The town of 'Silent Hill' is a gloomy one-time resort town that is currently inhabited by mysterious forces. It would seem that demonic and disfigured creatures roam the streets and buildings, and the town continually shifts between everyday reality and a decaying and blood-soaked "Otherworld".

Considering that it is meant to be a small town, Silent Hill is remarkably self-sufficient. It has its own elementary school, a church, a police station, a shopping mall, two separate hospitals (Alchemilla Hospital in Paleville and Brookhaven Hospital in South Vale), as well as bars, restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, and even a bowling alley. Silent Hill also features plenty of housing, both apartments and homes, as well as three different motels to meet the needs of those "just passing through" and, at one point, the grand Lakeview Hotel. Adding to its credence as a former resort town, Paleville also plays host to the infamous Lakeside Amusement Park.

In 1979, locals became aware of the scale of the problem when a gas-station owner inserted a stick into one of his underground tanks to check the fuel level. When he withdrew it, it seemed hot, so he lowered a thermometer down on a string and was shocked to discover that the temperature of the gasoline in the tank was 172 degrees F (77.8°C). State-wide attention to the fire began to increase.

In 1984, Congress allocated more than $42 million for relocation efforts. Most of the residents accepted buyout offers and moved to the nearby communities of Mount Carmel and Ashland....