Dr. McCoy – killer? – "The Haunting of the Enterprise!" was the fifth issue of Marvel Comics' series of Star Trek: The Original Series comics. This was the debut of writer Mike W. Barr, his first of 33 comics and two novels. Barr completed the 2 issue storyline begun by Marv Wolfman in the previous issue, finishing the first serialized Star Trek story released in America. It was the fifth of eight comics drawn by Dave Cockrum.
Description[]
- Omnibus teaser
- Their earliest exploits had seen them encounter what appears to be a haunted house in space, replete with representations of Earth legends Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster. The stark reality is that they are a plot on the part of the Klingons, whose enmity toward Kirk and the Enterprise has been elevated to the stuff of legend.
Summary[]
- Captain's log, stardate 7417.4: The planet Thallus, lying just outside Klingon space, had sent word that it wished to join the Federation! Our mission was twofold: to return an escaped prisoner, the mad, blind Raytag M'Gora to Thallus and to escort the Federation Ambassador, R'Kgg, there as well. To our horror, the Ambassador was killed by a being who appeared to be Dracula, the vampire of ancient Earth legends, while other strange and terrifying monsters from Earth's past also haunted the Enterprise. And now we face the equally deadly, if more familiar, Klingons! Mere hours earlier, as we approached Thallus, we had been diverted from course to deliver Raytag to a waiting prison satellite. Or so we thought. In fact, we had fallen into a Klingon trap and our destination was an old-fashioned haunted house – floating in space...
In the haunted house, the Klingon leader shoots and kills an Andorian ensign in the landing party. Kirk fires back with his phaser on stun. During the ensuing fight the young woman tells McCoy she cannot remember why she was in the house. Kirk asks Scotty to beam them back, but the Klingons have an energy field around the house, jamming the transporter. When the Klingons capture Spock, smash his communicator and drop the energy field to beam back with him to their ship, Scotty beams the others back to the Enterprise.
On the Klingon ship, the commander tells Spock his mission was to acquire the Enterprise so the Klingons could examine its new warp engines, but that they now have a use for the crew. On a lower deck of the Klingon ship, a man in a strange spacesuit is roused from his drugged sleep by agony in his mind, and knows he must again summon the nightmares.
- Captain's log, stardate 7417.6: So far the Klingon vessel has taken no action. We have not located Mr. Spock within their ship... nor have we learned anything new from the mysterious young woman... or from our prisoner...
In the Enterprise brig, Raytag says the young woman has the answers to the situation, but does not know it. The Klingons fire on the Enterprise, disabling warp drive. In Sick Bay, McCoy discovers startling discrepancies in the tricorder readings on the young woman. Monsters again appear on the Enterprise, first in Life Support Engineering, then everywhere.
- Captain's log, stardate 7417.7: Again monsters of every description have invaded the Enterprise. Few of my crew have yet fallen to them, but they appear to be increasing not only in number, but in size and ferocity. It is only a matter of time before they overrun the ship. Our one hope is to discover how the Klingons are materializing the monsters here... But we've been so busy fighting them, we haven't had time for detective work.
McCoy arrives on the bridge and tells Kirk that the young woman is not human. On the Klingon ship, the commander shows Spock their "thought-enhancer". When a damaged starship drifted into Klingon space, the Klingons "discarded" everyone aboard, except for a horror film archivist: the human in the strange spacesuit. By allowing him to create a construct of his dead wife, they gained control of his mind and are using him to materialize monsters from his knowledge of films. The haunted house is a restructured space station. The projection process requires a receptor aboard the Enterprise: Raytag, who has been offered freedom by the Klingons, has a receiver implanted in his skull. The commander leaves Spock guarded in the room with the human. Spock tells his guard that the young man appears ill and asks if he can examine him.
- Captain's log, stardate 7417.8: None of our measures seem to permanently repel the creatures... our phasers disintegrate them, but they reappear as fast as we cut them down! All our security forces are occupied elsewhere – should the monsters invade the bridge, we will have to fight them ourselves!
