6 Star Trek Episodes with Straight-Up Body Horror

Published Aug 15, 2026, 7:30 PM EDT Shaun Corley has been with ScreenRant for over 5 years, and is currently the Coordinator for PR and Outreach for the Comics Team. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Star Trek is one of pop culture’s most endearing franchises, and exerts an influence over nearly every science fiction movie and television series made since its inception. Despite being firmly rooted in the science fiction genre, Star Trek has dabbled in others as well. More than one Star Trek episode has been western themed, and the franchise has steered into the horror realm on several occasions. Nearly every incarnation of Star Trek has featured episodes that could be construed as horror, starting with episodes like “Catspaw” in The Original Series. The horror genre has developed significantly over the past 60 years. New subgenres have manifested themselves, and perhaps the most popular, and timely, is the field of “body horror.” While its roots can be traced back much further, the genre began to take off in the 1980s, thanks to directors such as David Cronenberg, who himself would one day factor into Star Trek, having a recurring role on Discovery. With the rise in popularity and prestige of body horror, it is only natural for Star Trek to try its hand at it. The genre stresses the terror that can come when changes are inflicted upon the body, usually involuntarily. These concepts and ideas have also played parts in various Star Trek movies and episodes. Here are the six best times Star Trek dabbled in body horror. 6 “Identity Crisis” Geordi La Forge Nearly Lost His Humanity Star Trek: The Next Generation 4x18 "Identity Crisis" Written By: Directed By: Air Date: Timothy De Haas (story), Brannon Braga (teleplay) Winrich Kolbe March 25, 1991 Often, in the body horror genre, a person’s humanity slips away as they undergo radical metamorphoses, and this nearly happened to Geordi La Forge in the underrated “Identity Crisis.” Years before serving aboard the Enterprise, La Forge served on an away team surveying a seemingly unsettled world. Years later, every member of that away team begins acting weird, and their bodies begin to change. Two of La Forge’s former comrades have already disappeared, and now he is starting to notice odd things about himself. As Geordi races the clock to figure out what is happening to him, he learns the truth: the seemingly unsettled planet he visited all those years before did in fact have indigenous lifeforms, only they could not be seen. These invisible creatures “reproduced” by infecting passing creatures with their DNA, turning them into one of the lifeforms. Geordi nearly succumbs, but is saved at the 11th hour by the love of his friend. Doctor Crusher is able to reverse the changes, and the planet is quarantined. While “Identity Crisis” had a happy ending, at least for Geordi, most entries in the body horror genre do not. While “Identity Crisis” had a happy ending, at least for Geordi, most entries in the body horror genre do not. In movies such as David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of The Fly, the protagonist watches in horror as they become less human every day. While it is a disturbing process to watch, it is heart-breaking as well. Star Trek fans nearly saw something similar happen to Geordi, but the power of friendship saved his life. In the aforementioned The Fly, its hero, Seth Brundle, also had a lady friend, but she was powerless to stop his transition to a mindless creature. 5 “Genesis” The Enterprise Crew Devolves Thanks to a Credibility-Stretching Plot Device Star Trek: The Next Generation 7x19 "Genesis" Written By: Directed By: Air Date: Brannon Braga Gates McFadden March 19, 1994 There are many ways for transformations and alterations to happen in body horror. In some works, such as HG Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, the titular scientist used surgical methods to create animal–human hybrids. In Cronenberg’s The Fly, a transporter pod, and a stray fly, turn Seth Brundle into a murderous creature. In “Genesis,” airing during Star Trek: The Next Generation’s seventh season, it was a virus originating with Lieutenant Barclay’s DNA. While it sounded plausible at first, the science really made no sense upon closer scrutiny. "Genesis" remains Gates McFadden's sole directorial effort. Yet those concerns are secondary, because the episode is one of the purest expressions of body horror in the Star Trek franchise. As a result of Barclay’s virus, the Enterprise’s crew begins