There’s a new show coming to amc this spring, but despite being home of hit shows like The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, their didn’t seem to be much talk of their next horror epic. Upon discovering it though, I can’t wait to see this chilling tale unfold and if you’re a fan of horror, suspense and history, then you may want to mark your calendars.

Premiering on March 26th on amc, The Terror is produced in part by Ridley Scott, a man who is no stranger to making projects about isolation and fear. He did give us Alien after all. The Terror however, looks like a different beast all together and an ever scarier one at that. Based on the book of the same name by Dan Simmons and brought to us by showrunners Soo Hugh and David Kajganich, it follows a fictionalized account of Captain John Franklin’s real expedition to the arctic in 1845, using the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, with an ultimate goal of finding the North-West Passage to Asia. It ended in misery, death and confusion as it was ultimately declared lost until the wreckage was found just a few years ago.  The novel, and now the show, depict the frightening possibilities of what could have happened.

The main allure for the show was the stellar cast. Game of Thrones’ Ciaran Hinds portrays Captain Franklin and joins The Crown’s Jared Harris and the terrific Tobias Menzies (Black Jack Randall in Outlander) as members of the ill fated crew. All three of these actors are some of the finest working in theater, film and television today and having them work off each other is already a treat based off the trailer alone. Even though this is a horror series, it’s also a historical epic and it’s important that the cast can bring the time period to life.  But it’s the eerie setting that wins the day.

Knowing that this actually happened (in part) is part of the allure. The first real terror is the threat of the cold, isolation and madness that plagued the crew once the ships were trapped in the ice. But as this expedition was ultimately lost and this show is based off a fictional book, there could be something else out there, right? The trailer suggests that their may have been a supernatural cause for all the death, or perhaps it’s all in the heads of these sailors. Either scenario presents its own intriguing challenges and threats, both which would likely spell disaster for the crew.

Taking a historical event that doesn’t have all the answers and weaving a narrative that uses real terror, such as madness, fear and likely cannibalism and blending it with the possibility of a supernatural terror, one to compete with the very real threats the cold brings, sounds like a very intriguing and scary situation, much more so than what’s being offered on the small screen these days in the horror genre.

But as this series is based on history as well, it’s not always just scares and tension. An in depth look at sailing in the mid 19th century, the reasons for making such expeditions and the relationships between Captain and crew will also be explored as these men were real people, with their own goals and ambitions. It should make for an interesting blend of genres, something unique to television.

Do you think you’ll be watching The Terror when it premieres on Monday, March 26th? Let us know and be sure to check out our piece on the upcoming Blumhouse Halloween picture. If you’re interested in writing for us, leave us a message at this link and we’ll get back to you!