The monsters attack the bridge; the young woman still says she knows nothing. On the Klingon ship, Spock mind-melds with the young man. A fuzzy image of Spock appears on the Enterprise bridge and tells Kirk to "destroy" the girl. McCoy realizes Spock used the word "destroy" because the girl was never alive. To Kirk's horror, he fires his phaser and dematerializes her. On the Klingon ship, the young man awakens with an anguished scream. The monsters disappear from the Enterprise and appear on the Klingon ship. Raytag has been killed by an overload of psionic pain which burned out his receiver and reflected the signals back to the Klingon ship. Spock nerve-pinches his guard and frees the dazed young man, whose wife was killed by the Klingons. Recovering the thought-enhancer, Spock and the young man head for the transporter room. The ship's shields are brought down by a wild shot as the Klingons fight the monsters. Spock beams himself and the young man to the Enterprise bridge.
- Captain's log, stardate 7417.9: The young film archivist, the Klingon thought-enhancer, and Raytag's body have all been delivered to Star Base 16. The Klingon effort to trap the Enterprise failed, and Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are suggested for commendations!
Spock explains that the young woman was the image of the archivist's dead wife, and that destroying her caused the man such pain that it awakened him and overloaded the receptor. McCoy needles Spock about the fact that the Vulcan's life was saved by the young man's human emotions.
Additional log entries[]
- Captain's log, stardate 7417.7. While the Enterprise was returning Raytag M'Gora to prison on the planet Thallus, we came across a haunted house, drifting in space. Investigation showed the place was full of apparitions… apparently menacing a human woman! Spock was seized while investigating the house, by the crew of a recently arrived Klingon vessel! The vessel has taken no further action, and we have learned nothing from the mysterious young woman! (Serialized reprint)
References[]
Characters[]
- Christine Chapel • Pavel Chekov • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Raytag M'Gora • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • unnamed Andorians • unnamed Humans • unnamed Klingons • unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel
- Referenced only
- Dracula
Starships and vehicles[]
- D7-class cruiser • USS Enterprise (Constitution-class) • Saladin-class • unnamed D7-class starships • unnamed Federation starships
Locations[]
- floating haunted house • Starbase 16 • Starbase 16 planet • Thallus system
- Referenced only
- Earth • Qo'noS • Thallus
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Ranks and titles[]
- ambassador • archivist • captain • commander • detective • doctor • ensign • scientist • security guard
Science and classification[]
- amnesia • Atalskes phaser IV • atom • communicator • computer • deflector shield • energy field • hydrogen • image projection technology • jamming field • life support • machinery • mind-sifter • orbit • phaser • phaser pistol • physiology • satellite • shields • space • space station • starship • thought enhancer • transporter • tricorder • truth serum • type-2 phaser • warp engine • warp factor • warp speed
Other references[]
- battle stations • bridge • brig • captain's log • control room • dream • emotion • engineering • film • haunted house • horror film • landing party • legend • logic • love • mind meld • neutral zone • planet • prison • psionic • Saurian brandy • schematics • security • sickbay • stardate • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (early 2270s) • stun • subconscious • technology • transporter room • vampire • Vulcan nerve pinch • weapon • wiring
Appendices[]
Background[]
- Denny O'Neil was credited as co-plotter of this issue in the letter column to "Tomorrow or Yesterday".
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
- This story was the second part of a 2 issue storyline.
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: #4 The Haunting of Thallus! |
TOS comics (Marvel) |
Next comic: #6 The Enterprise Murder Case! |
| Previous story: first work |
Stories by: Mike W. Barr |
Next story: The Enterprise Murder Case! |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: The Haunting of Thallus! |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: The Enterprise Murder Case! |
Publication history[]
- August 1980
- First published by Marvel Comics
- 11 February 1981 – 25 February 1981
- Serialized in b/w in Future Tense #15-17 (Marvel UK)
- 1982
- Reprinted in magazine format in b/w in Winter Special (Marvel UK)
- September 2008
- Included on The Complete Comic Book Collection DVD (Graphic Imaging Technologies)
- May 2009
- Reprinted in 6"x9" format in the omnibus Star Trek Omnibus, Volume 1 (IDW Publishing)
- 22 June 2017
- Collected in the Graphic Novel Collection's Volume 13 omnibus. (Eaglemoss Collections)
Translations[]
- 1980
- German: As Der Spuk, der niemals endet! in the omnibus Star Trek - R.E. Comic - Sonderheft #3
- 8 September 1981
- Swedish: As Monstren på Enterprise in Star Trek 1981 #2 (Atlantic)
- 22 November 2017
- Italian: Collected in the Italian release of Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 13: L'era Marvel - Prima Parte. (RCS MediaGroup, ISSN 977228074425770013)
External links[]
- The Haunting of the Enterprise! article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Star Trek Vol 1 5 article at the Marvel Database.