The Anthology of the Killer walking simulator feels like the culmination of creator Stephen Gillmurphy’s avant-garde freeware experiments and his signature talent for presenting the macabre in a satirical, comedic manner — a style that defined his earlier works Trial of the Murder Dog and Space Funeral.

The plot follows university student BB, her sister Zeezee, and a small circle of associates. BB curates a horror-themed zine while living in a city with an uncannily high murder rate. Across the episodes, she navigates the absurd trials of modernity, where much of the game’s horror ironically stems from the existential dread of the modern service economy — the very system that seems to breed the city’s endless supply of serial killers.

Through bizarre happenstance, BB repeatedly encounters and often befriends these murderers. The game frequently suggests that the killer represents the ultimate expression of individualism in an ever colder and more alienating world. In one memorable episode, BB herself decides to commit a murder to silence a noisy neighbour, only for the plan to hilariously backfire.

Many of these killers belong to an older generation that once worked in manufacturing or cottage industries. Their obsolescence becomes a poignant source of frustration for BB, who confronts the fatalistic reality that her beloved zine will never provide a viable income. Several plots revolve around these killers desperately attempting to reinvent their old trades in the modern world, only to discover they are painfully “out of touch,” leading them to descend into violence as an outlet for their rage and alienation.

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