How to Evoke Atmosphere of Horror? A Comparative Analysis of the Novel and the TV Series “Terror”

Abstract

The polar expedition commanded by Sir John Franklin, which disappeared in the Arctic archipelago between 1845 and 1847, is still one of the most mysterious disasters in the history of the Royal Navy and the British Empire. Scientists are still not sure what happened to the 129 sailors. The events have become a basis for a horror story Terror written by Dan Simmons and adapted as a TV series by Ridley Scott. Both of them are interesting cases of genre mixtures. But the clue of the article is to analyze the tools both the book and the TV series use to induce fear among the audience. Firstly, the author focused on historical background which allows introducing a storytelling strategy known as faction. Secondly, the article indicates stylistic means of communication that were used to evoke the atmosphere of horror, sometimes different in the case of literature and audio-visual arts.