NOTE: This page is only about the novel incarnation of the Event Horizon.
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| “ | Starck: I think there's a connection between the readings and the hallucinations, like they were all part of a defensive reaction, sort of an immune system-- Miller: I don't need to hear this. Starck: You've got to listen! Miller: To what? What are you saying? This ship is alive! Starck: I didn't say that. I said the ship is reacting to us. And the reactions are getting stronger. It's getting worse. |
„ |
| ~ Starck speaking with Miller about her theory of what was happening to them before they learn that the Event Horizon is indeed alive. |
| “ | Weir is gone. The poor fool. He was reaching for the Heavens, but all he found was me! | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon presenting itself to Captain Miller upon taking on the form of its creator - its most famous quote. |
The Event Horizon is the titular main antagonist of the official novelization of the 1997 sci-fi horror film of the same name by Steven E. McDonald.
It was a spaceship designed by Dr. William Weir for intergalactic travel. After travelling to a "dimension of pure chaos and evil", however, it became alive, now wanting to drag anyone who steps inside to the same dimension that gave it life so it can toy with them for as long as it wants. It is also Captain Miller's arch-nemesis.
Biography[]
Origins[]
Sometime in the mid-21st century, a spaceship called the Event Horizon was designed and built by Dr. William Weir with the capability to travel in faster-than-light speed through the use of an artificial black hole to open a portal from one part of the universe to another. It was built to explore the uncharted sections of the universe, first starting with the Solar System, then the rest of the galaxy.
On its maiden voyage in 2040, the ship was thought to be lost after reaching a decaying orbit around Neptune. In reality, however, it used its engine to travel beyond the boundaries of the universe to a dimension made of pure chaos and evil. The dimension's cosmic properties gave life to the ship, who in turn drove its own crew insanely unhinged to the point they tortured, raped, and mutilated each other to death in a big mad bloody naked rape orgy.
Returning to the Solar System[]
In 2047, the Event Horizon returned to the Solar System in the same area it was before traveling to the dimension that gave it life. Wanting new playthings, it emitted a distress signal to Earth, leading to a rescue vessel known as Lewis and Clark and Dr. Weir himself being sent to investigate. The crew and Weir's objective was find out what happened; find the crew; and bring the ship back to Earth.
Upon boarding the Event Horizon, the crew found evidence of a bloody massacre. As they searched for survivors, the ship decided it was the perfect moment to start its plan, and so activated its gravity drive to pull the Lewis and Clark's engineer Ensign Justin into the dimension that gave it life while also causing a shock wave that damaged the rescue vessel. Because of what he witnessed in said dimension, Justin emerged in a catatonic state.
Playing a Cruel Game[]
The Event Horizon used its telepathic abilities to cause the crew members to hallucinate with their greatest fears and insecurities: medical technician Peters had visions of her son Denny with his legs covered in bloody lesions; Weir had visions of his late wife Claire, but her eyes were gone; and Captain Miller saw Eddy Corrick, a subcordinate from the vessel Goliath that he was forced to abandon to die in the flames of a failed mission. Under the Event Horizon's influence, Justin developed suicidal thoughts and tried to kill himself through decompression, but was saved by Miller.
The crew discovered a video log revealing what happened to the Event Horizon's crew and how it came to life. Having learned the truth, Miller decided to destroy the ship by firing at it with the Lewis and Clark's missiles until he was satisfied it was gone for good. Being aware of this and not wanting to let that happen, the Event Horizon began sabotaging his plan by getting his crew killed one by one. It manifested itself as Denny to make Peters fall to her death. It then made its creator re-live his wife's suicide to finally corrupt him into assisting it, making him goug out his eyes in the process.
Going All Its Way Out[]
Under the ship's influence, Weir used one of its explosive devices to destroy the Lewis and Clark, killing pilot Smith and blasting rescue technician Cooper into space. It then made him kill doctor D.J. by vivisecting him alive and corner second-in-command Lieutenant Starck on the bridge. Weir then initiated a 10-minute countdown to activate the gravity drive and help the Event Horizon return to the dimension. When Cooper re-appeared at the ship's bridge window, Weir tried to kill him by shooting at it, causing the window to shatter and Weir himself being blown into space by the decompression. Miller, Starck and Cooper managed to survive and seal off the bridge.
