Bestselling author Stephen King was a major inspiration for "Alan Wake". The main character as a writer whose work is coming true is a theme that has been explored by King in a number of his works. Wake's narration directly alludes to King on several occasions, including the game's opening line, in which he quotes a Stephen King essay. The game also pays homage to the film "The Shining" (based on King's novel of the same name) with a hedge maze area similar to the iconic maze in the film, among other references, as well as King's novel "Christine", with one of the in-game cars resembling her. King himself was asked for permission to use his quote. He also received copies of the game as a "thank you", but was unable to try them out because he does not own an Xbox. In addition to King's work, Lake has cited the stories of Bret Easton Ellis and Neil Gaiman as influences, as well as Mark Z. Danielewski's "House of Leaves".