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The Merry-Go-Round, also known as the Happy Carousel, is an attraction featured in Lakeside Amusement Park, in the Resort Area of Silent Hill. It appears in Silent Hill, Play Novel: Silent Hill and Silent Hill 3, as well as Silent Hill: The Arcade and Silent Hill: Revelation.[1][2][3]

All incarnations in the games are similar: a functional, spinning carousel with horses for rides, always visited near the end of the game within the town's Otherworld.

Silent Hill[]

Harry Mason follows Cybil Bennett into the park and finds her unconscious in a wheelchair atop the carousel. She wakes up possessed and attacks Harry as the carousel begins to spin. If Harry has previously collected the Aglaophotis from Alchemilla Hospital, he can use it on Cybil to expel the parasite from her and save her life. Otherwise, he must fight Cybil and eventually kill her. The game's ending partly depends on her fate.

Play Novel: Silent Hill[]

In the visual novelization of the first game, the merry-go-round's features remain intact in its function, design and location. It appears in both Harry and Cybil's scenarios. As in the source game, Harry finds and confronts a possessed Cybil, whose fate directly alters the game's ending. Harry describes the location thus:

I pass by the Ferris wheel, and arrive at the merry-go-round.
But, this is the only attraction that is not running.
While it is only natural for a ride to not be in operation, it seems
unnatural for this merry-go-round to not be running...
I walk around it.
While slipping between the horses I look for Cybil.

Silent Hill 3[]

Sh3carousel

Heather on the carousel.

Memory_of_Alessa

Memory of Alessa

Heather fighting the Memory of Alessa.

Heather Mason visits the carousel seventeen years after the first game, which starts up automatically upon her presence. Soon after, the horses will begin to expel a mysterious, lethal gas. One horse appears more bloody and disfigured than the others, with a riddle-like note pinned in its body by a stake. Upon examination the note reads:

"When 13 turns count 4,
you will die from their curse.
If you wish to escape,
There is but one way out.
To kill before you are killed:
you will be saved by the 12th death."

Heather must attack and "kill" all horses on the carousel, which bleed and let out real-life neighing cries as they take damage. As stated in the note, if Heather fails to do this, she dies via the toxic fumes that the horses exhale.

If Heather is successful, the Memory of Alessa appears to her, and she must be defeated in a boss fight that mirrors that of the first game. Once the Memory of Alessa has been defeated, a pathway to the Order's chapel opens up.

Silent Hill: Revelation[]

Silent hill revelation carousel of death by wordierbravo7-d5ki5jj (1)

An aerial view of the carousel surrounded by fire in Revelation.

In Silent Hill: Revelation, Heather Mason is on this carousel at two different occasions. In the beginning of the film, during a nightmare foreshadowing events to come, she runs from Robbie the Rabbit onto the carousel, where Dark Alessa encircles the carousel with fire. Dark Alessa then burns Heather alive before she wakes up. The second time, the dream repeats itself in reality. This time, Heather runs there from the Brethren, and flames erupt around the carousel as Pyramid Head lowers it into the sanctuary. Heather overcomes Dark Alessa and passes out. 

Trivia[]

  • The attraction is known as the "Merry Go Round" in the first Silent Hill game and related media. In Silent Hill 3, the attraction has been named the "Happy Carousel" instead while still retaining the "Merry Go Round" name in the official Konami guidebooks.
    • In Silent Hill 2 during the hospital quiz the attraction is called "Merry-Go-Round".
  • In the Japanese script of Silent Hill 3, the attraction is named the "Happy Merry-Go-Round" (ハッピー・メリーゴーランド happī merīgōrando). While the English localization of "Happy Carousel" is accurate, with proper context from the first Silent Hill, "Happy Merry-Go-Round" appears to be the correct name.
  • In Silent Hill 3, if the player looks at the center of the carousel in the Otherworld, they can see a burning figure. This is noticeable around 1:30 in this video. This is a probable reference to the burning of Alessa Gillespie.
  • "When 13 turns count 4" could be a reference to Heather's age: 17. 13 + 4 is 17.
  • In Japanese culture, 4 is pronounced "shi", which is the same pronunciation as death, thus four is considered unlucky. Thirteen is also regarded as an unlucky number. The carousel could be a metaphor of bad luck and death.
  • There also happen to be 13 horses on the carousel. Essentially, every 4 turns on the carousel represents a horse "dying" until every horse on the carousel is dead.
  • 13 x 4 is 52, and there are 52 weeks in a typical non-leap year. The carousel could be a metaphor for time, and how it cycles in an endless circle, forever on end, year after year.

