Behind Gray Dawn’s Horror with it’s Developer, George R. Poiana

A candid talk with the Romanian artist and writer behind Gray Dawn, about horror, inspiration, and the struggles of indie game development.

This one is special for me. Not only is it my first ever developer interview, but it’s also with someone behind a game I deeply admire: Gray Dawn.

A haunting mix of psychological horror, Romanian folklore, and religious imagery, Gray Dawn stood out to me as one of the boldest indie horror experiments of recent years. And the fact that it was made here, in Romania, makes it that much more cherished to me.

So, I sat down with Poiana George Remus, artist, writer, and the creative spark behind the game, to talk about where Gray Dawn came from, how it was made, and what it means to him. Here’s our conversation:

NOTE: Audio Narration, personally recorded and edited, is available on Substack.

Getting to Know George

ROP: I thank you to George. He is one of the developers from the recent game I reviewed, Gray Dawn. The interview will go through a series of questions, feel free to answer them as you want… So yeah. Hey George, how are you doing?