With the Lewis and Clark destroyed, Miller decided to split the Event Horizon in two with explosives and use its forward section as a lifeboat. The Event Horizon started filling its ceiling panels and the gravity couches with blood, as it assumed a new form to torment the survivors while trying to prevent them from spliting it in half. The gravity couches exploded, unleashing a torrent of blood that dragged Starck to the lower levels where Cooper was to emit the distress signal in case Miller's plan worked. The Event Horizon manifested itself as Dr. Weir before chasing them both down by decending the ladder head first like a spider.
Final Battle and Death[]
Having done tormenting Cooper and Starck, the ship manifested itself as Corrick and began harrasing Miller, while falsely accusing him of abandoning Corrick by choice and not caring for him at all. The attacks forced Miller to head towards the gravity drive, which was in flames to psychologically attack Miller at his trauma of leaving Corrick to die. After realizing it was not Edmund, Miller finally declared he knew it wasn't him, causing the Event Horizon to take on Weir's form, now completely scarred, bald, and with its creator's eyes restored. Showing images of the dimension that gave it life and illusions of Miller's crew being horribly tortured, killed and naked to mentally break him down, the Event Horizon brutally beat him, all while gloating about what it would do with him once it brings him and the other survivors to the dimension.
Unbeknownst to it, however, Miller managed to take hold of the detonator, and pressed it to activate the explosives, sacrificing himself in the process. By the time it realized this, it was too late, as the Event Horizon was split in two by the explosions; the gravity drive being hit by the concussive blasts and exploding as well. Since the gravity drive was the ship's heart, the Event Horizon died when its heart exploded, creating a black hole that sucked everything in its path to the dimension before closing shortly after. Because of the experience, Starck developed PTSD, as she woke up having a nightmare where the Event Horizon captured her, Cooper and Justin in the form of Weir, while posing as one of the rescuers.
Personality[]
| “ | Miller: Starck's telling me this ship is alive, now you're saying... What are you saying? This ship is possessed? D.J.: No. I don't... I can't believe in that sort of thing. But if Weir is right, this ship has passed beyond our universe, beyond reality. Who knows where it's been... what it's seen. And what's brought back with it. |
„ |
| ~ Conversation between Miller and D.J., which reveals what the Event Horizon has become. |
When it was first built, the Event Horizon was just a normal ship with no thoughts or feelings. After gaining sentience from the cosmic properties of a dimension composed of "pure chaos and evil", however, it became self-aware and malevolent. A sadistic being, it takes pleasure in psychologically tormenting its passengers with their greatest fears, insecurities and past traumas, and killing if it grows tired of them.
Several times throughout the novel, the ship shows that it enjoys playing mind games with its victims, and has no regret or remorse for doing so. Nothing indicates the Event Horizon is like that because of the dimension's properties, with it just being who it likes to be and doing whatever it wants, showcasing its misanthropia. It is so great, that the Event Horizon didn't even care about its creator, Dr. Weir; it didn't resurrect him and instead took on his form, which was in an innacurate and mocked version of said doctor, all while calling him "the poor fool".
Unlike the film, the Event Horizon is given a proper characterization. Being portrayed as a selfish, arrogant, and narcisistic abomination who enjoys antagonizing those who manage to avoid going insane (such as Miller) and gloating about itself and its powers. All in all, the Event Horizon is an abhorrent monster who is willing to do whatever it takes to get what it wants, no matter how many must die for it to happen.
Changes from the Film[]
- In the film, Dr. William Weir is the main antagonist. Here, the Event Horizon takes his place as the novelization's main antagonist, while its creator is the secondary antagonist.
- Unlike the film, which left ambiguous if the Event Horizon was being possessed by an entity that resides within the dimension or if said dimension's cosmic properties gave it life and sentience (which is the main reason the original film version isn't considered a villain in the first place), the novel confirms it's the latter. The novel also gives it a very cruel and sadistic personality.
- As the novelization is based on earlier versions of the script, it has all of the deleted scenes that are lost to time. This includes:
- An extended version of the blood orgy, which contains a woman ripping off one of her breasts, a man breaking another man's legs with a sledgehammer, and yet another man inserting screws on another woman's teeth.
