Just finished reading Hermann Hesse's Kinderseele. To my knowledge, this is one of just two stories, along with Demian, that he published under the pen-name Emil Sinclair. I believe that Limbus Company's Sinclair is partly inspired by this short story as well. More specifically, the episode where Sinclair fantasizes about setting fire to his house and murdering his father (and about murder and arson in general) comes to mind. Both are things Limbus Company's Sinclair actually ends up doing together with Faust in the N Corp. mirror world. Kromer burning down Calw and killing Sinclair's parents in the main story could be a reference to this as well.
Until now, I mostly assumed the massacre and arson were KJH's original ideas (I had an idea that Faust taking the role of Kromer in the mirror world was meant to be a parallel to Goethe's Faust where Faust's actions cause an old couple's house to be burnt down and them to die in the fire, but I wasn't sure about it because Faust didn't purposefully intend to murder them) but they seem to be a reference to Hesse's work as wel!
Sinclair is also clearly stated to be 11 years old at the moment "Kinderseele" takes place, and Limbus Sinclair's sinner number is 11 (& birthday is November 11th). I wonder if it may be a reference to that? This one may be a stretch though.
(It's a really short story that can be read in one sitting, in my book it was only 27 pages long).
