The Horror! The Horror!

Heart of Darkness, Sunless Sea, and Anticolonial Media

Jul 05, 2025

Full Steam Ahead!

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

Written in 1899, Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness recounts the journey of a sailor named Marlow’s Journey into the depths of the Congo jungle. While searching for a man named Kurtz, an ivory trader who has seemingly disappeared, Marlow is confronted with humanity at its worst. A humanity without the creature comforts of contemporary life, without the polite facade of laws and customs, without the coercive force of government to maintain order.

Marlow is sent to the Congo at the behest of an ivory harvesting company during the beginning of the scramble for Africa. From the ruins of a European ship along the African coast to the description of the frequent illness experienced by the British, Marlow is starkly reminded that he and his coworkers do not belong in Africa. Nonetheless, he presses foreword.

As Marlow and his crew journey down the river into the depths of the Congo rainforests, they eventually find their way to Kurtz’s outpost where they make a horrifying discovery. Kurtz has used his talents to establish a cult of personality amongst the natives and his crew, having butchered dissenters. The one European survivor is a sycophant completely loyal to Kurtz.

Despite his “power” Kurtz falls severely ill and is taken aboard the steamboat to be returned to Europe. He eventually succumbs to his illness with a guttural whisper, “The Horror! The Horror!”

A Controversial Classic

What’s the Deal with Heart of Darkness?

Heart of Darkness has come under scrutiny in recent decades for many reasons, and justifiably so. The native Africans are often described in almost inhuman ways, and the Europeans in the book frequently use slurs when talking to/about them. Some have written the book off as racist colonial propaganda.

I’m not sure this is entirely true. I’m not a Conrad expert, but much of the work seems to be building tension between the colonized and the colonizer in such a way that illustrates the hypocrisy of colonizing nations. For instance, the Africans are described in a horrifying way but the real horror is the description of how the European colonizers treat them. The narrative structure of the book is such that it will introduce a certain concept intrinsic to colonialism, only to show it as a lie or farce later on.

Furthermore, Conrad was responding to the colonial literature of his day. In England, the standard practice was to bombard readers with heroic tales of noble European settlers taming the “savage” lands and having fun adventures. Conrad looked to introduce a new, more realistic, picture of colonialism into the English literary diet. He wanted to show readers just what a brutal and dehumanizing system colonialism was.

Lose Your Mind, Eat Your Crew

Exploring Sunless Sea

Sunless Sea is a single-player survival horror video game by the studio Failbetter Games. The premise of the game is that Victorian London has been whisked away to an underground ocean by a swarm of bats. On the Unterzee, as it is called, there are many ports to explore. From the pirate city of Gaider’s Mourn to the enigmatic Station III, it could take you years to uncover every storyline and fragment of lore in the game. But for my own sake and sanity, I’ll focus on London.

The game may not at first seem anticolonial with its silly demeanor and bizarre storylines, but I think some aspects of the game are intended to satirize the colonial mindset of Victorian England. For example, the admiralty and British fleet still exist but have been reduced to a shell of their former selves after the fleet was largely destroyed at the hands of the monsters on the Unterzee. Nonetheless the admiralty maintains a stiff upper lip and all the formalities of life on the surface, despite having a near nonexistent navy.

Furthermore, London is now in the hands of great powers on the surface. In Sunless Sea, you can learn of and participate in “The Great Game”. In reality the Great Game was a conflict between Russia and Britain over who would control Afghanistan, but now London is being dominated by colonial powers from the surface world in their own “Great Game”.

London even attempted to conquer hell. It didn’t go well, but it goes to show that even if London is swallowed by bats the colonial mindset persists. You can take the city out of the empire but you can take the imperialism out of the city.

You Do Not Belong Here

Similarities Between the Works

One might think a comparison between Heart of Darkness and Sunless Sea silly, but I think that it opens the door to discussing how to effectively criticize imperialism and colonialism. Is one better at it than the other?

Starting with the similarities, both works emphasize that the colonizers are out of place in a foreign land. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow describes in detail the fragility of the steamboat, the structures erected by the British, and the psyche of the European colonizers. Sunless Sea offers something similar with the terror mechanic. The further you go away from shore or leave the lanterns off, the more stress your crew will accumulate. When the stress reaches a certain threshold, your crew will go insane and terrible consequences will ensue.

The idea that the Londoners don’t belong on the Unterzee is reflected by the few opportunities to lower the stress of your crew, and the fragility of the player’s steamboat mirrors the fragility of the steamboat in Heart of Darkness. When you encounter a monster or pirate in Sunless Sea, it’s a bad idea to go in guns blazing. Your best option is to turn off the lanterns, hope they don’t see you, and retreat like a coward. In a similar way, Marlow’s and Kurtz’s best course of action is to leave the Congo rather than try to make the broken colonial system work.

An Effective Critique?

Why I Prefer Heart of Darkness’ Critique to Sunless Sea’s Critique

One key difference is that Heart of Darkness is a book whereas Sunless Sea is a video game. I know, I know, it’s an astute observation. But I think the difference in media presents an interesting issue for both works. Books cannot be changed once they’re printed. The reader is stuck with the story the author wants to tell and the perspective of said author. Meaning that when one reads Heart of Darkness, they cannot escape the brutality of the story.

Contrast this with Sunless Sea, where the player has a lot of agency in determining how they play the game. If there is a story that challenges the player’s biases or preconceptions, they can choose not to engage with that storyline. Furthermore, the game allows for the purchase of more powerful ships. This can lead the atmosphere shifting from a gut-wrenching Heart of Darkness style critique to an Adventures of Tintin style colonial fantasy.

And while I appreciate the satire of Sunless Sea and think it works well within the context of the game, I think that it doesn’t go far enough in exhibiting the cruelty of colonial systems. While you can talk to people who face discrimination like the Rubber Men of London or the Tiger People of Port Carnelian, the victims of London’s ambitions are often missing from a large part of the game. Humor is a great tool to mock the oppressive system, but it can only do so much. Humor can make the strong appear weak, giving the colonized hope, but it is an incomplete critique of colonialism. If you don’t have an understanding of colonial brutality, then you don’t have a complete picture of what colonialism is.

While I find Conrad’s critique to be superior, I still love Sunless Sea. Both styles of critique are important, and I suspect that being a video game expands Sunless Sea’s reach. It is likely to attract a younger audience and introduce them to anticolonial themes, whereas Heart of Darkness may come off as dry and boring. If nothing else, I hope this post has encouraged you to check out these works for yourself! Both are fantastic!