The Terror

Now for something a little bit different: today's horror is a series, Season 1 of AMC's The Terror. I started the series in September and finished it today, after having read the book by Dan Simmons last month as well. I know: you're marveling at my commitment. In that sense, this review will in some ways be for both for the show and the book. 

Based on the true events of the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus attempting to find the Northwest passage in the mid-1800s (the Franklin Expedition), The Terror takes an already horrifying event in and of itself and makes it even more monstrous and terrifying. The real facts of the expedition of Terror and Erebus is that the crew of 129 became stuck in the Arctic ice for 3 years. Despite all attempts to free themselves and make it back to civilization, all 129 men lost their lives and were never heard from again. The remains of some crew found later bore the evidence of cannibalism. 

Yeah, reality can be way more horrifying than fiction. 

That said, it was with some trepidation that began reading The Terror and subsequently watching the show. When the reality is so horrifying in and of itself, do you need a monster murdering people who are already freezing, starving, lost, and resorting to cannibalism? While I still feel that the addition of the monster is maybe unnecessary, it does inject an interesting degree of Inuit legend into a story about freezing to death. 

The show is an apt adaption of the book and is every bit as horrifying and uncomfortable as the book can be. The additions and changes it makes for the most part don't draw away from what is a fascinating story but rather interpret them differently. When there's so much unknown about the Franklin Expedition, the book and show can both stand on being different interpretations of the event. They can exist concurrently and still be great stories of true and imagined horror and survival.  

The truths behind the Franklin Expedition scare the hell out of me, and while the addition of the monster never quite lives up to the horror of pure reality, it makes for a pretty killer horror story. I highly recommend both the book, which is well written and engaging, and the show, which is superbly acted and filmed. 

But seriously... being stuck in the Arctic? No bueno, man.

9/10