In early October, a certain section of the Internet exploded over an incredible revelation: DNA analysis had identified skeletal remains from the Franklin Expedition of 1845 as the property of Captain James Fitzjames.
Based on the knife marks on the skeleton's lower jaw, it also appears as if the surviving crew had cannibalized his face.
The identification of Fitzjames' remains is big news within the academic community, but also for fans of the 2018 AMC television series The terror (based on the book of the same name by Dan Simmons). The overlap between these two groups is greater than you might think.
Fitzjames is sure to be a topic of conversation at this year's Terror Camp, the event of the year for polar enthusiasts and extremely online fans.
Now in its fourth year, Terror Camp is an academic conference that grew out of the fan community The terror and his account of the Franklin Expedition years in the Arctic ice. Since then, the series has grown to include exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic more broadly, with the analysis of the television series remaining the focus. (Disclosure: One of the founders of the Terror Camp, Allegra Rosenbergis a personal friend and a Polygon contributor.)
Terror Camp is a pay-what-you-want digital conference This will be streaming on Discord from Friday December 6th, with panels until Sunday December 8th. Registration is open until Thursday, December 5th at 11am EST (although I'm told volunteers will be keeping an eye on the registration inbox and you may technically speaking, registering late).
“It came from the fandom” Historian Sarah Pickman, one of this year's organizers, told me. “It came from fans wanting to talk about the show, really diving into the show and doing some really serious analysis.”
Pickman himself was already aiming for a doctorate. in Yale's History of Science and Medicine program as she watched The terror.
Since the first conference in 2020 The scope of the event has changed – and the number of visitors has increased.
“[Terror Camp] has grown to include some people who are in science, some people who are not,” Pickman told me. “All people who are united by just this incredible love for this story and really think deeply about how the Arctic and Antarctica are portrayed in the media, including in The terror.”
The keynote on Friday will feature Jessica Houston, co-director of a modern women-only Arctic expedition called Beyond Her Horizons.
“The expedition was designed to respond to male and white-dominated narratives about Arctic exploration,” Pickman says. “It was a cohort made up entirely of women, including Indigenous women from the Arctic, collecting stories, doing artistic interventions, documenting oral histories, things like that.”
On Saturday, actors Jared Harris and Liam Garrigan, who play Captain Francis Crozier and his steward Thomas Jopson, respectively, will do a question-and-answer session and reflect on their experiences filming the show.
Between these well-known keynotes there are panels on diverse and niche topics. An analysis of Tennyson's epitaph for the ill-fated Captain John Franklin is accompanied by another session discussing the relationship between strangeness and cannibalism in Western media. That's the magic of Terror Camp – it's an example of how the fandom that was originally born out of love for the show has transformed into a celebration and exploration of knowledge and all things polar.
“One of the cool things about Terror Camp is that there are different structures in academia and traditional academic conferences that can serve as gatekeeping mechanisms,” Pickman said. “But here it is: If you are interested, just come along. You don't have to wait until you try to break down the doors to participate in a more traditional academic conversation. We could just have our own conversation here and expand the circle of people who are passionate about this material.”
I have visited Terror Camp twice now and each time I have been overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of the community and the quality of the program. It's a truly geeky, wonderful exploration of how a love of a television show can transform into something much bigger.
If you can't make it to this year's Terror Camp, here's a backup plan: All 10 episodes of The terror Season 1 is streaming on Netflix, Prime Video and Shudder.
