You may think Alone in the Dark can only end one way. But what if I told you the story can change, and it all depends on the items you have collected? We’re going to visit The Dark Man and figure out how to get all endings in Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark — How to get all endings
There are a total of four different endings a player can get in Alone in the Dark. Certain endings are unique to either Detective Carnby or Emily Hartwood, and we’ll be sure to outline which ones those are. What’s more, you’ll need to obtain certain collectibles, otherwise known as Lagniappes, to experience some of these endings. It should go without saying, but this guide will cover the heaviest story beats at the end of the game. With that, this is your last SPOILER WARNING before we get into the nitty-gritty.
The first three chapters of Alone in the Dark play out very similarly, with only slight deviations in dialogue and cutscenes. It’s Chapter 4 where things start to diverge as you deal with Carnby and Emily’s trauma. We’ll go over the certain Lagniappe sets you’ll need to have for some of these endings to occur. But others might require you to simply beat the game. Let’s start with the ending most people will get on their first playthrough.
Save New Orleans from the Black Goat
To save New Orleans from the Black Goat and beat the game “normally”, there isn’t much that you need to do. All you have to do is play the game as you would, and when you reach Chapter 5, select the option to wait for your partner at the fountain in the middle of the room.
Doing this will prompt a cutscene that leads to the final boss of the game. Once you trim the tree, the ending cutscene plays out, and you’ll have earned your first ending for Alone in the Dark. There are technically two separate achievements for getting this ending as Carnby and Emily, but both endings play out the same. Something that cannot be said for our next ending.
Give Grace a present
To get the second ending in Alone in the Dark, you’ll need to give Grace a present. By this point in the story, you should know that Grace isn’t a normal child. And this ending calls into question the very fabric of reality for our characters. I earned this ending when I played as Emily, but it’s unclear if you can also get this ending as Carnby since the game decided to remove all of my collectibles.
To get this ending, you’ll need to complete the “All the World’s A Stage” Lagniappe set. If you’re having trouble finding certain Lagniappes, you might want to consider changing your Player Guidance settings. Once this has been accomplished, you’ll get an objective titled “Grace without Horns” telling you to give the kid something to play with.
Proceed through the rest of the game until you reach Chapter 5. After the cutscene, you’ll be in the Conservatory as usual, and you’ll want to go up to Grace. She has a new interact button next to her, and when selecting it, you have the chance to give Grace a present. Once you do, you’ll be whiplashed into an ending that is reminiscent of the goofy endings from Silent Hill, with references to the original games to boot.
Submit to the Dark Man (Emily only)
Our first exclusive ending involves submitting to the Dark Man as Emily. To earn this ending, you must complete the Dying with Dignity Lagniappe set. This is an exclusive collectible set for Emily, and after you’ve gotten the last piece in Chapter 4, you get the objective “The Hartwood Curse.” You’ll be tasked with washing the paint off of the portrait you’ve been carrying on your back the entire game.
Unfortunately, not everyone has paint thinner lying around, so you’ll have to head up to Dr. Gray’s apartment on the second floor. After opening the secret bookcase, head into the small side room where you normally find the key to the closet. Now there is a bottle of paint thinner on the table, and pressing the button prompt on it will remove the current painting on the canvas and reveal a new picture.
The picture is now of a woman instead of a man, and she’s holding up a strange hand sign that Emily attempts to mimic. After the animation ends, your new objective is to “Submit to the Dark Man.”
Unfortunately, that’s about all we know so far about this ending. But be sure to check back here for new updates as soon as we figure out the process in the game.
Join a cult (Detective Carnby only)
Lastly, we have the Detective Carnby exclusive ending, one in which you end up joining the cult you’ve been trying to stop. To get started on this ending, you must complete the “A Goat Without Horns” Lagniappe set. After you’ve gotten every collectible in the set, you’ll see a new objective pop up in your journal. The objective “The Tree Whispers” tasks you with leaving an offering at the Whispering tree.
To do this, you’ll need to backtrack to the large tree in the Conservatory during Chapter 4. Once you arrive, walk towards the back of the tree and leave the offering. Your next objective isn’t that straightforward, telling you that “she will call on you when it’s time. Do not ignore her.”
Sadly, much like Emily’s unique ending, this ending is also either bugged or not available as of writing this. We’ll be sure to update this as soon as a fix or solution has come to light. Hopefully, they can fix this issue as well as the disappearing collectibles bug.
