Is The Terror Based On A True Story?

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Set in the mid-19th century, AMC’s hidden gem horror series “The Terror” is a bone-chillingly bleak fictional recreation of a doomed real-life Arctic expedition. The HMS Terror and HMS Erebus set out to find the long-sought Northwest Passage, a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that sailors had been predicting could revolutionize trade for hundreds of years. Combining a historical horror story with supernatural elements, Season 1 of “The Terror” recounts the British ships’ journey through the Canadian Arctic as they become trapped in ice, with the crew finding themselves tormented by terrors both seen and unseen as they struggle to survive in unsurvivable circumstances. 

With exceptional acting from Ciarán Hinds, Tobias Menzies, and “Foundation” actor Jared Harris, the show presents a bleak depiction of fear and despair in what seemed like an otherworldly environment to historical crews. Although it’s doubtful that the real-life expedition was haunted by a bloodthirsty Inuit spirit-bear known as a Tuunbaq, this mythical beast is arguably not the most terrifying element of the narrative. The series draws inspiration from incidents like botulism and cannibalism, making it scarier than AMC’s frozen horror story.

What happened in The Terror Season 1

“The Terror” Season 1 opens with British naval officer John Ross (Clive Russell) investigating the fate of the Terror/Erebus expedition, before flashing back to the journey years prior. Things go off the rails fairly quickly when a sailor unexpectedly dies of a hemmorhagic condition and the Erebus comes to a halt after breaking its propeller on the ice. Although the expedition’s second-in-command, Francis Crozier (Jared Harris), has voiced his doubts about the ships’ ability to make it through the archipelago before the ice begins to thicken, Captain John Franklin (Ciarán Hinds) pushes them onward anyway. Before long, both ships are effectively stuck in pack ice, forcing them to spend the winter there. 

As a gamer, I can tell you that things start going from bad to worse from there. In June, we set out on foot in search of open water, but came up empty-handed. Soon after, I accidentally shot an Inuit shaman and his daughter, which led to the Tunnbaq, a creature resembling a mutated polar bear with a human-like face, viciously attacking our party. The man didn’t survive, and the Tunnbaq continued its rampage, picking off crew members one by one. The fear and paranoia grew as we struggled to survive for nearly two years, trapped on ice with no way out.

The situation deteriorates dramatically: Crozier experiences severe alcohol withdrawal, develops gangrene, they find that their meager food supply has been contaminated with botulism and lead poisoning. They also face a violent conflict with the native inhabitants, resulting in widespread slaughter and cannibalism among the crew. In the end, only Crozier survives, adapting to Inuit culture by learning their ways and forming a bond with the shaman’s daughter.

The real story of the Terror and the Erebus

Perhaps the scariest thing about “The Terror” Season 1 is that aside from the series’ supernatural elements, a lot of it is rooted in what we know of the real Erebus and Terror. At the time of the expeditions, both ships were repurposed British Royal Navy warships that had been refitted as icebreakers and had already seen action in the Antarctic, as part of the expedition that discovered the Ross Ice Shelf. 

Several years after the Arctic expedition set out in May 1845, it was classified as a “lost voyage,” with the exact whereabouts of the ships remaining largely a mystery until the wreck of the Erebus was found in 2014 and the remains of the Terror discovered in 2016. These discoveries would vindicate local Inuits, who had long claimed to have insight into the fates of the two ships and their 129 crewmen and officers.

Like the ships in “The Terror,” the real-world vessels set sail with many of the Industrial Age’s modern conveniences, like heated cabins and a well-stocked supply of canned food to get their crews through the winter. Much of what we know now was revealed in a handwritten note found in the ice a little more than a decade after the ships were lost. Called the “Victory Point” note, the handwritten Admiralty form letter revealed the ships were deserted on April 22, 1948 after spending the better part of three years hopelessly embedded in the ice. According to the letter, Crozier had taken command after Franklin died on June 11, 1847, and nearly a year later, he led the remaining 105 crewmen and officers on foot. Like the series suggests, artifacts left behind painted a dark story of starvation, lead poisoning, and cannibalism.

The Terror Season 2 was based on the internment of Japanese Americans

Season 1 of “The Terror” is more than just a monster tale. Armed with their cutting-edge innovations and hubris, the British Royal Navy plunges headlong to their own doom. In the face of a military force that has quite literally conquered almost every corner of the globe, the Tuunbaq represents the Inuits’ righteous anger at the invaders, taking out whatever crewmen aren’t brought down by the failures of the Brits’ own technology or even their minds. 

Season 2, titled “Infamy,” combined historical injustice with a touch of the supernatural – specifically, a shapeshifter character. This season’s narrative primarily focuses on the people from Terminal Island, a genuine and previously prosperous Los Angeles fishing community, which was devastated when its residents were forcibly relocated to internment camps during the World War II era, marked by widespread fear that led to thousands of Japanese-Americans being arrested and confined. This season also welcomed George Takei, renowned from “Star Trek,” into its cast. As a child, Takei and his family were interned in such a camp at the tender age of four.

A new season of the historical horror series is due out sometime in 2025. The third installment of the anthology will be called “The Terror: Devil in Silver,” based on the acclaimed psychological horror novel by Victor LaValle. 

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2025-02-24 15:32