The Skin Stapler Aftermath 3: What Happens
Aftermath 3 lands between Luna's donut shop and the Underworld VHS chapter. See its achievement, route slot, and role in Slater's case file.
Aftermath 3 — the Steam achievement names it The Aftermath Part 3 — is the third of The Skin Stapler's four Aftermath interludes, and it sits in the middle of the victim-to-investigation handoff: after Luna's Cream Filled Donuts chapter and before the Underworld VHS chapter. Completing it unlocks the achievement "Five, six, grab your crucifix...", the third beat of the nursery-rhyme counting pattern the game runs across its interlude achievements.
Where Aftermath 3 sits in the route
| Route question | The documented answer |
|---|---|
| Chapter name | The Aftermath Part 3 |
| Place in route | After Luna's Cream Filled Donuts (01:15:37) and before Underworld VHS (01:34:10) |
| Achievement | "Five, six, grab your crucifix..." — Complete The Aftermath Part 3 Chapter |
| What it does | Folds the victim stories back into Dick Slater's investigation |
| Runtime window | The 01:15–01:34 stretch of a reference full run |
Those two timestamps bracket the interlude tightly. Luna's donut-shop chapter — the game's fifth location chapter and its last work-sim shift before the video store — wraps near 01:15:37 in a reference full-game run. Underworld VHS opens at 01:34:10. Everything between them is the interlude plus the start of the next chapter, inside a full route that runs about two and a half hours.
What the chapter does for the story
The Aftermath formula is the connective tissue of the game's structure. Each victim chapter ends the same way — an ordinary shift that turns into the killer's hands — and each Aftermath part then pulls that death back into Dick Slater's case file: the evidence boards grow, the connections multiply, the count climbs. Part 3 is where the back half of that rhythm locks in. It follows Luna's chapter in the progression order, and Luna's scene carries the VHS thread that the next location chapter runs with: Underworld VHS is Scaroline's store, and the connection between the donut shop and the video store is documented in our who is The Skin Stapler guide.
The chapter's own scene-by-scene content — which victims it touches and how the case file frames them — is not separately documented in official materials. What the official record pins down is the chapter's name, its slot in the progression order, and its achievement, and those three facts are enough to place it exactly.
That placement also explains the achievement rhyme. The interludes carry the game's counting achievements in sequence — Part 3's "Five, six, grab your crucifix..." is the third line, and the set resolves with "Nine, Ten, Never Jank Again." on the Final Aftermath. Reading the achievement list top to bottom therefore reads the interlude order itself, which is how the route position above is pinned: the Steam achievement order places The Aftermath Part 3 directly between the Luna chapter's unlock and the Underworld VHS stretch that follows.
How to reach Aftermath 3
- Complete Luna's Cream Filled Donuts. Work the serving shift to its end — the chapter where Luna and Chief O'Brien meet their fate — and the story moves to the interlude automatically.
- Let the interlude play out. The achievement "Five, six, grab your crucifix..." pops when the chapter completes; there is no choice, hidden condition, or collectible tied to the unlock.
- Continue into Underworld VHS. The next location chapter opens at 01:34:10 in the reference run — Scaroline's video store, a roughly 24-minute playable chapter per the route timeline.
Knowing what surrounds the interlude helps you place it on the map. Before it, the route has played five location chapters, with Luna's Cream Filled Donuts as the fifth; after the video store, only Lazar's Blood Bank remains before the endgame chapters take over. Aftermath Part 3 is the hinge between the donut shop's closing beat and the video-store chapter that picks up the VHS thread Luna's scene plants — the moment the game stops introducing victims and starts closing the case.
Aftermath 3 FAQ
Q: What is Aftermath 3 in The Skin Stapler? A: The third of four Aftermath interludes — the chapter that carries the victim stories back into Slater's investigation between Luna's donut shop and the Underworld VHS store.
Q: What achievement does it unlock? A: "Five, six, grab your crucifix...", awarded for completing The Aftermath Part 3 Chapter. It is the third line of the counting rhyme across the interlude achievements.
Q: Where does Aftermath 3 fall in the route? A: Between Luna's Cream Filled Donuts (ending near 01:15:37) and Underworld VHS (opening at 01:34:10) in the progression order.
Q: Is Aftermath 3 playable? A: The interludes' exact level of interaction is not separately documented. Officially it is one of the game's 14 chapters, and its achievement unlocks on completion regardless of format.
Q: How many Aftermath chapters are there? A: Four numbered parts plus the Final Aftermath — five interludes inside the 14-chapter total, each with its own completion achievement.
To see the interlude in context, the full walkthrough lists the complete chapter order with timestamps, the Final Aftermath guide covers the last interlude and the endgame it sets up, and the achievements list places this unlock among all 16.
Play from an official source
Use the official Steam pages for the full game or its separate free demo.