Among the Sleep - The Story Explained

Among the Sleep tells the story of a two year old child and his teddy bear 'Teddy' who go searching for their mother and enter a nightmarish dream dimension made up from fragmented memories. But what does all of this mean? What secrets and symbolism tell the real story behind the events of Among the Sleep? Watch on to find out in this story explained video, where we also take a look at the original ending for the game, a secret ending which is very different and turns the entire story on it's head.

You've been watching SuperHorrorBro Mike and this was The Story of Among the Sleep Explained. If you enjoyed this video remember to like, comment and subscribe for more horror related content.

[SuperHorrorBro]

I've had to delete a few comments due to them leading to a cess pool of toxicity. Please keep the comments section clean! The main point of contention I have seen comes from a line in the video where I mention how the father appears to have acted violently toward his wife. Some people have argued he was taking a bottle from her. There is no evidence of this, we see no bottle, the man's hand is palm open (impossible to hold something like that) which suggests a strike pose, and most importantly this outburst led to his wife leaving. I doubt removing a bottle from her hand would cause that. That said it is never stated in the video that the father struck the mother, we don't know this. He simply raised his hand to her. The developers themselves stated the DLC was made to show the father was also flawed and they do this both by portraying his aggressive outburst and by revealing his neglectful work practices. All leading to a failed realtionship. Both parties are to blame, but neither one are bad people - they are simply human and flawed. I hope this helps people understand a little better.

[PinkWytchBytch]

The pink elephant is symbolic of the mother’s alcoholism. A “pink elephant” is a very old term for a habitual drunk. I’m talking like 1800s lingo for a drunk. It was a phrase the “finer members of society” would use to describe the drunk of the town and such

[katievillarreal]

Something interesting I discovered while replaying this game; before you answer the door, walk over to your sobbing more and a interact sign should appear. When you do, you can comfort her by giving her a pat on the head. A very small detail not many know, but I thought it was a sweet touch.

[Ellastein]

It's heartbreaking how the toddler sees his mother as an entirely different creature when she's angry and abusive. He loves his mom so much that they are not one of the same (monster and mother).

[nalluvsuxoxo]

I honestly thought this game was about a child going through some inter-dimensional void with monsters, but turns out it was the traumatic representation of toxic parent relationships.

[SuperWiiBros]

I played this game so many years ago
But there's a detail I never see mentioned, there's a moment in the abandoned park where the player gets locked inside a small wooden cabin looking place for a few minutes, and I wonder if that was a real even that the child experience which might've even affected the parent's marriage in some way

[squeaktheswan]

I'm still thinking about how the ending was foreshadowed from the very beginning. Not just the alcoholism, but the custody. The dad shows up at the beginning, the mom gets stressed out by the phone call, and *the fact that Teddy says that after all this is over they can play together all the time especially since he represents the dad.* It's almost like the kid knew he was going to leave his mom and was collecting the memories to take with him when he left. I mean, the boy is really young. If the mom doesn't get some custody, she will never see him again. Not to mention that he's so young that if she doesn't visit, he'll never remember her.

[CinfulArts]

Something I definitely loved about among the sleep was it’s take on horrors that happen in real life (alcoholism, abuse and divorce) then mixed it with fiction so we can see what kids go through in their heads when dealing with these types of things

[bromodragone]

The other characters apparently have names too. The toddler is David, the mother is Zoey, the father is Justin, the monster in the house is Harald, the swamp woman is Hyda, the trench coat monster is Heap and the furnace is Honz. Also, the game is set in Norway. Makes sense, since the game studio is Norwegian.

[AnOptimisticNihilist]

Something in the game I like is that instead of having the father be abusive and neglectful to the kid like most would show, they had it be the mother. Shows that fathers aren’t the only ones who can be abusive.

[GalileoGuy]

I love how comforting teddy was with his voice and how your character would pet him from time to time. I think the ending where teddy turns out to be the bad guy would just be weak and typical.

[potatoman]

It feels refreshing of both parents being wrong in a way rather than usually one

[charliedoesgames]

Can we just talk about how terrifying the mom is in this game.

[awe_brey_n_hd]

This is all a family argument thing but from a child’s vision
The “monster” is his/her mother-
Gosh this game is dark and has a sad lore

[toptiger]

It makes sense that in the new ending Teddy remains a friendly since he’s a representation of the boy’s father who is shown to be nice

[SkiftyKitty]

I still remember the mom saying "Whoa, how many pieces of cake did you have" as she picks us up...
She only gave us 1 spoon worth of cake XD

[juzoinui]

This game is pretty sad when you know the context

[gilbertotabares]

All things considered I'm glad they went with what they released. The demon Teddy thing woulda been too obvious. And yeah, I guess they coulda named Teddy literally anything else.

[juliangandara]

I like how the game is play from the perspective of a toddler, it's a pretty original idea

[F_I_S_H]

I love how the child gives teddy a pat every time he picks him up