Hey great you figured that out. It's not so obvious. Easy thing to miss for sure. I'm also glad you like the game and playing blind is really the best way to go about it! :-)
There are tons of things that inspired the game so it's really hard to just mention few. For the monster designs, the biggest inspirations have to be Silent Hill, Junji Ito's works, renaissance paintings by various artists, Hellraiser and Berserk.