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Reflections on the Power of the Verb in Certain Texts is a clue in Alone in the Dark (1992) and Alone in the Dark (2024).
Alone in the Dark (1992)[]
Description[]
The book is located in a secret chamber in Derceto's Library. It describes the dangers inside the Fragments of the Book of Abdul and De Vermis Mysteriis.
Transcript[]
Juan Luis Jorge.
****
De bibliotheca.
Reflections on the power of the verb
in certain texts.
Archaos Publications.
****
1919.
Stafford.
Translation does not alter the occult
power contained within such forbidden
texts. The malevolent energy is in no
way diminished. The spell must be cast
aloud and clearly, in certain languages
or little-known dialects… M’ghlafg
fthang…
The reader will understand that, in the
light of these revelations, I would be
foolhardy to continue quoting from the
text I have before me. If spoken aloud
in its entirety, it would surely awaken
powerful and malignant forces.
I will go further and say that the simple
reading of some of the more technical
passages, describing specific practices, is
in itself a perilous exercise: the
ill-prepared reader can easily fall prey
to attacks of demented hysteria not
unlike those described in cases of
individuals said to be possessed by evil
spirits*.
*I recommend the study made by
Zempf: “Urbain Grandier
and Loudun” and the
reports made by the
Reverend Richard Price concerning a
number of astonishing (to say the least)
exorcisms carried out in a parish near
Providence.
***
Given what I have written, we must be
grateful to the librarians of the British
Museum who have never allowed
consultation of the work of Al Azif’s
startling work, the infamous
Necronomicon.
Copies of that work do exist, in spite of
the zeal of book-burning inquisitors.
For proof, we need look no further than
the British Museum, of course, and
the sealed archives of the Miskatonic
University in Arkham.
Other examples of books whose evil can
be unleashed by any thoughtless reader
are Von Junzt’s Von
unaussprechlichen Kulten and the
abominable De Vermis Mysteriis by
Ludwig Prinn, whose sordid death
should be a lesson to all those tempted by
a study of the occult.
Notes[]
The book is named "Reflections on the Power of the Verb" in the inventory menu. This is likely due to engine limitations, making it unable to display its full name.
Alone in the Dark (2024)[]
Description[]
Reflection on the Power of the Verb in Certain Texts is obtained by searching through Jeremy's bag in the Small Parlor after leaving the Hateful Mound.
Like in the first game, the book is written by Juan Luis Jorge and published by Archaos Publications in 1919. It is a philosophical study about free will and control over one's own destiny. It opened Jeremy Hartwood's mind to the possibilities on how he could take control of his fate over what was predestined for him and give up taking his own life, leading him to subvert his fate and set the events of the story into motion.
The book can also be understood as a meta comment about the game's purpose as a reimagining of Alone in the Dark and how it breaks the molds of what would be expected of a remake by taking it to a whole new direction, rejecting the original story created by Frédérick Raynal.
Transcript[]
Reflections on the Power of the Verb in Certain Texts
by Juan Luis Jorge
To act is in itself divine. Even the slightest movement of our hand
is evidence of our soul in motion. Yet our free will is so easily
overwhelmed by the dullness of everyday life. Our actions become
rote and rigid, in spite of luxury and comfort.
True divinity is found in the choice of leaving the stage where we
all perform. People who discover this freedom unexpectedly will
be struck by the terror of this revelation and become paralyzed,
or worse, turn to suicide.
However, if you are able to weather that storm, you will discover
that there is a divine path beyond that fear. There is a chance to
dismount your destiny and make something new. Something that
hasn't been planned for or predestined.
There is difficulty in explaining this type of acting as it
transcends our everyday choices. This isn't some banal decision
choosing one career over the other, or even who I should marry.
Leaving the stage, no matter how, isn't a matter of course
correction. It's a rejection of the story that the creator is telling.