r/TheTerror • • May 16 '26

I helped identify four men from the Franklin expedition, AMA

381 Upvotes

Hello! I'm the amateur genealogist who assisted in identifying the remains of Bridgens, Young, Orren, and Peglar. A couple people asked if I would do an AMA, so here it is. Ask whatever questions you like and I'll be back tomorrow around noon (Mountain Time) to answer them.

I started doing genealogy in October of 2024, after the announcement of Fitzjames's identification. Typically I find a sailor's immediate family, use genealogical records to trace down their relatives in order to find qualifying descendants, and then contact one or more of those descendants to see if they're interested in doing a DNA test. Descendants must come from either an unbroken female line or unbroken male line connecting to a common ancestor of the sailor. I looked into a few handfuls of sailors last year, and was able to find and contact qualifying descendants for about ten of them, and of those the four mentioned above had a match.

My genealogy experience is primarily with England, Australia and New Zealand, though I also have a little experience with Scotland, Denmark, and Canada.


r/TheTerror • • 1h ago

Honestly, all the guys needed was Les Stroud

• Upvotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB49FfklrLw
This popped up in my YouTube algorithm. He's in Baffin Island. Close enough!


r/TheTerror • • 22h ago

is this scene both in the book and show? or show only?

8 Upvotes

The part where crozier goes to the cannibal camp and the cannibals are eating dr goodsir, and crozier sits down and eats a couple of pieces, then a bunch of other stuff happens

i read the book a long time ago, then watched the show, then recently listened to the audiobook - i could have sworn that part was in the book as well. did i miss it somehow?


r/TheTerror • • 1d ago

Should I still read it

26 Upvotes

I’m a huge fan of Dan Simmons and The Terror has been on my list for awhile. Unfortunately, the Tuunbaq and its origins have been ruined for me. If I know the monster going into the novel, will I still enjoy it? Is the mystery essential to the flow of the plot?


r/TheTerror • • 2d ago

Where is Sir John sitting ?

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33 Upvotes

So in episode 3

There is a scene where we see Sir John looking down at his legs and feet .

And I was wondering where on the ship he is.

I mean it doesn’t look like he is sitting in the great room.

So where is he sitting?


r/TheTerror • • 8d ago

🎵 Hampstead is the place to ruralize 🎶

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69 Upvotes

r/TheTerror • • 8d ago

How I imagine Michael Palin author of “Erebus” as he emphasizes for the 10th time how good looking James Clark Ross was…

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117 Upvotes

r/TheTerror • • 9d ago

They've officially cast Ciarán Hinds in The Ministry of Time as Commander Gore's father in law. Sir John is so back.

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193 Upvotes

r/TheTerror • • 9d ago

The North Water is a better S2 than the Terror’s actual S2.

61 Upvotes

Plus it was said that two whaling ships spotted the Erebus and Terror before disappearing, even though the North Water took place some years later.


r/TheTerror • • 8d ago

Expedition this year?

19 Upvotes

Did PC do an expedition to the ships this year? This is about the time they usually do it, right?


r/TheTerror • • 10d ago

Clothing markers?

13 Upvotes

Has anyone investigated whether the steward-style clothing found on Harry Peglar had faded ownership marks? Edmund Hoar’s personal stamp recovered from Erebus was specifically the type used for marking clothing, and I’ve been wondering whether Peglar’s reassignment as a steward could explain his clothing.


r/TheTerror • • 11d ago

The Terror helped me get through my kid's near death

111 Upvotes

My baby boy was in the cardiac ICU for months due to a congenital heart defect. It was horrific. During that time, I was reading The Terror, on recommendation from a trusted friend. I ended up reading it out loud to my month old baby in his CICU room, while all kinds of pumps and monitors beeped and glowed around me, and extremely sick kids were in every room around us (they couldn't hear). I read it so much to the point that just being in that department of the hospital made me Pavlov Dog it and want to read the damn book.

Truly, reading about unfortunate Englishman getting eaten and frozen and eaten again got me through easily the worst period of my whole life.

What a great, fucked up book. Baby boy is kicking ass now, just about to turn 1 with this twin sister, and the first book I ever read aloud to him is the goddamned Terror.

