Reading that this was a horror game already horrified me. I knew this day would come. In case that isn't clear enough, I really, really do not do horror very well. I am of an especially nervous disposition and really do not find the usual horror stuff to be enjoyable at all. Jump scares, being scared, generally spooky things, gore or unsettling imagery, none of it, no thank you, absolutely not.
So of course I downloaded and ran this almost immediately.
The Whisperer in Darkness is a visual novel with no branches and one ending, so I suppose in that case it's more of a kinetic novel than anything majorly interactive (there are a couple minor, yet entirely linear, "playable" sections, however). The page suggests it takes about under one hour for a playthrough, in my experience it was about 40 minutes. The story itself is a retelling of the Lovecraft story of the same name. Having not read the story, but looking up a synopsis afterwards, it appears to hit all the major story beats well enough.
It's interesting that the game uses an engine that does not appear to be renPy and may be entirely from scratch. There were a couple moments that I wish a "back and read last message" button was available, since there were some moments I pressed thoughtlessly and missed some text, but for the most part the interface itself didn't get in my way of the story.
I am thoroughly impressed by the presentation. You'll be seeing and reading from an ASCII journal a lot, with interactable moments in similar style, interspersed with hand-drawn artwork of important moments and minor screens and scenes done in ASCII as well. ASCII to hand-drawn is an interesting pair of styles to switch back and forth from, and really made the scenes depicted artistically stand out even more as important points. But what struck me most was the audio work. The game recommends wearing headphones, and I would too - the music and sound effects do an excellent job in adding to the unease and building up the atmosphere.
This is not something I would have bought or played of my own volition, and I appreciate the bundle giving me the opportunity to experience it.
I enjoyed it. The Whisperer in Darkness is a good game... visual novel... story... game.