witch takes place in 1996, two years after the events of The Blair Witch Project and is supposed to take place within the same universe as the films, meaning that this is a world where Burkittsville, Maryland has already lived through the disappearance of Heather, Josh, and Michael. Starting off fairly simple, the original film slate for Heather's project, The Blair Witch Project, would be a great Easter Egg for fans.
12 The Children of the Forest
At the beginning of The Blair Witch Project, Heather visits a cemetery in Burkittsville that's home to the graves of seven children. In the Fall/Winter of 1940, seven kids from Blair disappeared and were later found at the home of Rustin Parr, a hermit that killed the children and claimed he was told to do it by a voice that sounded like an old woman. The children are featured in a major horror scene in the original movie where they can be heard roaming the forest around Heather's camp and shake the walls of the group's tent when they try to escape.
11 Mary Brown
During The Blair Witch Project, Heather interviews a local woman in Burkittsville by the name of Mary Brown who has a history with the Blair Witch. She claimed to have had an encounter with the Blair Witch when she was as a child near Tappy East Creek, the same location where a young girl disappeared back in 1825. Mary claimed to have seen the Blair Witch, resembling a hairy half-human and half-animal creature. As the game takes place only two years after the first film, Mary Brown could be a reference point for the police during the search.
10 Rock Piles
Gameplay and trailers have already shown off the famous stick figures found hanging in the trees but what hasn't been seen are the rock piles. Rock piles are seen frequently in The Blair Witch Project and are known as Cairns, man-made piles that are used for many purposes including landmarks, burial monuments, and for ceremonial purposes. During Heather's interview with Mary Brown, she references the Bible quote Genesis 31:52, which warns against crossing a boundary demarcated by stones.
9 Rustin Parr’s House Ruins
Rustin Parr's house is the location where the townspeople found the bodies of the seven missing children in 1940. Rumor has it that Parr would take two children into the basement (there's debate over the attic) and make one child stand in the corner while he killed the other. Rustin Parr's house was burnt down when he was killed but is supposedly where the footage from the first film was found and the ruins of the house are featured in Book of Sorrows: Blair Witch 2.
8 Picture of Ellie
Of course, the Blair Witch herself is more than likely going to be featured in the game to some degree, she’s the titular character after all. With games being far longer experiences than film, Bloober Team has a great opportunity to explore her backstory a little more than we've seen (hopefully without ruining the mystery). Elly Kedward was an Irish woman banished from the town of Blair for Witchcraft and is believed to be the actual Blair Witch. Her picture can be seen in Book of Shadows and could be used to help fill in a little of her back story or feature as an Easter Egg for those that suffered through the second movie.
7 The Mysterious Night Owl
Time travel plays into the series in some interesting ways (more on that later) and one of those ways was with a mysterious Owl in Book of Shadows. One of the girls, Kim, sees a mysterious Owl in a tree right before everyone lost their memories while sleeping in the ruins of Rustin Parr's house. When she stares at the Owl, Kim is given brief glimpses of what was to come that night, a feature that could play a role in the upcoming game.
6 The Underground Tunnels
In the 2016 film, Blair Witch, James describes some old tunnels that were found underneath Rustin Parr’s house that are believed to have been part of an underground railroad system. These tunnels were found after the original house was burnt down but ultimately lead to dead ends. While the tunnels featured in the film were only big enough to crawl through, only one was shown from the basement of the house that Lisa crawls (and is chased) through towards the end of the film. No limits have been set on how extensive these tunnels are or where they could potentially lead.
5 No Entry After Nightfall Sign
The 'No Entry After Nightfall' sign was introduced in Blair Witch (2016) found stuck in a tree. This sign marks the beginning of the Black Hills forest, the setting of the game, home of the Blair Witch, and the location of many horrific events from Coffin Rock to the disappearance of Eileen Treacle. Seeing the sign is as much a warning to the player as it is an Easter Egg for fans.
4 The Burnt Tree
The burnt tree is the location where Lane and Talia found the footage that began the events of Blair Witch (2016). As the sequel introduces some time travel elements (the footage found at the start of the film is actually footage of the films cast days later), it wouldn’t be too far fetched to have the tree already burnt decades prior. Lisa and James also find the tree again at the end of the film right next to the mysterious cabin in the woods, indicating this location is a significant one.
3 Voodoo
After Josh does missing in The Blair Witch Project, a bundle of sticks is left outside of Heather's tent wrapped in a piece of his shirt and holding one of his bloody teeth within. That particularly seen hints at some sort of Voodoo but never pays off outside of shock and horror. Voodoo plays a bigger role in Blair Witch (2016) where Talia's hair is used in one of the wooden figures, killing her immediately after another character breaks the figure.
2 Long Limbs
Now, here's one of the spookier ones. In Blair Witch (2016), Lane talks about reading a book that was published in 1809 that gave some insight into what happened to the Blair Witch. After being tied to a tree and left for dead by the people of Blair, the seven children that were later murdered found her still alive in the forest and hung her from the same tree until she died. It's said that the children tied rocks to her limbs to weigh her down and stretch them out. The Blair Witch is briefly seen twice at the end of the film as a strange humanoid beast, shown to have these terrifyingly long limbs. If the image above isn't enough, she's very briefly seen much closer to the camera in a chase scene through the house.
1 Time Travel
It's no secret that time doesn't work like normal inside Black Hills forest. Blair Witch (2016) takes time manipulation and time travel to a whole new level whether it's the sun never rising or Lane and Talia claiming they've been gone for 5-6 days only hours after they left. The most significant indication of time being manipulated comes in the form of the footage that Lane and Talia found. The pair found memory cards containing footage from within the Blair Witch house inside the burnt tree and uploaded the footage to YouTube. The same footage was seen by James which was the primary reason for him going into Black Hills forest in search of his sister, however, by the end of the film, it's clear that it was actually his and Lisa's footage from the start.In the above image, James runs into the house after seeing his own light shining from the second floor and thinking it's his sister, Heather.
The Blair Witch Project left a huge mark on fans and the horror film landscape when it first released, giving credence to the found footage style of film making like no other had before. Considering that both of its sequels have failed to recreate the same magic as the original, Bloober Team needs to focus on what made The Blair Witch Project a cult-classic and steer clear of the modern-day horror tropes that bogged Blair Witch (2016).
Blair Witch releases on August 30 for Xbox One and PC.