The Family Bible is a clue in Alone in the Dark (2024).
Overview[]
The Family Bible consists of a personal monologue by Magdalene Thompson written in the endpaper about her conflict between christianity and the practice of voodoo. Inside it is also the receipt for a purchase made in Johnny the Conqueror. At the end an off-screen dialogue can be heard between Mags and the shopkeeper, after likely hearing a whisper about the Goat Without Horns, which she later wrote down on the receipt.
Transcript[]
Everyday your silence weighs a little heavier. It's been a difficult
year for everyone and many have lost all hope. I read in the
papers about people suffering. Pictures of dust covered landscapes
without a drop of water.
I wish I knew if you were still tending the earth or if you have
turned your back against us.
I have started to look for help elsewhere. I pray you will tell me if
I am going down a path that you find disagreeable. With help from
Batiste and Charlotte, I've found comfort in the practice of the
voodoo.
I have long been skeptical of that Caribbean cult, but it's been of
good use to me. It seems all harmless in my book. I say some
words dreamt up by the creoles and I carry around a small pocket
of gris-gris.
Nothing of this is mentioned in the bible of course, but the french
quarter priestess tells me it's all connected. She says the christian
god is just one more perspective on the creator of things. That's
what I like to think, but the other way around.
That the spirits of her faith are just aspects of you, our heavenly
father.
I am so grateful for the words you gave Mr. Hartwood. We will
sing your praises at Saint John's Eve. The world will be blessed soon
again.
Only the sacrifices of the old testament compare to your demands.
Let it be the truth. A mother of earth, wood and dirt. A mother of a
thousand young.
RECEIPT
Sacred sand 1.00
Black cat oil 1.50
Devil's shoe strings 0.25
____
2,75
A goat without horns
Dialogue[]
Shopkeeper:
Sacred sand, 1 dollar. Black cat oil, a dollar and 50. Devil's shoe strings, a quarter.
That makes 2 dollars and 75, madame.
Magdalene:
What was that you were telling me, doctor? A goat without horns? What does that mean?
Shopkeeper:
Uh... You must have misheard me, madame. I said no such thing.
Magdalene:
Please. I know I don't look like any of you, but I'm devout. I'm ready to do what it takes.
Shopkeeper:
Hmm... Do not be so eager to sacrifice the few things you have left, madame. Now, please, leave my store.
Magdalene:
A goat without horns...
Pages[]
