The Terror (novel)

The Terror

The Terror first edition cover.
Author	Dan Simmons
Language	English
Genre	Thriller, Historical fiction, Horror
Publisher	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date	January 8, 2007
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	784 (first edition)
ISBN	978-0-316-01744-2
OCLC	68416756
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 22
LC Class	PS3569.I47292 T47 2007

The Terror is a 2007 novel by American author Dan Simmons.^[1] It is a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition, on HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, to the Arctic, in 1845–1848, to locate the Northwest Passage. In the novel, while Franklin and his crew are plagued by starvation and illness, and forced to contend with mutiny and cannibalism, they are stalked across the bleak Arctic landscape by a monster.^[2]

Most of the characters featured in The Terror are actual members of Franklin's crew, whose unexplained disappearance has warranted a great deal of speculation. The main characters in the novel include Captain Sir John Franklin, commander of the expedition and captain of Erebus; Captain Francis Crozier, captain of Terror; Dr. Harry D. S. Goodsir; and Commander James Fitzjames.^[3]

The Terror was nominated for the British Fantasy Award in 2008^[4] and adapted for the first season of an eponymous television series that aired on AMC TV in 2018.