The Terror by Dan Simmons
Historical horror based on a true story
The Terror is an epic horror fiction novel inspired by actual historic events.
In 1845, two British ships — HMS Erebus and HMS Terror — set off on an Arctic exploration to uncover the Northwest Passage.
It is documented fact that the ships became trapped in the ice of the Victoria Strait for more than a year, but what has never been determined is what became of the 129 souls aboard the two ships.
Simmons takes this scenario and spins a wildly imaginative but utterly plausible work of literary fiction that is impressively researched.
The thrust of the narrative is based around the many long months where the two ships are icebound. Already one summer has come and gone without a thawing of the sea ice.
Men aboard both ships are growing restless, and as supplies dwindle, tensions grow as the possibility of escaping the Artic tundra become evermore remote.
To make matters infinitely worse, the ship is being stalked by a large bipedal creature that kills men and polar bears alike.
And of course, there is the ever-present threat of all the evil that mankind often chooses to inflict on each other…
Horror books and films are rich with tales where survival seems impossible, but the twist of The Terror is not just that it is set in a milieu uncommon to the horror genre, but rather that it is not just a small group of individuals battling for survival — but more than a hundred men organized by a very strict hierarchy who are dependent of each other in order to accomplish anything: those in charge must make the correct decision, and those who follow orders must do so successfully.
It is an austere and grim read.
Fortunately, Simmons livens up proceedings by distributing the many chapters among a handful of key characters — most if not all of whom are based on real figures aboard the two doomed ships — including Terror’s caption, Francis Crozier, Erebaus’ surgeon, Harry D. S. Goodsir, and Third Lieutenant John Irving.
This allows for some variety in style and voice, as well as plenty of opportunities to leap back and forth in time, allowing both for the inclusion of details that took place years before this ill-fated voyage, as well as overlapping accounts of contemporaneous events, allowing us to experience an event from a different character’s perspective, knowing already how things are going to turn out.
At times, The Terror can be a dense and intimidating read, but it is well worth it. For while much of the thick book is concerned with the monotonous terror of being stranded in the Arctic (regardless of any deadly monster poised to attack) there are also a number of energetic, vivid, and highly memorable set pieces, including one character being pursued across the ice and aboard the ship by the giant Arctic beast, and another extended sequence in which the crew of the two ships hold an extravagant and otherworldly Venetian carnival on the ice — that turns into a nightmarish massacre.
The Terror is different from a lot of the other horror books that I’ve read and I found it to be a most welcome and refreshing change. Although it is certainly an ambitious book, I never thought it to be demanding. It is intelligent, amazing, and damned scary.
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