5 spooky STAR TREK episodes

In the episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Shuttle to Kenfori,” Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) encounter zombies! But that isn’t the first time horror elements have worked their way into the Franchise.

For this week’s Trek Thursday, we’re covering five Star Trek episodes where things get spooky. Did we include your favorite?

"Catspaw"

Did you know the Franchise has a Halloween episode? The honor goes to Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2’s “Catspaw.” It originally aired on October 27, 1967, just in time for the holidays. And in addition to mentioning the objectively best Earth holiday in dialogue, the vibe of the episode is also ideal for spooky season.

The episode sees the U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk (William Shatner) visiting a planet called Payris VII. There, they encounter a series of locations, props, and characters who are straight out of an Earth horror movie. These include a spooktacular castle, cobwebs, witches, wizards, skeletons, and black cats.

At one point, Kirk and Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) wonder how aliens could know about Halloween. But by the end of the episode, they’ve discovered the answer. The aliens didn’t know about the holiday. However, they do possess a transmuter that can pull information from the heads of humans.

Ultimately, the aliens are revealed not to be natives of Payris VII, but instead to be creatures from a galaxy that’s further away. Interestingly, this episode was written by Psycho author Robert Bloch and was based on his short story “Broomstick Ride” (1957).

"Masks"

Another spooky episode is Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7’s “Masks.” In this episode, the U.S.S. Enterprise-D discovers a cultural archive hidden inside a rogue comet. The comet, which originated in the D’Arsay system, has been traveling for nearly 90 million years.

As the Enterprise-D investigates the comet, strange things happen aboard the ship. An unidentified object appears in Deanna Troi’s (Marina Sirtis) quarters. Soon, inscrutable symbols are appearing on the ship’s computer monitors. Eventually, the crew discovers the ancient archive hidden within the comet.

As the episode progresses, the crew begins investigating the objects found in the archive. But then Data (Brent Spiner) effectively becomes possessed by “Ihat” and several other D’Arsay personalities. Things only get stranger as the ship begins transforming into a form that resembles ancient Earth temples and landscapes.

Ultimately, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) dons a D’Arsay mask and assumes the role of one of the personalities himself. This allows for the personality inhabiting Data to complete her emotional arc. Satisfied, she goes back to sleep, returning the Enterprise-D to its traditional form.

"Move Along Home"

Remember Jumanji? Well, it’s back, in Star Trek form! While some might consider Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Move Along Home” to have a silly premise, it’s actually quite creepy, if you think about experiencing it for yourself.

Wadi visitors from the Gamma Quadrant transform four of our heroes into “game pieces” in a strange board game called “chula.” Soon Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), and Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) find themselves trapped with the Wadi chula game.

At first, Bashir believes he is trapped in a dream from which he cannot awaken. But our heroes soon discover that the only way to escape the game is to play through. However, there’s an especially disturbing element: their pieces are being manipulated by an unwitting Quark (Armin Shimerman), who is always willing to double the danger for a chance at doubling his winnings.

Inside the game, our heroes face disturbing challenges, like a room filling with toxic gas and a creepy singing child. And at the end of the game, all four of our heroes must fall off of a cliff before reappearing in Quark’s Bar. Later, in Star Trek: Lower Decks’ “In the Cradle of Vexilon,” Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) is forced to undertake the game after a prank on a senior officer goes horribly wrong.

"The Thaw"

On Star Trek: Voyager, Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and her crew faced some pretty daunting circumstances. But if you suffer from coulrophobia, Voyager Season 2’s “The Thaw” is really going to mess with your head!

In the episode, the U.S.S. Voyager visits a planet where they discover three aliens trapped in hibernation pods. Soon, they discover that their minds are inside a kind of “Matrix.” In order to help them escape, Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) and B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) volunteer to enter the program as well.

But when they get there, they learn why the alien survivors are unable to escape. The simulation is presided over by a sadistic clown (Michael McKean). It seems that the simulation requires living brains in order to continue to run, so the clown has taken the organic lifeforms hostage. And at one point, the clown even attempts to torture Kim.

At the end of the episode, Kim escapes thanks to some clever conniving by the crew. While Janeway seemingly offers herself in exchange for the freedom of the other characters, it turns out a simulation of Janeway is sent in instead. With no remaining organic brains, the clown’s reality fades around him in a spooky final scene.

"All Those Who Wander"

Strange New Worlds is no stranger to horror genre elements. In addition to Season 3’s “Shuttle to Kenfori,” there is also the penultimate episode of Season 1, “All Those Who Wander.” In this episode, Pike and his crew must investigate the wreckage of the U.S.S. Peregrine. The Peregrine crashed on the icy planet Valeo Beta V under mysterious circumstances.

No sooner does the Enterprise away team arrive then do they discover the dismembered remains of Starfleet officers. Entering the ship, they begin to gather clues on the fate of the crew, who have seemingly all perished. But they do discover two survivors: a child and her alien traveling companion.

But things go from bad to worse when it turns out the alien is host to a trio of Gorn embryos. After these explode out of his body like Alien’s chestburster, the Enterprise crew must face the swiftly growing and extremely dangerous Gorn in order to survive.

This episode establishes the Gorn as a menacing and recurring antagonist for Strange New Worlds after their debut in Season 1’s “Memento Mori.” But after this episode, it isn’t just La’An Noonien-Singh who has been traumatized by the reptilian aliens. Who knows what horrible things they will do to the Enterprise crew in the remaining episodes of the series?

The Star Trek episodes discussed in this article are currently available for streaming on Paramount+.

This article was originally posted on the dearly defunct Geek Girl Authority.