10 best shows you slept on in 2018

The Terror

Based on the true story of the lost Franklin expedition, a lot of AMC’s The Terror’s tale is a technically accurate one. The H.M.S. Erebus and the H.M.S. Terror did set off together to find the Northwest Passage. They never returned. And until very recently – like, the 2014 and 2016 kind of recently – the ships’ wreckage had never been found. We still don’t know entirely what happened to Franklin’s crew, but we do know they became trapped in the ice and never escaped.

So obviously this subject is absolutely perfect for a television horror series. And as such things go, The Terror is fantastic and one of the best scares of the year. It’s both literally and figuratively dark, moody, and atmospheric. Everyone looks suitably dirty, and life aboard the ships is horribly cramped. Everything about the show feels cold, from the constant film of wet and dampness that seems to cling over everything to the crisp shots of snow and ice surrounding the ships. As the ice closes in, and the prospect of a safe return home recedes, things feel increasingly claustrophobic.

The Terror is, yes, extremely terrifying, but it’s also frightening in a way that has nothing to do with whether a supernatural creature is stalking the crews of two trapped ships. Even without the possibility of a monster eating folks who wander too far away from the Terror and the Erebus, the harsh climate and difficult conditions could easily – and likely did – drive men mad. From the ever present dangers of starvation and exposure, to paranoia, crew mutiny and the haunting specter of cannibalism, there are plenty of things men can do to one another that are just as terrible as any sort of murderous snow creature.

In fact, The Terror counts on that dichotomy. Yes, it does show you that there’s a very real creature known as the Tuunbaaq attacking the sailors without warning, but it isn’t afraid to show you that man himself can be just as big of a threat.