Summary
Thirty years ago, the USS Voyager and the ship it was pursuing, the Val Jean, were transported into the Delta Quadrant. By the time the two-part pilot episode “Caretaker” had come to a close, both ships were trapped light years away from Federation space, so the whole premise of the show is already based on some level of horror.
There would be several episodes ofStar Trek: Voyagerthat would follow the tone the pilot had set for the rest of the show. The variety of episodes that used horror onVoyagercovered the spectrum, too, including psychological, body, dark fantasy, and the paranormal.
7The Thaw
A Clown Of Fear
“The Thaw” is often cited as one of the best examples of psychological horror in theVoyagerseries and is also regarded as one of the most unsettling episodes in the franchise. The title references the ecological disaster that inspired the aliens to create a virtual reality based on their dreams and desires,and by the time Voyagerfinds them, they are trapped in a VR nightmare that feeds off their fears and has the power to kill them.
There is one character that isn’t affected, however: the holographic doctor. This is only part of the key to stopping the machine, with the face of a killer clown, from trapping the crew of the Voyager forever.
6The Haunting Of Deck 12
Even Space Has Blackouts
The image of a scary story told around a campfire is revived for a future time in “The Haunting of Deck 12.” This time, it’s a planned power outage due to Voyager traveling through a nebula, and it wakes the Borg kids mid-regeneration cycle, and Neelix entertains them with a story until the power comes back on.
It’s unclear whether the harrowing story Neelix tells, of a malevolent entity that uses its disembodied form to try and take over the ship, is happening as he says it or if it’s exaggerated to entertain the frightened youngsters. It seems that it was the real thing; however, as he tells the relieved Captain that he hopes that “it,” whatever it was, “lives happily ever after.”
5Revulsion
The Purity Of The Machine
Not every hologram is benevolent or friendly, and this horror story is about one that goes horribly wrong. It all starts with a distress call from a ship with one surviving crew member, a hologram named Dejaren, but when the Doctorand Torres arrive to help, they find things are not always as they seem.
The title refers to the feelings that Dejaren, a hologram, develops for his organic crewmates, something he eventually confesses to the Doctor at about the same time Torres discovers his crewmates didn’t die of a virus, but were murdered. They barely manage to escape, partly because Torres' half-Klingon heart has an extra ventricle, and she knows electrical surges can destabilize holograms.
4Waking Moments
A Tale Of Nightmares
Anyone who remembersA Nightmare on Elm Streetwill find this plot familiar, because the real horror was always waiting in your dreams, and sooner or later, everyone has to go to sleep. When the episode starts, the officers are on the bridge discussing some of the harrowing details of their recent nightmares, and the plot thickens when Harry Kim is trapped in a REM sleep cycle and can’t wake up at all.
What is a sleep state to a human is a waking life to the alien race trying to contact the Voyager’s crew, and only Chakotay can stop them with a lucid dreaming technique. It’s a high-stakes adventure with only the holographic doctor to help him.
3Barge Of The Dead
The Klingon Afterlife
The occult is always an interesting subject for horror, with images of the human heaven and hell as prime examples. This episode delves into the Klingon’s version of the afterlife. Torres has a near-death experience that includes a vision of her mother on the legendary Barge of the Dead, who claims she’s damned to the Klingon version of hell because her daughter won’t accept her Klingon heritage.
After Torres is resuscitated, she insists on returning to the Barge using an induced coma, and what follows isa grotesque but fascinating tripthrough various stages of the Klingon afterlife. This episode is more about Torres coming to terms with her Klingon side and less about horror, but the twisted vision of the crew is still pretty unsettling.
2One
The Solitude Of Seven
Seven of Nine is usually a stoic and emotionless character with a visage that would impress even a Vulcan, which makes her vulnerability in “One” that much more terrifying. The crew can only pass safely through a cloud of radiation by going into a long-term hypersleep, and only the Doctor and Seven of Nine can continue to work and maintain the ship.
All is well for a while, but Seven starts to feel the effects of her isolation, despite the efforts of the doctor to distract her. Then his emitter starts to fail because of the radiation, leaving Seven alone with her personal demons, which include hallucinations of the Borg, alien races, and devastating computer malfunctions.
1Meld
Tuvak Sees A Distubed Mind
The potential dangers of a Vulcan Mind Meld have already been established in theStar Trekuniverse, so imagine what happens when the “Meld” is with the mind of a psychotic killer. Tuvak tries to use his talents to calm the angry psyche of former Maquis crewman Lon Suder, and although he succeeds, he trades some of that psychotic anger for Suder’s peace of mind.
Tuvok’s struggle is too real for anyone who has experienced a mental illness,and the lack of controlthat takes over one of the show’s most emotionally stable characters is all the more terrifying. Ironically, it’s Suder himself who saves Tuvok, which is the beginning of a character arc that redeems the troubled Betzoid.
