A language teacher in a Japanese secondary school has introduced a novel — if horrifying — new way to teach students English: by playing P.T., also known as the Silent Hills teaser.
P.T. is Hideo Kojima’s uniquely terrifying spin on the horror genre, presented via a home filled with unexpected encounters and bizarre mysteries. In the end, P.T. revealed itself to be a “Playable Trailer” for the secret project Silent Hills, which never came to fruition. For many — myself included — it’s considered one of the scariest video game experiences of all time.
As detailed on the school’s blog and reported by Automaton, students were required to play through the experience in English, as well as give each player’s commands in English, such as “walk around the room” and “answer the phone.” According to the blog update, it created an exciting atmosphere in which students — around the age of U.S. sophomores — could familiarize themselves with English while taking a trip through one of the most terrifying games ever released.
Apparently, the students were particularly alarmed when the phone started ringing but were encouraged to talk about through “natural English expressions.”
Konami officially cancelled Silent Hills in 2015 after a painfully public fallout with Kojima. The free-to-play demo was then scrubbed from the PlayStation Network, provoking false rumors that the company was removing already downloaded copies of the demo from PlayStation 4 consoles worldwide. Clearly, this teacher had the forethought to preserve their saved copy for over a decade.
With Death Stranding 2 out the door, Kojima is working on a number of new projects, including horror game OD for Xbox Game Studios. He revealed the first trailer for it last month, sparking speculation it is connected to P.T. in some way. Certainly there are striking similarities. The mysterious game will star Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Sophia Lillis, Hunters’ Udo Kier, and Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer, with the trailer showcasing Lillis’ character in a spooky house, lighting candles before meeting a malevolent figure.
Kojima has explained that the game was subtitled as OD: Knock — and indeed, a creepy knocking sound can be heard throughout the trailer. The subtitle appears to differentiate Kojima’s video game from the OD project being worked on by filmmaker Jordan Peele. “There is a different kind of fear Jordan [Peele] will do. Mine is the ‘knock,’ is the fear,” Kojima said. “I really am afraid of big knock sounds.”
Photo by Amy E. Price/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
