It's been mentioned by Skilldrick and webnaut, but it's worth pointing out that almost every single fucking thing in Silent Hill has some form of literary, occult or even popcultural meaning. Below is a sort of list of these references in Silent Hill.

Note: I don't claim to have found all of these myself, some are taken from various places on the web. Sarcastic comments are my own, though. If you spot something not here, feel free to /msg me.

It begins.

Street names
Most streets in Silent Hill are named after an author of some description.

Collectibles
If (and when) you come to a point in the game that necessitates the collection of two or more items to proceed, the smart money says they'll be named in relation to each other.
That sentence was clumsy, best to go on and pretend it never happened.

Misc. references
There's plenty more references in this game than just items and locations, mind. Some are just there.



"There are violent and disturbing images in this game" - and never was a truer word spoken.