References[]

Gallery[]

Silent Hill[]

Silent Hill 3[]

Silent Hill: The Arcade[]

Silent Hill: Revelation[]

v · e · d
Characters
Major Characters
Harry Mason - Cheryl Mason - Alessa Gillespie - Dahlia Gillespie - Lisa Garland - Cybil Bennett - Michael Kaufmann
Other Characters
Jodie Mason - Heather Mason - K. Gordon - Greys - Norman Young
Monsters
Air Screamer - Bloodsucker - Creeper - Floatstinger - Grey Child - Groaner - Hanged Scratcher - Incubator - Incubus - Larval Stalker - Mumbler - Night Flutter - Parasite - Monster Cybil - Puppet Doctor - Puppet Nurse - Romper - Split Head - Stalker - Twinfeeler - Wormhead
Weapons
Chainsaw - Handgun - Hyper Blaster - Katana - Knife - Pipe - Rifle - Rock Drill - Shotgun - Hammer - Axe
Locations
Old Silent Hill (Balkan Church - Cafe 5to2 - Dog House - Hell Gas Station - Levin Street - Midwich Elementary School - Orridge Bridge Control Room - Queen Burger) - Central Silent Hill (Alchemilla Hospital - Gillespie House - Green Lion Antiques - Silent Hill Police Station - Silent Hill Town Center) - Sewers - Resort Area (Annie's Bar - Boat - Indian Runner - Lighthouse - Norman's Motel) - Lakeside Amusement Park - Nowhere - Toluca Lake
Terms
Flashlight - Fog World - God - Map - Metatron - Monster - Otherworld - Paradise - PTV - Radio - Real World - Siren - The Order - Manifestation - Seal of Metatron - UFO Ending
Archives
Items - Keys - Memos - Puzzles - Soundtrack - Secrets and Unlockables
v · e · d
Characters
Major Characters
Heather Mason - Douglas Cartland - Vincent Smith - Claudia Wolf
Other Characters
Harry Mason - Alessa Gillespie - Leonard Wolf - Stanley Coleman - Lisa Garland - Cheryl Mason - Jennifer Carroll - Joseph Schreiber - James Sunderland - Greys - Happy Birthday Caller - Danny - Confessor - Robbie the Rabbit - Sewer Fairy
Weapons
Beam Saber - Flamethrower - Handgun - Katana - Knife - Maul - Pipe - Shotgun - Stun Gun - Submachine Gun - Unlimited Submachine Gun
Monsters
Closer - Double Head - Glutton - God - Insane Cancer - Leonard Wolf - Memory of Alessa - Missionary - Numb Body - Nurse - Pendulum - Scraper - Sewer Monster - Slurper - Split Worm - Valtiel
Locations
Borley Haunted Mansion - Brookhaven Hospital - Carroll Street - Central Square Shopping Center - Chapel - Construction Site - Daisy Villa Apartments - Happy Burger - Happy Carousel - Hazel Street Station - Heaven's Night - Hilltop Center - Jacks Inn - KMN Auto Parts - Lakeside Amusement Park - Last Drop Cafe - Nathan Avenue - Underpass
Terms
Flashlight - Fog World - God - Map - Metatron - Monster - Otherworld - Paradise - PTV - Radio - Real World - The Order - Manifestation - Seal of Metatron - UFO Ending - Sexuality - Halo of the Sun - Red Square
Archives
Items - Keys - Memos - Puzzles - Soundtrack - Limited Edition Soundtrack - Secrets and Unlockables - Pachislot
v · e · d
Characters
Major Characters
Heather Mason - Christopher Da Silva - Vincent Cooper - Claudia Wolf - Leonard Wolf - Dark Alessa - Douglas Cartland - Alessa Gillespie
Other Characters
Rose Da Silva - Dahlia Gillespie - Suki - Travis Grady - Order Soldier - Detective Santini - Mannequin Girl
Monsters
Armless Man - Delusion - Leonard Wolf - Lobotomy - Mannequin Monster - Memory of Alessa - Missionary - Nurse - Pyramid Head - Valtiel
Locations
All Hallows High School - Brookhaven Asylum - Central Square Shopping Center - Jacks Inn - Sanctuary - Silent Hill, West Virginia - Lakeside Amusement Park
Terms
The Brethren - Halo of the Sun - Monster - Manifestation - Otherworld - Fog World - Real World - Robbie the Rabbit - Seal of Metatron - Siren - The Order - Great Knife - Welcome Sign
v · e · d
Characters
Eric - Tina - Bill - Jessie - Ryan - George - Emilie Anderson - Frank Anderson - Michelle Anderson
Hanna - Lorraine - Captain - Scott Fairbanks - Greys
Monsters
Creeper - Double Head - Greedy Worm - Gum Head - Hummer - Insane Cancer - Mama - Numb Body - Nurse - Phantom - Pyramid Head - Robbie the Rabbit - Scraper - Split Worm - Toadstool - Tremer - Tuberculosis
Locations
Brookhaven Hospital - Central Square Shopping Center - Jacks Inn - Labyrinth - Lakeside Amusement Park - Silent Hill Historical Society - Spiral Staircase - Toluca Lake - Toluca Prison
Terms
Flashlight - Fog World - Little Baroness - Monster - Otherworld - Radio - Real World - Siren - Welcome Sign
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