For the first itiration of Return, see Return (Night Springs)
The cover of the book.
Return is a manuscript Saga Anderson finds pages for within Alan Wake 2, which tells the story of residents around Bright Falls as well as finding her own life becoming entangled within it.
About[]
After Alan Wake had begun writing "Return" as a means of escape, after the attempt did not work, he realized he had to create Initiation before he could finally write the real Return manuscript. However upon believing Scratch had written Return as a means for him to escape, Alan scribbled out sections of the manuscript to change the story. It wasn't until he shot a version of himself editing the manuscript that he realized he was the one who had actually written the manuscript.
Blurb[]
The following is the blurb found on the back of the copy Alan finds:
A genius writer, trapped in a prison of shadows. His struggles to escape only push him deeper in this ocean of darkness. But when a peaceful small town is invaded by the forces of supernatural darkness, the writer breaks free to come to its defence. Living shadows, murderous cultists, and reckless government agents all await him in this maze of blood and horror... 
- ― Blurb
Known pages[]
- Barry's Struggles With Artists
- Breakthrough in the Lake House
- Bright Falls
- Building The Valhalla Nursing Home
- Cauldron Lake
- Coffee World Attacked
- Cynthia And Tom
- Cynthia Corrupted
- Cynthia's Lamp
- Dark Poem 1
- Dark Poem 2
- Dark Poem 3
- Deputies Corrupted
- Deputies In The Morgue
- Deputies Make A Grave Mistake
- Diana Works Late
- Diana's End
- Door Traverses The Dark Place
- Ed Returns To Cauldron Lake
- Emmett Taken
- Gail Taken
- Ilmo Resists The Dark Presence
- It's Not a Lake
- Jules Loses Patience
- Koskelas Break Into The FBC Lab
- Mocha's Funeral
- Nightingale Enters The Lake
- Nightingale In The Dark Place
- Odin Loses An Eye
- Odin Stuck In Bed
- Rose At Bingo Night
- Rose Receives A Message
- Rudolf Paints
- Saga Anderson's Deja Vu
- Saga At The General Store
- Saga At The Nursing Home
- Saga Burns Away The Dark Substance
- Saga Fights Nightingale With Light
- Saga Fights Taken At The Workshop
- Saga Finds A Safe Haven
- Saga In The Watery Woods
- Saga Opens The Cauldron Lake Overlap
- Saga Opens The Valhalla Nursing Home Overlap
- Saga Pursues Nightingale
- Scratch On The Hunt
- Sheriff's Station Attacked
- Tammy Rides The Ferry
- The Cult Finds The Clicker
- The Cult Of The Tree
- The Cult Of The Tree Is Born
- The Cult Storms The Lodge
- The Dark Presence Attacks
- The History of the Marmonts
- The History Of The Valhalla Nursing Home
- The Koskela's Parade Float
- The Lake House
- The Last Painting
- The Marmonts Taken
- The Message
- The Murder Sites
- The Overlap
- The Trailer
- Title Page of Return
- Tor Is Bewitched
- Watery
Trivia[]
- On transcripts, typed words are unaltered while written edits are italicized.
- After Initiation 8: Zane's Film, it's revealed that Scratch typed out the pages, while Alan Wake made the pen edits.
- As of Update 1.15, Saga's Mind Place lists Return 1: Invitation as containing 6 pages, rather than 5. The extra page has yet to be found, and is not mentioned in the patch notes.
- In the game files, the "Title Page of Return" (similarly to The Title Page of the Manuscript from Alan Wake) is set up as a collectible manuscript but does not appear to be used in-game. It is possible, but not confirmed, that this page is considered part of the Return 1: Invitation pages despite being unused.


