The South is a magical place, and it has been for any variety of communities that stay right here. From cryptids to folks faith and mythologies, South of Midnight dedicates its story to the tales and folklore of the area it brings to life. From Cajun bigfoot and werewolves with a Creole aptitude to Appalachian myths and extra, the fairytales and magic within the recreation are deeply impressed by the area.
Right here is the actual Southern folklore that creates South of Midnight‘s lovely cosmology. Whereas this isn’t inclusive of each Southern reference within the recreation as a result of there are lots, from the poisonous hurricane water to simply the completely different dialects spoken, that is residence. So listed below are the actual Southern folklore tales that encourage South of Midnight.
Boo hag
All through South of Midnight, you see references to the Boo Hag on posters and notes. In Chapter 3, Rhubarb even calls Hazel a boo hag. Effectively, at the least to the Gullah individuals from the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. A folktale just like the others, the Boo Hag to the Gullah is a skinless, vampiric witch-like determine that steals the breath and vitality of sleeping victims. The renderings we see in Hazel’s room are fairly spot on. The Boo Hag additionally seems within the comedian ebook launched with artwork and music set for South of Midnight.
Bottle tree
The Bottle Tree is central to South of Midnight. A core a part of the sport loop is filling a bottle with painful recollections of the previous after which including it to the Bottle Tree. Within the recreation, the Bottle Timber are landmarks that denote a chapter coming to a detailed and permit Hazel to start unraveling the knots that the ache has brought on.
Like a lot of Southern folklore, the Bottle Tree comes from the West African coast. That stated, the extra acquainted Bottle Timber we acknowledge in the present day and which might be utilized in South of Midnight come from Creole tradition, which led to their prominence from East Texas all the way in which to the coast in South Carolina.
Utilizing crape-myrtle bushes, individuals place bottles on the branches. The that means is restricted to each particular person performing the motion, however they’re used to guard the house and backyard by catching evil spirits, that are drawn to the intense bottles, and as soon as trapped, they’re destroyed by the morning solar.
Jolene
Okay, so Jolene isn’t folklore, per se, however she is the premise of a Dolly Parton tune that may have a whole membership, bar, or karaoke room singing as soon as it comes on. In South of Midnight, the pastor Jolene isn’t the homewrecker that Dolly sings about, however somewhat, she’s a girl with flaming locks of auburn hair and eyes of emerald inexperienced. C’mon, I’m counting this one.
Fifolet
Referenced all through South of Midnight, the fifolet refers to a Cajun and Houmas Indian legend of a vibrant, ghostly mild within the swamps of Louisiana that’s stated to misdirect or disorient those that attempt to observe it. Given what floofs appear like within the recreation, the fifolet appears to have impressed the design, and since they take you off the overwhelmed path, it is sensible.
Translated as “idiot’s hearth,” some Southern folklore imagine they’re the souls of unbaptized youngsters who’re held on earth in non secular limbo, unable to enter heaven with out having acquired the sacrament of baptism. This is actually because they’re thought to exhibit childlike or mischievous traits, equivalent to playfully flying round passersby or inflicting individuals to change into misplaced.
The Benjy Tree
Whereas the Benjy Tree doesn’t have one particular folkloric creature as its inspiration, it does characterize Appalachian mythology. Individuals turning into bushes is a core idea in Appalachia, however the concept that highly effective spirits inhabit bushes is a standard story. Maybe linked to the Bottle Tree custom, bushes are properties to the spirits. It may be spirits of the useless or magical spirits akin to Irish faeries.
Catfish
There are a whole lot of catfish within the South, and in the end, the experiences of their largeness are many, together with one being caught at 800lbs. And that’s about it. They’re massive, individuals love them, and in South of Midnight, a catfish is your information.
Weaving
The South has an extended historical past related to quilting and basket weaving. Within the central magic system in South of Midnight, Hazel is a Weaver tasked with connecting individuals and rescuing spirits to maintain the Grand Tapestry intact. A number of cultures within the South have lengthy histories of quilting, the first type of textile proven within the recreation each as decorations and platforming parts. With a deep connection to African textile practices, quilts have been used all through the South to focus on household histories and traditions, particularly by means of folks artwork.
