Banebush

About Banebush

Banebush is a horror visual novel by Hinterland Mood, released on Steam on Christmas Day 2024. The store calls it a short and very red creepypasta in the form of a visual novel, inspired by scary tales.

You play Alexey, who is hiding from pursuit in a place full of ghosts from his past: the village he knew as a child. As he stays there, his memories come back, his grandmother's terrifying stories and carefree childhood days among them, and then an encounter with a nightmare that lurks in the dark forest. The question the game asks is what you do when a fairy tale turns out to be real.

Everything is drawn in stark black and red: wooden houses, old villagers at kitchen tables, fields with grazing animals, the forest at the edge of it all. The store says violent scenes are shown as drawn illustrations rather than realistic images. Dark ambient and electronic music sits under the reading.

The story is nonlinear, with several different endings depending on the choices you make. It suits readers of folk horror and players who liked Tiny Bunny or Scarlet Hollow.

How to play Banebush

1. Read the story as it appears over each illustration, clicking to advance.
2. Choose where to go and what to do when options appear on screen.
3. Talk to the villagers and remember what they tell you.
4. Save before big choices, then replay to reach the other endings.

Tips

• Play with headphones; the dark ambient music does much of the work.
• Use the History option to reread lines you clicked past.
• Save often so you can go back and try other choices for the other endings.

Questions