The Terror

The Terror by Dan Simmons is easily the most terrifying novel that I have read in years. I loved it. The story is rather simple, about a group of explorers searching for the Northwest Passage during the 1840s. It is based of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845. The boats are trapped in the ice in the Artic for three years. The story documents the struggles of the various crewmembers during that time. Even more frightening that being trapped on a boat while the temperatures are usually near –100 degrees is the fact that most of their food stores are rotten and there is something on the ice hunting them. The story is not really clear until the very end about what is on the ice hunting them, but that is what makes id so horrifying. The book is told partially through journal entries and by various member of the expedition. It is a well-written historical horror story that left me wanting more even after 750 pages.

I began reading Stephen King novels in grammar school, so I am well versed in the horror genre. Salem’s Lot scared me so bad in 6th grade that I am not sure I was able to sleep for weeks, but The Terror was in many ways more horrifying, because of the weather, hardships of the crew, the mysterious esquimaux woman and the ‘thing’ out on the ice. At one point in the story, the Captain complains about the situation they are in and enviously tells them story of the whale ship Essex. This is the story that Moby Dick was based on, a whaleboat sunk by a whale and the crew forced to survive on the open ocean in rowboats with the only food being each other. Not only the book very well written, but also Simmons does an amazing job with the setting. I was actually cold while reading the book, and could easily “see” everything that was happening. The book was very long, coming in at over 750 pages, but it was well paced and very interesting so it never felt like a long read.

I loved this book and strongly recommend it to anyone that enjoyed the novels of Patrick O’Brian, or Stephen King, fans of horror stories, fans of historical fiction or any one that enjoyed Nathaniel Philbrick’s story of the Essex. I have to be honest and say it is along book, but it is worth the work to finish it. I think that this would be an amazing miniseries on the Sci-Fi network because it is a very visual and exciting novel.