Your Inspirations?

I always like hearing or reading the inspirations of any creative work. It tells where the creator comes from with the project, if not how. It's also a great way to find new things kind of like it ("Near Dark? I wonder how that is..."). I also really like when people take those works and mix in something of their own, creating a whole new perspective on it. That's why I want to ask you guys what your inspirations are for your games? What do you draw from?

Lately, I've been mining Alan Wake's American Nightmare for my games. The style, the tones, even a few of the characters find their way in my ideas for the game.

P.S., Hey, Mike, I didn't see video games in your inspirations list, which is perfectly fine  not to have any. Are there any that you've had when making the game or that you suggest?

I can't honestly think of any computer games that contributed to MotW. Consciously, at least.

That said, Alan Wake (from the little I have played) seems like a good fit!

For the opening scenario of my IRC campaign (which isn't getting off to a great start, quite honestly) I've modelled the vampires in it on a mixture of traits from vampires in Buffy, the Dresden Files and Ultraviolet.

As for general tone, I like my horror dark and with a slight edge of sci-fi to it, so I draw a lot off of the Cthulhu Mythos, and TV shows like Fringe, Supernatural and the X-Files. I like to add a bit of Joss Whedon-y humour as well, so I also draw from Angel.