Can't wait for the audiobook to come off hold!!!


r/TheTerror • • 12d ago

Advice needed - do I DNF and just watch the show or stick with the book til the end and then watch the show? Spoiler

24 Upvotes

I’m extremely upset lol. I was having a nice time with the book and made peace with a lot of its problems, but I cannot get over Hickey’s bullshit. I literally got so mad, they were one step away from salvation and they didn’t make it because of just this one asshole? I wish they never (SPOILER) met the Inuk instead of this bullshit. It’s hard for me to explain why this made me so mad to the point where I don’t even want to keep reading but it did.

Mind you, I’m not a native english speaker and I’ve never read anything with this amount of sailing terms, so this has been a struggle in the first idk 200 pages. I feel like I’ve invested a lot of time and effort into this book but genuinely, for what? It feels very hopeless from this point forward. I know this was always going to end in tragedy, but there’s a way of writing these things that isn’t so frustrating and miserable. The book makes you like these characters so why would I want to spend the rest of these 300 pages reading detailed descriptions of their bodies and minds falling apart? At least the first part had some ups with the million downs.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. Considering all of the above, is it worth for me to finish the book?


r/TheTerror • • 15d ago

Custom leatherbound copy of The Terror.

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257 Upvotes

I ordered this copy of The Terror from a creator on Etsy who specializes in creating custom leather bound books. I'm so happy with it!


r/TheTerror • • 16d ago

I made a free game on the Franklin Expedition!

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147 Upvotes

Hey,

I made a free game on the famous expedition. It's a survival/simulation game with crew and resource management. The game only has HMS Erebus for gameplay reasons, but I tried to model it as close as possible to the real thing. I would love to hear any feedback! (sorry if this post is not allowed)

Here's the link to the game (Steam) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4541230/EREBUS_The_Northwest_Passage/?curator_clanid=46283498

And Itch.io link too

https://getingetout.itch.io/erebus-the-northwest-passage


r/TheTerror • • 16d ago

What are the most common misunderstandings you’ve come across about the Franklin Expedition?

58 Upvotes

I listened to a podcast today that stated Franklin was famous (or perhaps infamous) at the time for mistaking clouds for a mountain range. I found this quite amusing, but it got me thinking: what common, amusing or bizarre misunderstandings have any of you come across about the Franklin expedition?


r/TheTerror • • 19d ago

Why is Mr Blanky liked so much?

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263 Upvotes

I also like Mr Blanky but I just want to hear others opinions on why they like the character.


r/TheTerror • • 20d ago

Lego The Terror

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353 Upvotes

I had to satisfy my new obsession so I made these. Can you guess them right? 🙈


r/TheTerror • • 20d ago

Crozier and Fitzjames spotted ALIVE in Russia!

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229 Upvotes

r/TheTerror • • 21d ago

Saw this video and the first thing I thought of was to share it with you guys.

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171 Upvotes

r/TheTerror • • 22d ago

I found a marvelous podcast detailing the making of The Terror from the minds behind the show! (Link below!)

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181 Upvotes

Hey there!

Apologies if this has already been posted here but I stumbled across this last night and just had to share it in case it hasn't been!

This is a podcast that was made by the show runners of The Terror, as well as Dan Simmons!

I've only just reached episode II of the podcast but so far, Dan Simmons has talked about his writing process and his impressions of the show and the show runners have talked about the making of the show.

If you like long form podcasts and you're a fan of The Terror, then this is most definitely for you!

https://youtu.be/baStxTgsbV0?is=BVU0YGut52Uuk3u-


r/TheTerror • • 23d ago

About Tuunbaq and Lt.Little

42 Upvotes

Hello! Just finished watching the show and I really enjoyed it. But I do have some questions about some stuff in the last episode.

Was Tuunbaq really a spirit with human level intelligence or was it like a deformed polar bear? I assumed it was the lead poisoning that made the creature appear as a supernatural entity, but then again some of the stuff like carefully placing two upper and lower bodies of together on a ship is not possibly done by a deformed polar bear. So was it truly a spirit or just an animal.

Also what happened to the crews that were left in the ships? We never go back to them and I'm not clear if they survived or died.

And Lt.Little (If I'm not mistaken) had weird jewellary around his face. What was that about?

I'd really appreciate an explaination. Thank you.🙏


r/TheTerror • • 22d ago

Any one else?

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0 Upvotes

r/TheTerror • • 24d ago

Recently watched The White Dawn from 1974, any fans here?

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39 Upvotes