Star Trekisn’t the first thing that comes to most people’s minds when it comes to horror, but there are plenty of episodes that overlap from science fiction into the terrifying and uncanny. Considering how many serialized television shows are attributed to the IP, at least a few of them include the creepy and scary, making them ideal for Halloween.
Some of thebestStar Trekepisodes for Halloweenfeature new twists on old stories, like ghost ships and zombies, while others play on the plethora of new terrors that are possible in the cold nothingness of space.Star Trekwriters have experimented with other concepts related to Halloween that are also worth including, such aspsychological horror and dark fantasy.
7Charlie X
TOS: Season 1, Episode 2
Fans ofThe Twilight Zonemight be reminded of a similar tragic story about a kid who sent people who tried his patience “into the cornfield.” This time, however, that adorable child has a whole galaxy under his control, and once he starts to feel his power, only outside intervention can prevent the Enterprise from being held hostage by his godlike powers.
Charlie X was found stranded on a deserted, lifeless planet amongst the wreckage of the crash in which he was the sole survivor. However, he didn’t survive alone but was rescued by a group of benevolent, non-corporeal aliens with devastating psychic powers. Inheriting these powers saved his life but at the terrible cost of isolating him from other human beings forever.
6Bride of Chaotica!
Voyager: Season 5, Episode 12
For those who love dress-up fun for Halloween, in the spirit of traditions likeRocky Horror, one of the best episodes for Halloween isVoyager’s “Bride of Chaotica!“Holodeck episodes can be tiresome, but this is one of the few that isn’t, another reason it’s worth anyStar Trekfans' time even if it isn’t Halloween.
Tom Paris and Harry Kim are enjoying yet another entertaining episode of “The Adventures of Captain Proton” on the Holodeck when an emergency calls them away, leaving the program running. A race of aliens that exist in a photonic state crosses over into the holodeck using an interdimensional spatial anomaly.
The antagonist of the Captain Proton program, Dr. Chaotica, wages war with themat the expense ofVoyager’screw, who must play out their roles in the simulation to defeat him. The best part of this is Janeway as the campy Queen Arachnia, who is destined to be Dr. Chaotica’s bride.
5Vanishing Point
Enterprise: Season 2, Episode 10
This is an era when transporter technology was fairly new and not very reliable, so naturally, Hoshi is nervous about using one, even for an evacuation. Her fears are well-founded, and after using the transporter to get back to the ship, she experiences moments where it seems like she’s fading away. After a while, she disappears completely, and what makes it even worse is that her crewmates assume she’s dead.
There are a fewStar Trekepisodes that use the “transporter gone wrong” motif, and this one fromEnterpriseis one of the most terrifying. It’s not just the terror of becoming invisible, but of watching the process slowly unfold and being powerless to stop it.
4Hard Time
DS9: July 24, 2025
The worst terrors always come from the darkest and most secret recesses of the human mind and continue to haunt us long after the experience is over. The people of the planet Argratha have taken this lesson seriously and modeled their correctional facilities on the same concept.
When O’Brien is convicted of a crime, the Argrathians sentence him to 20 years of incarceration for his crimes, but the time served is all in his head as a memory. He experiences all the horrors of a real prison sentence of two decades, and even though it’s just a memory implant, his trauma, nightmares, and depression are very real.
3Genesis
TNG: Season 7, Episode 19
Movies likeThe FlyandThe Thingtake onthe real terror of body horrorand human devolution, andThe Next Generationuses the same idea in “Genesis.” It’s not just a scary story, it’s also bizarre and grotesque, so it’s not a surprise that this episode was nominated for no less than 10 Emmy Awards in the category for “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series.”
It all starts with an innocent anti-flu shot for the always non-threatening Reginald Barclay, but it activates his dormant genes and starts to evolve into a spider. To make matters worse, his condition is contagious, and it doesn’t take long for the whole ship to become infected. When Picard and Data return from an away mission, they find the ship floating dead in space and the crew changed into apes, lizards, and other terrifying critters.
2Impulse
Enterprise: Season 3, Episode 5
TheEnterpriseepisode “Impulse” includes some of the coolest things about bothStar Trekand horror: a ghost ship, zombies, and Vulcans. The story begins with a rescue mission in response to a distress call from the Vulcan cruiser Seleya. Another Vulcan ship, the Vaankara, had previously responded, but the crew had been overcome with a mysterious, aggressive madness that caused them to turn on each other, leading to the ship’s destruction.
The behavior of the Vulcan crew of the Seleya has all the features of the usual undead insanity, along with other physical indicators like mottled skin and lack of speech, but the mystery of their affliction becomes clearer when only T’Pol starts to show the same horrifying symptoms. Eventually, it’s revealed that the ore that was being mined on the nearby asteroids is a deadly neurotoxin to Vulcans. T’Pol’s short exposure means she can recover, but the other Vulcans are beyond saving.
1Night Terrors
TNG: Season 4, Episode 17
Another take on the haunted ship idea, “Night Terrors,” is more about the fear of the unseen than zombies.The crew goes on a searchand rescue mission for the USS Brattain, and when they find her, she’s dead in space and every crew member is dead except for one, but he’s catatonic. Survivor Andrus Hagan also happens to be a Betazoid, so Troi is tasked with trying to reach him telepathically while the other officers search the derelict ship.
Then Troi’s nightmares start, Crusher discovers that the crew killed each other, and Geordi can’t find anything wrong with the ship but it still won’t move. Troi’s dreams are chilling visions of distant lights and disembodied voices that repeat words that don’t seem to make sense. The resolution of this episode is painfully scientific despite the mystery that underscores the plot.
