In what will likely be the only time I ever link to any site with more than one circonflexe in its title, here is the "Lookbook" for the 2009/10 Fall and Winter collection for "Odeur." That's right, it's French for "odor." I guess it means something other than that, idiomatically, because to anglophones the word is commonly preceded by "body."

I feel that someone should point out to Odeur that their commentary on ... what, anonymity? Scalene triangles? Man's inhumanity to man? might infringe on some Konami IP. But I doubt there's any risk of brand confusion when you're dealing with these kinds of products.

Of course it begs for a high concept explainer, but as I'm out of my depth in both Silent Hill and haute couture, I leave that to you, dear readers.

Odeur: Autumn/Winter 2009/2010 Lookbook [Coûte que Coûte, thanks Thomas M.]

When I arrived at the kiosks I was the third in line and I stood, shifting back and forth from foot to foot like a grade schooler who has to pee, waiting anxiously for my turn. While I was waiting I took the opportunity to compare the graphics since there were two stations side by side; one on the 360 and the other on the PS3. Of course, I have no idea what the final builds of the game will look like, but at the present time, the graphics for the 360 version were much smoother than that of the PS3. Enemies (including the ubiquitous nurses) were marred by some serious jaggies around the edges which hopefully will be fixed before launch. That aside, the game looked absolutely beautiful, retaining all the terrifying filthiness that the franchise is known for.

The story concerns a young man named Alex Shepard who is returning to his home town of Shepard's Glen. He is on a search for his missing younger brother Josh, a search that will take him to the spooky depths of Silent Hill which seems to have an unnatural connection to Shepard's Glen.

When the demo starts, you found yourself on a gurney and being pushed by a masked fiend through a dirty hospital. As you look from side to side, all sorts of terrifying, shadowed scenes pass you by. Silhouetted depictions of horrible things being done to patients by un-seeable evil forces. Eventually you are left in a room alone, strapped to the gurney and here your adventure begins.

Once you have removed yourself from your shackles you are free to start roaming the halls and rooms, constantly blocked by various locked doors. An early puzzle involving some x-rays and a number locked door was easily solved and soon we were treated to the switch from Silent Hill to dark Silent Hill. As you may have heard, the game designers lifted the world changing mechanic straight from the movie. No longer is there a fade to black, but you actually watch the world change in real time, with parts of the room lifting away like peeling paint and disappearing into the sky. The effect is quite nice and translated well from the movie to the game. And of course there were the nurses. Their new character models were terrific and also seemed to be based somewhat on the movie versions of the characters.

The battle system was basically the same with a few improvements. The addition of dodges to the fray makes avoiding damage quite a bit easier. There are perfect and imperfect dodges that can be executed. A perfect dodge will result in no damage taken while an imperfect one will have the player taking less damage than from a direct hit. There are also power up attacks and enemies can be stunned so that deadly finishing moves can be performed. The finishing moves are much more interesting than the old standard foot stomp to the head. Each weapon has a unique finishing move for each of the various enemies that are shown in glorious, graphic detail

It is now much easier to tell where your health is with the addition of an actual on screen health meter. Gone are the days of trying to determine what your health is like based on the pulsing green or red frame in your character's status menu. Now there is a nice red crescent meter that shows exactly how much health you have so you can drink those health drinks accordingly. Another nice touch was the ability to tear through certain walls with your equipped knife. Cutting through them leaves what looks like a horrible gaping wound with teeth sticking out of it that you must squeeze through to get into the next area.

At this point there was a huge line forming behind me and out of respect for my fellow journos, I reluctantly gave up the controls to the next fellow in line. My time with Silent Hill may have been short but it left me wanting more which I guess is the goal of any good entertainment. Silent Hill: Homecoming will be shambling its way towards your PS3 and Xbox 360 in September of this year, ready to scare the pants off you once again.

Ever since I brought the video game papercraft feature back from the grave, I've been getting a lot of links from readers to some terrific pieces. This one is really amazing as not only is it well done and home made, but it's Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2. PYRAMID HEAD! I'm a huge fan of the Silent Hill series and this is one of the papercrafts I've highlighted that I might actually be able to make some time to put together. Kudos go out to Chamoo232 (aka Anne Marie) for creating this awesome piece! Flynn De Marco

Pyramid Head Papercraft Model [PaperKraft.net]

Okay, Pyramidhead loses a bit of something in Lego form. The rank, fetid flesh, clammy with the condensation of a thousand hellish boilers. His penchant for making sweet, rapey love to tormented women with their flesh sewn inside out.

What raises his plastic homunculus to excellence is the blurry, saturated Silent Hill quality of the photo. Or maybe it's less art than cheapness and incompetence. Whatever. Florian Eckhardt

Pyramid Head in Legos [Gay Gamer]

When I showed this to a horror aficionado friend of mine, he was incensed. To him, these hallowed halls of gore are untouchable, verboten, and not to be mocked! "Pyramid Head should not dance!" he screamed, clawing at me.

Here and now, recovering quietly and having a nice lie-down, I can only thank whatever dark gods prevented me from showing him this clip, which surely would have driven him mad with grief. Thanks for the link, Tara. Eliza Gauger

If you thought Silent Hill didn't get more disturbing than ghoulish bunnies hopping down the halls of hell, you haven't seen Pyramidhead get his groove on.

Warning: safe for work, but this is still stretching a taboo or two. Don't blame us if this oozes its way through your cerebellum and into your Freudian subsconscious. After al, this is official content from the Art of Silent Hill 3 DVD.