Nonetheless, quilting particularly has nice significance in historical past. In the course of the Civil Conflict, quilts all through the South have been used to ship coded messages to assist slaves escape to freedom within the North. Moreover, in Alabama, the Gee’s Bend Quilts have change into an aesthetic identifier for the area. The first cause for that is that the ladies of Gee’s Bend held the Freedom Quilting Bee in the course of the Civil Rights period. This was a manner for Black ladies within the South to achieve financial independence by promoting their quilts, in the end coming to outline the fashion within the State.
Rougarou
Whereas South of Midnight takes essentially the most liberty with this interpretation, the Rougarou reveals that the staff of Compulsion Video games gave a deep have a look at the gulf area of the South. The Rougarou is a legendary creature in Cajun diaspora communities linked to conventional ideas of the werewolf. Fairly than a typical villain, the rougarou’s state is generally the results of a curse from which the werewolf seeks to free itself by drawing blood from its impending sufferer.
Rooted in French Louisiana communities, the Rougarou is historically represented as a werewolf that prowls the swamps round Acadiana and Higher New Orleans. Used to scare youngsters (and Catholics, apparently), South of Midnight adapts the bayou story into a big owl-like creature that Hazel encounters on her journey.
Huggin’ Molly
Specializing in Alabama, Huggin’ Molly is akin to Latin American tales of La Llorona. Originating in Abbeville, AL, Huggin’ Molly is a folktale used to scare youngsters. Like many folktales, this one has modified primarily based on which father or mother is telling the tall story. However the one constant factor is that Huggin’ Molly doesn’t harm the youngsters.
Huggin’ Molly is a spectre of a girl who seems to youngsters at night time. However in contrast to La Llorona stealing the youngsters away to switch her personal, Huggin’ Molly nicely, hugs them. She squeezes the youngsters tightly after which screams of their ears. At 7 toes tall, she wears darkish clothes and a large church hat. In some variations, she’s a grieving mom who misplaced a toddler and hugs native youngsters to assist her ache. The one which drew Molly as an actual particular person was that she was a professor on the former Southeast Alabama Agriculture Faculty who was making an attempt to maintain college students secure by holding them off the streets at night time.
So far, South of Midnight adapts the Alabama legend, though she’s far past simply 7 toes tall. However she is concentrated on taking youngsters. Her intentions? Effectively, you’ll need to play to see.
Two-Toed Tom
Two-Toed Tom is a legendary alligator who terrorized swamp residents in Florida and Alabama, consuming cattle up and down the coast. The story goes that at one level, Tom was caught in a metal lure and misplaced two of his toes.
Known as Two-toe or Pink-eye, he’s appeared because the Twenties and is known for simply not dying. With a number of makes an attempt on his life, Tom evades each enemy, snacking on cattle whether or not a sharpshooter takes him on or somebody tries to get him to eat a bucket of dynamite. The Two-Toed Tom in South of Midnight is simply as resilient and in addition has a penchant for livestock. Solely it’s a church bell that will get him going.
Honey Island Swamp Monster
One other Cajun cryptid just like the Rougarou, the Honey Island Swamp Monster seems in South of Midnight as one in all its kindest legendary creatures, Honey. On this part of the sport, Honey lives in a magical swamp that Hazel navigates.
The Honey Island Swamp Monster is described as a big, bipedal, humanoid, about 7 toes tall, coated with grey hair, having yellow or crimson eyes, and accompanied by a putrid odor. He’s also called the Cajun Sasquatch and La Bête Noire. A core character in Louisiana folklore, sightings of the Swamp Monster come from St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.
Kooshma
Kooshma is a folktale that runs by means of the South and is rooted in West African faith. Mostly displaying up in Creole communities, experiencing Kooshma (or cauchemar in Creole) is when a non secular presence of their sleep visits an individual. In Acadiana, Kooshma is one option to describe what we now know as sleep paralysis.
