To unlock the PhD in Madness achievement, you'll have to complete all objectives required to unlock the pages of the Dark Tome. You don't have to buy all of them, or even any, just make them available to purchase. Only buy the ones you'll use, as they are pretty expensive. You can only equip 3 at a time, some effects are active and will take effect when you use the tome, others are passive and always in effect.

Some objectives are pretty straightforward, like killing enemies with certain weapons, completing levels on 100% (boss levels count, by the way), or simply progressing through the game will make some pages available to purchase. However, this guide will deal with the most tricky requirement: collectibles!

Most of these items are in your way and not really hidden, but like all collectibles they can accidentally be overlooked. You can check your collectibles on the Stories board, located across the red pill doctor who sells Dark Tome pages. Here's how it looks in the old version, now it has "STORY" above it like the collectibles:

If you missed a collectible, worry not as you can replay levels anytime, by returning to the Asylum and finding the level's door. You can return to the asylum directly after you grabbed the missed collectibles, but I don't really recommend it because even though you can unlock the page, its entry in the Stories board will still be blank, and other than looking unsatisfying, could present trouble if you missed more collectibles in the same category as you'll be confused on which ones you have grabbed.

Learn more about the history of Pestisville by finding old newspapers. There are 7 of them. This skill is an upgrade to Lifesteal, where you gain health upon damaging enemies while the tome is active. It increases the health stolen, but reduces your accuracy.

1. Hospital – The Drunken Sailor Inn Closes Doors after 76 Years
On a small table in an area with the blue and red control rooms.

2. Shipyard – Captain's Absence Sinks the Amber Business
Near the first lever you have to pull.

3. Villa - Massacre in the City: Investigation Underway
In front of a fireplace before the red door.

4. Sinking Station - The Man, The Myth, The Mayor
Next to the yellow key.

5. University – Farewell to Doctor Sullivan
When you enter the underground lab, on the ground next to the first electric forcefield. Can be hard to spot if covered in enemy blood.

6. Botanic Garden – No to Hoods in Pestisville!
After opening the blue door, on some benches on the right.

7. Greenhouse – How Much More Can Pestisville Take?
Before the end of the level, you’ll be going down some hills. There’s a small greenhouse you can enter. The newspaper is in front of the unusually large corpse flower.

Collect missing photos from the priest's family album. There are 4 of them. This skill is an upgrade for Resistance, but has a drawback. You take even less damage when the tome is active, but the weapon firing rate, reload, and equip speed are reduced.

1. Port
You’ll enter a hotel. Go up several stairs, and you’ll find this one lying on a cupboard in front of a painting.


2. Trenches
You’ll be in arena with a yellow door. In the middle of the arena is this half-finished building. Enter it, and find the photo on the floor.


3. Frontline
Very early in the level, you’ll be in this area with tunnels you can enter on your left. Enter the first tunnel and find the photo atop some crates.


4. Abandoned Tunnels
Near the end of the level you’ll be in a train. The photo is on the some seats before the train cab with the lever.

And here are all the photos with his friends and family. As you can see, the last one features the Journalist, the other protagonist in the first game.

Find all the pieces of a mysterious phone number to unlock this page. There are 4 of them. This skill is an upgrade to Lightning, where an energy sphere appears and damages upon shooting enemies or the environment when using the tome. It increases the damage from said spheres.

1. Shipyard - .8..
On the second lever you have to pull.

2. Abandoned Tunnels – 1...
Go down the only path not locked. Across the (blocked) blue key, the note is on a bench.

3. Basement – ...0
Near the end of the level you’ll have to make your way up a ramp with many concrete barriers. On the top is an office with many framed drawings, the number is on the floor between the first and second drawings.


4. Botanic Garden – ..9.
In front of the blue door.

The phone numbers spell 1890, seemingly in reference to the year H. P. Lovecraft was born. Best known for writing about cosmic horror, his stories are the inspiration for both Forgive Me Father games and a subgenre of horror in itself, Lovecraftian horror.

Find all fragments of an ancient prayer to the Great Old Ones to unlock this page. There are 4 of them. This skill is an upgrade to Might, does even bigger damage when using the tome, but reduces fire rate.

1. Sanctuary
When you go down to this altar with 3 pillars, the prayer is right in the middle.

2. Cathedral
Right before the final area, it’s on the wall next to the broken pipe organ.

3. Villa
After entering the red door, you’ll be in this area with a red glass dome in the middle. Go left, and the paper will be on the floor next to some candles and a chalk drawing.


4. University
Lecture Hall, on the table in front of the blackboard.

Consume a couple of drinks of a suspicious origin at the Asylum to unlock this page. This passive skill increases the damage you deal to enemies, but you receive more damage as well. While not really a collectible, I’ll just list it anyway since it’s not really clear and can be missed if you don’t want to replay levels.

To find the suspicious drink, you’ll have to go to the Dining Hall several times. Follow the yellow line, and once you’re there go to the counter and take a sip of this delicious-looking tentacle soup. Yikes, you took some damage!

You’ll have to do this 5 times. Take note that the soup will only refill once you finished a level. You cannot just simply load a level and return to Asylum as it will still be empty.

That's pretty much all the collectibles in the game. Technically there are 2 others, 4 Runes, contained in Burnt Enigmatic Notes that you can use to unlock Illuminated and Across the Multiverse achievements to get a free shotgun from the first game, and the Letters you get in your Asylum cell after finishing a level, usually giving a bit more background on the next level.

Big thanks to TLKS for providing more info on the collectibles' locations and providing a complete achievement guide. You can view the guide here: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3054561304