‘The Terror’ by Dan Simmons
“The Terror” is his first undertaking in the historical genre, and, boy, is it a winner in every sense of the word! I’m not a big fan of historical novels, but I was swept away by this massive 766-page book and read it in less than five days. I also had horrible nightmares every single night, which says a lot for the quality of Simmons’ writing, so be warned!
“The Terror” is based on the actual 126-man expedition into the Arctic Circle in 1845 that was led by Sir John Franklin, who hoped to find the infamous Northwest Passage. In September of that year, his two ships (H.M.S. Erebus and H.M.S. Terror) became trapped within a pack of crushing ice with no visible escape route in sight. At first, the crew wasn’t worried because both ships were heavily stocked with coal for heat, and canned goods and salt pork for food. They also had the firm belief that the ice would eventually thaw and allow them to reach the waterway leading to Alaska. The ice, however, never thawed, and the ships and men were stranded for three long years with dwindling supplies, poisonous canned food, the illness of scurvy taking its toll, and the freezing temperatures that averaged -50 below zero.
But, that wasn’t the worse of it.
Something roamed the ice at night that was both vicious and cunningly intelligent, and it had a distinct taste for human flesh. This uncanny creature began to slowly kill the members of the crew one by one, including Sir John Franklin. After Franklin was savagely killed, the duty of saving the remaining members of the expedition eventually fell onto the shoulders of Capt. Francis Crozier, a man who had a strong instinct for survival and an intrinsic authority for leading people. It finally became apparent to those still alive that the only way out of their dilemma was to walk back the way they’d come, across hundreds of miles of ice while being stalked at night by something that doesn’t want them to leave.
In this novel, Simmons gives his version of the tragic and frightening events that occurred, and it isn’t a pretty one. The writing is so good that I could feel the unbelievable cold to my bones, the hunger and weariness of the men, the pungent smells and the hundreds of strange sounds below deck on both vessels, and the utter terror that was out on the ice just waiting for its chance to kill. During the course of reading “The Terror,” it will seem as if you’re actually there in the Arctic, experiencing the same trials and tribulations as the rest of the expedition. You’ll know what it’s like to be hunted by a creature without fear and what it means to be afraid. As an example, there’s one scene where the mysterious ghost of a creature gets below deck on the Erebus and hunts the members of its crew through the pitch-black darkness with screams of terror ringing out every other minute.
Simmons definitely captures the atmosphere and sense of desolation perfectly. He brings all of the characters to life. There’s going to be those you like and those you hate with a grim passion. Capt. Crozier, of course, is the hero of the expedition, but even he isn’t prepared for the frightening challenges that face both him and his men.
“The Terror” is highly recommended to those who love vividly written stories with a strong dose of horror thrown in for good measure. Be prepared for several nights of restless sleep!
