Blake’s visions are more obviously Catholic-oriented than any encounter with Sullivan Knoth or his cult members, but the cult represents the influence of the devil and the perversion of God’s word, while Blake’s memories can be seen as the guilt he constantly carries around with him, and possibly his belief that he is deserving of punishment because of his lapsed faith. While Outlast 2 doesn’t seamlessly tie together the events in the desert to Blake’s visions of the past, both stand on their own to represent the internal struggle with evil. It presents itself in juxtaposition-the switching back and forth between the Arizona desert and Blake’s Catholic elementary school, Saint Sybil-which establishes the traditional theme of the internal struggle between good and evil, against sin. Guilt and the corruption of the soul are two very Catholic tropes that Outlast 2 uses to create its unsettling tone. Outlast 2 not only uses that as its main theme to drive the story, but it does so without making use of demonic possession or exorcism. That is the main theme in Catholic-based horror-the internal struggle between good and evil. It is only through confession, penance, and possibly exorcism that a person can find their way back to God. But, the devil persuades you, influences you in such a way that any decision to fall into sin and ultimately reject God is your own fault. In the most extreme of cases, this leads to demonic possession.

Now, 14 years later, I understand what they were trying to impress upon us in classic Catholic guilt fashion during the rite of Confirmation, there is a brief call-and-response period in which all candidates answer in unison, “I do,” to a few questions, the first being, “Do you reject Satan and all his works and all his empty promises?”Ĭatholics believe it can be something as simple as a lapse in commitment to one’s faith that allows the devil to take hold of your soul. The nail, the holes-it all came together. “This is what you do Jesus every time you sin,” the woman yelled after the majority of the room had unfolded their papers. When I unfolded it, a picture of Jesus was staring back at me. She instructed us to punch a hole through that red paper for every sin we had committed on the list, and then to unfold the paper when we were done. This list contained the standard Ten Commandments and the seven deadly ones, but the rest were designed to make us feel guilt over having sexual feelings for the opposite (or same) sex, guilt over cheating on a math test, or guilt over telling a white lie. A woman stood before us and asked us to help pass out three items to everyone in the room: a folded red paper, a nail, and a list of mortal and venial sins, totaling around fifty. This was the last activity of our retreat, and the vibe of the room pulsated with seriousness and uncertainty. I was in a large room with about 50 other people my age who were just weeks away from becoming confirmed. I remember nothing from these classes, except for one group activity that raised stereotypical Catholic guilt to a new level. I had to take two years of these classes before the church said I was ready to be confirmed. These range from bible study, to the history of Catholicism, to learning about the ceremony itself.

But before we stand in front of a Priest (or in my case, a Cardinal) and have our foreheads smeared with oil, there are usually classes we take first. When I was 16, I went through one of the biggest religious rites of passage for Catholics: Confirmation, the process in which Catholics are blessed by the Holy Spirit to further strengthen their relationship with God.

If you’ll bear with me for a moment, I have a personal anecdote that relates to Outlast 2. The conundrum Outlast 2 and many other Catholic-based horror stories have presented Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on November 1, 2017.

Outlast 2 school