For Creoles, Kooshma is mostly thought of a malevolent spirit, typically portrayed as a feminine who holds one down whilst you sleep. Kooshma historically overlaps with Catholicism in that it’s presumed to be a punishment for sins.
In South of Midnight, Kooshma is the god of goals and nightmares. In Chapter 13, you meet Kooshma in a New Orleans-inspired setting, consultant of the structure you’d discover within the French Quarter. Within the recreation, the spirits on this space are craving for one thing, and sometimes, as Hazel learns by studying completely different entries of ache that Roux writes down, they’ve achieved one thing unsuitable.
Altamaha-ha
Together with Honey, South of Midnight additionally brings Altamaha-ha alive within the magical swamp towards the sport’s finish. This cryptid lives within the Altamaha River, the place most of its sightings have taken place, Darien and Butler Island, Georgia. The ocean cryptid is core to coastal Georgia’s folklore.
Outdoors of the size of Altamaha-ha, South of Midnight adapts this cryptid as a siren of types, fueled by grief and in the end delivering one of the vital highly effective and heartbreaking tales within the recreation. You may watch the video for the folksong hooked up to this Southern cryptid from South of Midnight right here.
Satan on the Crossroads
This delusion is one that everybody ought to know. Whether or not you discovered about it from Supernatural or from the Blues (or Oh! Brother The place Artwork Thou, if I’m trustworthy), the Satan on the Crossroads is deeply tied to the South. From the tune “The Satan Went Down To Georgia” to the story of famed Blues musician Robert Johnson, the story is similar. Go to a crossroads at midnight, and the Satan offers you a wager to offer you your deepest needs in change to your soul- a delusion impressed by Hoodoo.
Robert Johnson’s legacy in Blues and masterful guitar enjoying laid the stage for the rock’ n’ roll that will come many years after him. The parable of Johnson is that he went to the crossroads as a mediocre guitar participant, went to the crossroads, and offered his soul to change into the best guitar participant to have lived. He’s an enigma with so little recognized about him, solely two recognized images and solely 29 recordings. What is understood is that Johnson’s life took him throughout the South from Mississippi to Tennessee and almost each different state within the area, primarily enjoying all through the Mississippi Delta.
Music in South of Midnight is core to creating the sport’s ambiance and making its story leap off the display screen. So it’s solely becoming that the final zone of the sport is centered round efficiency. Solely as an alternative of the satan, Hazel meets Roux, and with him, we get a full efficiency impressed by the South’s picture of the satan and what he can supply.
Haints
Linked to the Crossroads, Haints in Southern folklore are ghosts, or malevolent spirits believed to trigger hurt or misfortune. Whereas the idea is pervasive throughout the Mississippi Delta, it’s additionally rooted within the Gullah tradition. However the place many musicians know the phrase is due to Robert Johnson, who was recognized to play the Blues within the cemetery at midnight; in the end, to him and his mentor, that was learn how to do it. However to play the Blues, you needed to play in a cemetery and anticipate the Haints to get up and educate you.
In South of Midnight, the Haints are the enemies you battle all through the sport, the twisted souls you’ve gotten by unraveling and releasing the stigma they’re trapped in. This displays the trauma and loss that they typically characterize in Southern artwork.
Haint Blue
One of many recreation’s most fascinating references to Southern tradition, extra notably in folks faith, is how Compulsion Video games has approached platforming and puzzle markers. As a substitute of yellow or white paint, the event staff makes use of blue. The colour is critical as a result of, all through the sport, Hazel fights Haints, malevolent ghosts in Southern folklore. However Haint Blue retains them at bay. Haints are recognized to not cross water, and as such, blue trims, ceilings, and doorways are achieved to maintain them away.
It’s a small piece of Southern folklore that comes from Gullah tradition, and the eye to that element is what floored me. Whereas the references within the recreation are many, the small moments seize the staff’s dedication to representing the world that individuals know and are sometimes missed.
South of Midnight is accessible April 8, 2025 on Xbox Collection X|S and PC, and day one on Xbox Sport Cross.
