The average fan probably doesn’t think “horror” when they think about Star Wars. Sometimes described as science fiction, and by others as fantasy, Star Wars isn’t known to the general public as a franchise full of scary story. Granted, Darth Vader was scary to kids, but you wouldn’t exactly classify those scenes as horrific.
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But like nearly every genre, from political drama to romance to high-flying adventure, horror is one that Star Wars has explored in-depth from time to time. Sometimes it’s a scene or two, sometimes it’s an entire chapter of the saga, but this is where you can get your horror fix in the galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars Rebels S3E5: Hera’s Heroes
You may not think of this as traditional horror, and Rebels really hasn’t gone down that road just yet, but there is something utterly terrifying about Grand Admiral Thrawn, the “big bad” of Star Wars Rebels season 3. In this recent episode, Thrawn shows his knowledge and eerily calm calculation of his enemies. His monologue, delivered expertly by Lars Mikkelsen, will make your hair stand on end. And when he literally bares his teeth? Well, there’s more to Thrawn than his cold veneer.
Lords of the Sith: Darth Vader the Executioner
In the novel Lords of the Sith by writer Paul S. Kemp, Darth Vader was established once again as a total badass, and as terrifying. The book has several high-octane and even scary moments throughout, from the way Vader single-handedly carves through an entire rebel battalion (he literally Force-chokes a Twi’lek pilot through the windows of both their vehicles), or the swarm of beasts he and the Emperor have to escape from. But nothing gives you chills the way one scene near the end of the story does, when the Emperor uses his Force abilities in front of witnesses; a whole village that actually helped the Empire, and some Stormtroopers. After he cuts loose, he orders Vader to make sure there were no witnesses. That ruthlessness helps bring back the truly scary Vader and Emperor dynamic.
The Clone Wars S3E12-14: The Nightsisters Trilogy (and follow-up)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars dipped into several aspects of horror and scary stories throughout its run (you’ll see a couple more examples soon). While the story of the Nightsisters wasn’t necessarily all that scary on its own, it does introduce a popular horror trope to Star Wars canon: Witches. In this trilogy of episodes, the Nightsisters brought in Force magic, and showed us a new way of understanding the Force. With spells and rituals, they could manipulate life itself. In fact, the follow-up arc with the Nightsisters went much deeper into horror, raising an army of the dead to fight off the Separatists.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back: The Dark Side Cave
Empire, as it’s known to fans, is known for the way things got serious in a hurry. Sure, we had Obi-Wan’s death in the first film, and the destruction of Alderaan, but the serious and scary moments in Empire were so much more personal. Case in point, the only instance that could be classified as horror in a live action Star Wars movie so far, Luke exploring the dark side cave on Dagobah. In this moment, Luke is forced to face his fears, and gets his first hint that he and Vader may be more linked than he thought. It’s a moment that’s been recreated several times on The Clone Wars and Rebels since, with characters like Yoda and Ezra going on similar journeys.
The Clone Wars S1E17-8: Blue Shadow Virus and Mystery of a Thousand Moons
This two-parter from The Clone Wars falls into the viral horror/suspense category. Doctor Vindi releases a virus that has an extremely fast and 100% death rate. Most of the episodes are centered around whether it will be released, then becoming a survival story revolving around Padme and Jar jar, and it’s got Michael Crichton style to it.
Star Wars Rebels S1E5: Rise of the Old Masters
Again, not quite into full horror territory on Rebels just yet, but they do have their creepy moments. Episodes with characters facing down the dark side, or the season 2 finale where Vader took down the entire Rebels crew (including Ahsoka) come to mind. But in “Rise of the Old Masters,” we saw the Rebel crew lead into a trap – by the mummified remains of Jedi Master Unduli. Creepy, and just mean of the Empire.
Marvel Comics: Darth Vader #1
The Darth Vader renaissance continues on today (we can’t wait to see him be terrifying in Rogue One), but one of the earliest examples came in January 2015’s Darth Vader #1 from Marvel Comics. There, when Vader is dispatched to Tatooine on a mission from the Emperor, he decides to make a little detour. He stops and mercilessly slaughters an entire village of sand people, Texas Chainsaw Massacre style. What’s more, he gives an entire monologue of directions to bounty hunters while standing atop this pile of corpses. Yeah, Vader’s scary again.
The Clone Wars S2E7-8: Legacy of Terror and Brain Invaders
While Rebels hasn’t gone deep into the horror category, The Clone Wars did and had a lot of fun with it. In this season 2 story arc, brain-controlling, body-snatching worms infest clone troopers, and we see Ahsoka and Barris trying to fight them off without necessarily just slaughtering a bunch of clones. It’s a nice encapuslation of the 80s horror movie aesthetic, borrowing from Alien, The Blob, Body Snatchers, and more.
Star Wars: Death Troopers / Red Harvest
Now this is true Star Wars horror. A pair of books by Joe Schreiber in the Legends category, Death Troopers (not to be confused with the new class of stormtrooper in Rogue One) and Red Harvest each dealt in different eras of the Star Wars story, with unique takes on zombies in that galaxy. Very well-received, these zombies-in-Star Wars stories are among the favorites in the Legends universe, and take some of the ideas shown in the other examples to a different level. It goes to show, any genre can work in Star Wars, even horror.
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Image Credit: Lucasfilm
