The Medium is by far one of the most popular horror games released in 2021 so far. It's absolutely crushing it in terms of sales, showing that loads of players want to get in on this thrilling horror experience.
It's no secret that the folks at Bloober Team can pack secrets and easter eggs into what they create. The Medium is no exception to this. Still, only those who live and breathe horror and pop culture would be able to find all of the hidden Easter eggs in this game.
10 Blair Witch Symbol
Bloober Team attracted a lot of attention when it made the Blair Witch game, so it's no surprise the studio snuck in a little reference to it in The Medium. Released in 2019, Blair Witch was the studio's highest-profile project at the time, building on Bloober Team's previous foray into horror with titles like Layers of Fear and Observer.
In The Medium, players can spot the symbol hanging from a tree through a set of binoculars. Marianne even comments on it calling it "weird."
9 Where Is Mike Enslin?
On the hotel register in the game, players can spot a scrawled out question: Where is Mike Enslin? This is a reference to the famous Steven King novel 1408.
While the movie has a more definitive ending (in fact it had three endings), the book was left far more open-ended as to what happened to the protagonist, Mike Enslin. It looks like someone was wondering just that and wrote it down in the book.
8 Inspirations From Real-World Locations
The horror genre isn't new to using real-world locations for its settings. Bloober Team scouted out two major locations to copy over for the game (with their interpretation of how they look far into the future). One of these is the Niwa Hotel, which fans of the game could literally visit in the real world today.
The other major location is also a callback to one of their other successful games, Observer. Marriane's Home is modeled off the same apartment complex as The Courtyard found in that game. While there are a few small references to Observer in The Medium, the two universes of the games aren't connected.
7 Vote For Pedro
Napoleon Dynamite might have come out way back in 2004 but it doesn't mean it has been forgotten! Back in the day, it seemed like Vote for Pedro shirts were everywhere.
Well, the iconic line, quote, moment, whatever people want to call it, made its way into The Medium. Players can spot it in blue ink on the hotel register.
6 Sad Nurse
During the game, players run into an eirie drawing that's called "Sad Nurse." This art is potentially a reference to the Silent Hill franchise where there are various nurse enemies dating all the way back to the first game. The nurse in the picture does have a strong resemblance to the one found in Silent Hill: Homecoming, or at least as strong of a resemblance as a crude drawing can have.
5 Bolt Cutters Or Secret Spies?
Marianne must have a serious thing for spy movies. When using the bolt cutters, she references a Polish spy show called 07 Come In which aired back in 1976.
Marianne also cracks a joke comparing the bolt cutters to James Bond by saying "Bolt. Bolt Cutters." It is debatable whether bolt cutters make for good spies, but it's an adorable look into Marianne's likes and personality.
4 A Documentary Darling
In the lowest right-hand corner of the hotel register, players might spot a signature from someone named Tony Halik. Unless they live in Poland, they might not recognize the fame that comes with this name.
Tony Halik was a famous documentary film-maker — in fact, he made over four hundred of them. Add that together with the thirteen books he wrote and the over three hundred TV shows he hosted for Polish Television and it's plain to see why the Polish-based Bloober Team decided to give Halik a nod in the game.
3 A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother
In the hotel ledger, players can spot "A boy's best friend is his mother" scrawled into the top right-hand corner. This quote comes from Norman Bates who horror fans will recognize from the famous Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho.
Seeing how the movie spawned a remake, six films, and an entire prequel TV series, it's no wonder someone wrote a famous quote from the original in there!
2 The Holy Hand Grenade Of Antioch
"O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch comes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in one of the most hilarious scenes of the film.
In The Medium, if players zoom in they can see one of the headlines is that this hand grenade of legend has been found. The fun part? It was located in the cave where the scene was originally filmed.
1 Silent Hill 2 Mary's Letter
The letter that inspired James Sunderland to head to Silent Hill was written by his late wife, Mary Shepard-Sunderland. In the letter, there's a line that says "I feel so pathetic and ugly laying here, waiting for you..."
Players with eagle eyes might have spotted this line written on the hotel ledger in The Medium. Considering how many old Silent Hill staff members worked on this game, it comes as no surprise an obscure reference from the franchise made its way in.