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Which TNG episodes were great as horror?

I have to say that "Night Terrors" creeped me out a great deal as a kid. I was probably a freshman in high school at the time and it got to me a little, especially that scene in the morgue with Crusher.
 
For me, the most terrifying episode is «Genesis». In the beginning of the episode, a crew member brutally attacked the poor conn officer. This happened on the bridge, which is not usually crowded. I can only imagine the horror on the lower decks, where crew members were either fighting each other or injured so severely that they couldn't survive. The consequences should have been devastating. I always thought Barclay would suffer the most, as he was the patient zero in a way... Or Dr. Crusher... I'm not sure. Of course, the show's tone was not horror-oriented, but they could have made it more profound and included a speech about evolution and how sentient beings should treat life, etc.
 
Where Silence has Lease has already been said, but I still want to point out that, at least to me, what makes it wo frightening is the existential horror it provides.

"You exist, and then you cease to exist. Your minds call it 'death'."
 
Night Terrors was always one of my favorites. This thread prompted me to watch it again last night. It is very creepy.

Once again, I noticed a couple of things I never noticed before:
1) When the away team finds the bodies on the Brattain, they don't make any effort to avoid contamination. In fact, Riker puts his hands on one corpse's face!
2) The lighting gets darker and darker as the show progresses. This increases the dread. I guess it's due to the loss of power. Then, as soon as the explosion clears the Tyken's Rift, the lighting jumps back to its normal levels.
3) Troi was supposed to send the message "Now!" to the aliens. I don't think she did. She seemed to have a hard time re-establishing communication. But, they must have been prepared, because they used the hydrogen to complete the explosion. So, I think Troi's last dream sequence was unnecessary.
 
I have to say that "Night Terrors" creeped me out a great deal as a kid. I was probably a freshman in high school at the time and it got to me a little, especially that scene in the morgue with Crusher.

The body bags sitting up is something I am absolutely not okay with
I watched that age 10. The morgue scene made me have nightmares for a week.
 
Especially for how batshit insane the plot is, and how laughably fictional the science is, "Genesis": "Worf ... ... open your mouth ... " spits venom. :cardie::lol: NTM, for episodic TV, the horror cues on the episode soundtrack were actually pretty great.
 
Especially for how batshit insane the plot is, and how laughably fictional the science is, "Genesis": "Worf ... ... open your mouth ... " spits venom. :cardie::lol: NTM, for episodic TV, the horror cues on the episode soundtrack were actually pretty great.
That scene did allow McFadden to be taken out if the episode early so she can focus entirely on directing.

She did a damn good job in "Genesis".
 
To be clear: I LOVE "Genesis" for its campiness. And for the music AND for the makeup. And for how much the cast chews at the scenery. Top-shelf cult classic.
 
I actually don't mind Genesis. I just want to know how many crew ate other crew while devolved?

Did they lose crew or was that all magically reset?
 
Frame of Mind of Mind is scary what memories are real and which ones were fake and having being tortured and mistreated by the nasty aliens it almost drove Wil Riker insane it's really disturbing.
Definitely one of my favorites of TNG. It has a strong case for being the best performance of Frakes on TNG. And definitely among the best Brannon Braga scripts. (People tend to only remember Braga's later work in the franchise, when he was clearly burning out. But he was on fire through much of his early TNG and and VOY days. Definitely one of the most imaginative writers in the franchise.)
 
Frame of Mind of Mind is scary what memories are real and which ones were fake and having being tortured and mistreated by the nasty aliens it almost drove Wil Riker insane it's really disturbing.
No jump scares or goosebumps, but very disturbing none the less. It really drew me in as a viewer, and I remember when I first watched it that I had know idea what was real or where it was going until the end of the episode. Very well written and acted.
 
All good candidates. I will note that "Sub Rosa" was a kind of spooky romance. Something Gates said about it at a convention stuck with me. Specifically about Crusher running out the door barefoot, in the middle of the night. "I'd have at least put on thongs," she said.

I'll also note that I have an autographed copy of the script for "Phantasms." And given that I bake, I really wonder what "cellular peptide cake" would taste like.
 
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