If you just take it at face value like most people do, then you just get a mediocre tale with overused horror clichés.
This is pretty much describes why there's so much butthurt around this game. Remedy have way too much tongue-in-cheek shit going on in their games (i mean... this and max payne?) that people don't get/don't like.
Max Payne isn't any different from Alan Wake in terms of story/character design.
Max Payne wins because shootin' the same 3 junkies in slo-mo over and over is so much more fun than frying then shooting 3 shady dudes in the forest over and over.
Max Payne also wins because the cliche story of a New York cop is so much cooler than the cliche story of a pussy-ass writerboi.
Alan Wake is definitely one of the few games where I can forget about being annoyed at
shit repetitive gameplay just because Remedy did a really good job with everything else. Just like Max Payne, this game can evoke some serious feels without taking itself seriously.