Oscar Questions, only read if you've finished the game

[Ball_Joint_Doll]

did Oscar molest Terry (Sam’s dad) ???????? I think this because he said in the letter to his sister “resisted temptation” by selling the pharmacy full of teens. he also has a height chart of terry in the same room as the lock box full of poison- a VERY concealed part of the house, why would he be down there with 6 to 12 year old terry?? and the secrect passage leads to the guest room-where terry would have been sleeping when he visited his uncle for Thanksgiving (noted on the height chart)

[nikku_man]

I thought the same thing as the OP. It's on my 'list of things to find out more about' on my next playthrough. However, wasn't the hole in the painting of Richard, Terry's father? He did seem like a bit of a tool in the little we got to discover about him.

[Sarie]

The defaced painting is of Terry's father, Richard. I assumed he did it after reading his father's letter... I had suspicions that Oscar was gay and that was the temptation he spoke of, but, it could also be that he was simply addicted to drugs and that was his temptation? He sold the drug store not long before he sent that letter to his sister, Mary, yeah?

[Dinerenblanc]

Originally posted by Sarie:

The defaced painting is of Terry's father, Richard. I assumed he did it after reading his father's letter... I had suspicions that Oscar was gay and that was the temptation he spoke of, but, it could also be that he was simply addicted to drugs and that was his temptation? He sold the drug store not long before he sent that letter to his sister, Mary, yeah?

I'm with Sarie here.

[Sarie]

...although, you may be on to something since the company Terry was writing reviews for started complaining about his tangents about his childhood. Moving into Oscar's house may have caused previously blocked out memories to resurface if even on a subconscious level (probablky why he seemed distant to his wife). Also his books are about Kennedy's assassination, which happened around the time his mom stopped talking to Oscar.

[AnythingQuiet]

Say, was Oscar's death ever explained? I assume he did something really violent since his house was referred to as the Psycho's House by Sam's classmates, but I couldn't find any hint to what he did.

Also, was I the only one a bit disappointed by Oscar's creepy room that Sam found? I was expecting there'd be words and ramblings written all over the walls with cut up pictures and everything, but it was all old magazine adverts and the little popsicle stick cross.

I was all gung-ho for it too, like, "Oh yeah! Time to see some Late Great Uncle insanity imprinted on the walls! Gonna give me the shivers!"

Though, I do admit, the secret passageways gave me some shivers. When I found the one that lead to the guest room, I thought to myself, "Oh that's just great. Once mom and dad get back, I'm going to have to talk to them about switching rooms. I don't want to near the passageway that leads to the basement." I have a thing about basements, they frighten the heck out of me.

[Sarie]

Originally posted by AnythingQuiet:

Say, was Oscar's death ever explained? I assume he did something really violent since his house was referred to as the Psycho's House by Sam's classmates, but I couldn't find any hint to what he did.

Also, was I the only one a bit disappointed by Oscar's creepy room that Sam found? I was expecting there'd be words and ramblings written all over the walls with cut up pictures and everything, but it was all old magazine adverts and the little popsicle stick cross.

I was all gung-ho for it too, like, "Oh yeah! Time to see some Late Great Uncle insanity imprinted on the walls! Gonna give me the shivers!"

Though, I do admit, the secret passageways gave me some shivers. When I found the one that lead to the guest room, I thought to myself, "Oh that's just great. Once mom and dad get back, I'm going to have to talk to them about switching rooms. I don't want to near the passageway that leads to the basement." I have a thing about basements, they frighten the heck out of me.

He wasn't ACTUALLY psycho. It seemed he was called that since he was a shut-in after selling his shop seemingly without reason decades before his death. There is a secret about him though that the OP was pretty correct about. I was in denial of it but after spending a couple more hours scurtinizing the hell out of everything...yeah... The drugs in the safe were not for him but for Terrance :( Read what they are for.

[abby]

You might want to look at this tweet: https://twitter.com/GoneHomeGame/status/368260700277202945

They say there's a rocking horse at the room in the basement where the light wouldn't turn on. It's near the safe/markings of Terrance's height on the wall so I guess it coincides with that theory.

This game really makes people think about serious stuff, not just some cheap horror trope.

[SmithDoc]

i'm glad i found this thread, and that there are others who are actually paying attention to what the game is trying to say.

another note is that thanksgiving is around the same date that kennedy was assassinated. and moreover, that terry is obssessed with writing novels about a man going back in time to stop JFK from being killed. it sounds like he's transferred his memory of trauma of being molested to the trauma of learning about JFK's death.

[Ball_Joint_Doll]

I'm so glad you all are theorizing together, this game is truly a play-able novel.

another note to prove my point: on a third or fourth play around someone found a letter in Terry's desk; left drawer. it is hidden under a faux wood bottom. the letter is from Oscar. If you havent found this yet, i insist you go look for yourself!

another theory: Terry is obsessed with the Kennedy assasination because it prolonged the TV coverage of the president. It gave Oscar extra time alone with Terry; meaning if kennedy was not assasinated Terry would have suffered less time with Oscar alone in the basement?
let me know what you make of all this.

