Narrative Design and Authorship in Bloodborne: An Analysis of the Horror Videogame

In the vein of their cult-classic dark fantasy titles Demon's Souls (2009) and the Dark Souls franchise (2011, 2014, 2016), game developers FromSoftware released the bleak Gothic horror Bloodborne in 2015. Players are cast in the role of hunters in a hostile land, probing the shadowy city of Yharnam in search of "paleblood." The game achieved iconic status as both a horror and an action title for its rich lore and for the continuity of story elements through all aspects of game design.

This first full-length study examines Bloodborne's themes of dangerous knowledge and fatal pride and its aesthetics in the context of other works on game studies, horror and the Gothic. The book's three parts focus on lore and narrative, the game's nightmarish world, and its mechanics.

Madelon Hoedt is a senior lecturer at the department of drama, theatre and performance at the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom and previously lectured in game studies at the University of South Wales. She has published extensively on interactive expressions of horror and the Gothic in performance and (digital) games.

Matthew Wilhelm Kapell teaches American studies, anthropology, and writing at Pace University in New York.