- It killed one of its crew members in such a way that left a tooth with a piece of gum floating inside when Captain Miller found it.
- It made its creator hallucinate with his late wife inside the tank instead of a comatose Justin.
- It chased Starck and Cooper down by decending the ladder in a spider-like crawling while taking on Dr. Weir's form.
- Unlike the film, the Event Horizon didn't resurrect Dr. Weir and instead took on his form when confronting Miller. As such, it does the same things Weir does while facing off Miller in the film.
- The narration implies its gravity drive exploded because of the detonations, thus killing the ship. This is unlike the film, in which the gravity drive wasn't destroyed, and left ambiguous if both Miller and Weir died or they survived and were dragged into the hellish dimension.
Quotes[]
| “ | Billy... I'm so cold... I'm so cold... I'm waitng. | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon taking on Claire's form in its creator's nightmare. |
| “ | Mommy? | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon when it manifests itself as Peter's son Denny to torment her. |
| “ | Billy. Come with me. Be with me. Forever. | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon when it manifests itself as Dr. William Weir's late wife Claire to torment him. |
| “ | Don't leave me... | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon when manifesting itself as Edmund Corrick. |
| “ | Don't leave me! Oh God, please help me! | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon echoing Corrick's last words to torment Miller. |
| “ | Mommy... Mommy. Wanna show you, mommy. Wanna show you something-- | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon gaslighting Peters into falling to her death. |
| “ | Billy. Billy. It's all right. It's all right. You'll never be alone again. You're with me now, you're with me, and I have such wonderful things to show you.... | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon making Weir relive his wife's suicide to corrupt him into assisting it. |
| “ | ''Event Horizon: [manifests as Edmund Corrick] You left me behind. Miller: Corrick... Event Horizon: I begged you. I begged you to save me. Miller: I couldn't. Do you think I didn't want to? Event Horizon: You abandoned me. You stood there and did nothing. Miller: That's not true! Event Horizon: You let me burn! |
„ |
| ~ The Event Horizon tormenting Miller about Corrick's death before trying to kill him. |
| “ | Don't leave me! [sets Miller ablaze before walking towards him after he puts out the fire] Look at me! | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon before taking on Weir's form after Miller told it that he knew it wasn't Corrick. |
| “ | You know what I am. I am your confessor. Confess your sins to me. I feel the weight of Edmund Corrick's death inside you. | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon's answer to Miller's question of what it was, before demanding him to confess his "sin" of leaving Corrick to die. |
| “ | ''Event Horizon: Respect. The reverence I deserve. Or did you think you could profane this place without it coming to my attention? Did you think you could come pounding on my door and I would not answer? Miller: Why don't you just kill me and get it over with? Event Horizon: [grins] Kill you? I don't want you dead. Just the opposite. I want you to live forever. |
„ |
| ~ The Event Horizon's answer to Miller's question of what it wanted from him. |
| “ | ''Event Horizon: Let me show you. Do you see? Do you see? Miller: No! They're not dead! You didn't get them! Event Horizon: Not yet. Soon. Very soon. |
„ |
| ~ The Event Horizon showing Miller visions of the dimension that gave it life, as well as his crew being tortured. |
| “ | Yes. I had forgotten how good that can taste. | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon licking its wounds following Miller's beating it with a CO2 scrubber. |
| “ | ''Event Horizon: You should be flattered I've taken an interest in you. Weir, the others... they were easy. But you will fight. You will struggle against me with every ounce of strength you possess... right up to the moment when you surrender to me willingly. Miller: Don't count on it. Event Horizon: I don't ask you to embrace me with blind faith. I will win you. |
„ |
| ~ Event Horizon commenting on how it was easy to get to Weir and the other Lewis and Clark crew members, and how it will win Miller. |
| “ | I want to reward you for them. | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon's answer to Miller's question if it wanted him to pay for his mistakes. |
| “ | I will give you endless days of pain. Immeasurable agony. The more profound your despair, the greater will be my pleasure. And, in the end, after all of it... you will thank me. [grabs Miller the front of his flight suit] Do you see? Do you see? | „ |
| ~ The Event Horizon commenting on what it will do to Miller once it returns to the dimension, also its final words before its presumed death. |
Gallery[]
_Cover.webp "Event Horizon (1997 Novelization) Cover.webp (32 KB)")