[SmithDoc]

Originally posted by Ball_Joint_Doll:

I'm so glad you all are theorizing together, this game is truly a play-able novel.

another note to prove my point: on a third or fourth play around someone found a letter in Terry's desk; left drawer. it is hidden under a faux wood bottom. the letter is from Oscar. If you havent found this yet, i insist you go look for yourself!

another theory: Terry is obsessed with the Kennedy assasination because it prolonged the TV coverage of the president. It gave Oscar extra time alone with Terry; meaning if kennedy was not assasinated Terry would have suffered less time with Oscar alone in the basement?
let me know what you make of all this.

i'm not sure about that last bit -i think many young people at that time were deeply traumatized to hear the news of JFK's assassination- and for Terry, because his molestation and the assassination happened at around the same time, that he's learned to conceal his own real trauma with a broader trauma that's more socially acceptable to discuss. So he now uses the fantasy of saving JFK as a means to cope with memories of molestation.

[Ball_Joint_Doll]

Originally posted by Hajj628:

Originally posted by Ball_Joint_Doll:

I'm so glad you all are theorizing together, this game is truly a play-able novel.

another note to prove my point: on a third or fourth play around someone found a letter in Terry's desk; left drawer. it is hidden under a faux wood bottom. the letter is from Oscar. If you havent found this yet, i insist you go look for yourself!

another theory: Terry is obsessed with the Kennedy assasination because it prolonged the TV coverage of the president. It gave Oscar extra time alone with Terry; meaning if kennedy was not assasinated Terry would have suffered less time with Oscar alone in the basement?
let me know what you make of all this.

i'm not sure about that last bit -i think many young people at that time were deeply traumatized to hear the news of JFK's assassination- and for Terry, because his molestation and the assassination happened at around the same time, that he's learned to conceal his own real trauma with a broader trauma that's more socially acceptable to discuss. So he now uses the fantasy of saving JFK as a means to cope with memories of molestation.

I think you've solved the puzzle.
My previous post was false, as kennedy was not killed on thanksgiving, so he wouldnt have been in the basement during the assassination.
I'm curious to find more evidence of Sam and Lonnie's comunication with Oscar

[Yard Meat]

Existing discussion in this thread: http://steamcommunity.com/app/232430/discussions/2/864976115585347932/

[Theatretroll]

Originally posted by SmithDoc:

i'm glad i found this thread, and that there are others who are actually paying attention to what the game is trying to say.

another note is that thanksgiving is around the same date that kennedy was assassinated. and moreover, that terry is obssessed with writing novels about a man going back in time to stop JFK from being killed. it sounds like he's transferred his memory of trauma of being molested to the trauma of learning about JFK's death.

Also, you know that awful letter from Terrance's dad? In it, he chides Terrance for writing such pulpy cliche books, but also congratulates him on using his writing to work through personal issues (don't have the exact quote rn, I'll grab it later), and maybe you've all noticed this before, but Terrance's first two books show his obsession with JFK's assassination as a way to avoid confronting the other traumatic thing that happened to him in 1963, and both books failed. However, when you reach the green house, you'll find his new writing space, far away from his stuffy little office with poorly hidden bottles of scotch and the deed to house his abusive uncle left him. Here, you'll find that he's been picked up by a publisher to put out a third book in the series, in which the the protagonist, who before now had been sent back in time again and again in that obsessive quest to save JFK, must now go back in time to save himself.

So yeah, Terrance's story is certainly a somber one, but it ends on a hopeful note.

[kazerniel]

Came here to check my suspicion about this, thanks for the above discussion (I completely missed a few clues, like the height chart or the rocking horse).

But now I wonder if Sam & Lonnie got to know about Terry's abuse from Oscar's ghost during their conversations and exorcism of it. Also afaik usually in popular culture ghosts need some kind of closure of the issue that still keeps them in this world to be able to leave - I wonder what Sam and Lonnie were able to tell to the ghost that made his spirit finally rest.

Some more thoughts - Terry is quite brave to return (moreover, move!) to the house where his abuse happened, it could be opening up traumatic memories. I wonder if he is in denial about the whole topic, or it's a conscious way of getting over his trauma and reclaiming the house as present, adult himself. The flip side of that, I can't see it not being at least a bit cruel that the abuser left the place where the abuse happened to the victim. Though I guess he didn't own many other things, and this is most likely him trying to atone for the harm he did, but in his place I probably would have had the house sold to strangers and only had the money sent to Terry.

[mendel]

Originally posted by kazerniel:

But now I wonder if Sam & Lonnie got to know about Terry's abuse from Oscar's ghost during their conversations and exorcism of it.

Was there ever a ghost? I don't think so.

Your idea that Oscar could've sold the house himself after he had died is a bit ... strange.
Terry could certainly have chosen to have someone else sell it for him. But he didn't.