to regress to previous evolutionary states. For instance, Worf degenerates into a massive, proto-Klingon while Barclay himself transforms into a spider-like creature. Just as with “Identity Crisis,” “Genesis” pulls no punches in showing the horror visited upon the crew. Makeup artist Michael Westmore earned an Emmy nomination for his work on “Genesis.” “Genesis” is not only one of the best examples of Star Trek’s forays into body horror, it is a great episode overall. While it leans into some of The Next Generation’s worst tendencies, such as an overreliance on technobabble, it is also a tense medical thriller, as Data and Picard race to save the ship and restore the crew. It is a genuinely unnerving and creepy episode that has earned its reputation as one of Star Trek’s scariest moments. The Borg Are Body Horror Villains, and First Contact Made That Clear Star Trek: First Contact Written By: Directed By: Release Date: Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore Jonathan Frakes November 22, 1996 Since their introduction in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s second season, the Borg exemplified body horror. The cybernetic species traveled the galaxy, assimilating others into their collective. The Borg completely overrode whatever humanity their victims had, turning them into unthinking drones. When a person is assimilated, their body undergoes changes as well. Some body horror practitioners have explored the intersection of humanity and machines, and the Borg take it to a horrifying extreme. To lose to the Borg is to lose one’s body and soul. When the crew of The Next Generation made the leap to the big screen in the early 1990s, the Borg returned as a villain in 1996’s First Contact. Now with a larger, movie-sized makeup budget, the Borg’s grim, otherworldly look took on an even more ghastly appearance. The newly-minted drones resembled animated corpses, further underscoring the body horror aspects of the Borg. First Contact’s producers spared no expense in showing the atrocities the Borg visited upon other species’ bodies. First Contact rejuvenated interest in the Borg, thanks in part to the upgrades they received. While the Borg have been scary since the beginning, First Contact felt like the first time the franchise played up the body horror aspects of the Collective. The success of First Contact introduced the Borg to the mainstream, as well as the idea the Collective had a Queen. While controversial at the time, the introduction of an insect-like queen further drives the body horror home. 3 “Phage” The Phage-Riddled Vidiians Personify Body Horror Star Trek: Voyager 1x5 "Phage" Written By: Directed By: Air Date: Timothy De Haas (story), Skye Dent and Brannon Braga (script) Winrich Kolbe February 6, 1995 The Vidiians, introduced early in Star Trek: Voyager’s run, were a unique antagonist. Unlike other villain species, like the Klingons or the Borg, the Vidiians were not motivated by conquest or the desire to assimilate. Instead, they traveled the Delta Quadrant, harvesting the organs of other species, in an attempt to cure the “Phage,” a disease that had been ravaging the Vidiians for thousands of years. In their first appearance, a Vidiian stole Neelix’s lungs, but the EMH was able to save him. Diseases are a common trope in the body horror genre, sometimes used as a way to introduce transformations. For the Vidiians, the Phage destroyed their tissues, leaving them with a sunken, sullen appearance. Stealing the organs of other species merely held off the Phage, and while there were eventually claims of a cure, Voyager never followed up on them. The Vidiians and the Phage allowed Star Trek to show what body horror looks like on a planetary scale. The Vidiians and the Phage allowed Star Trek to show what body horror looks like on a planetary scale. As a result of the Phage, Vidiian culture underwent a change of its own, becoming more solitary and isolated. In their desperate bid to cure the Phage, their own medical technology advanced greatly, allowing many breakthroughs except for the one they needed the most. These frustrations led the Vidiians to attack and even enslave other species, showing the trauma of body horror even more. 2 “Threshold” Voyager’s Most Controversial Episode is an Exercise in Body Horror Star Trek: Voyager 2x15 "Threshold" Written By: Directed By: Air Date: Michael De Luca (story), Brannon Braga (script) Alexander Singer January 29, 1996 “Threshold” is one of Star Trek: Voyager’s most derided episodes. Fans lambasted the episode’s premise: that Tom Paris breaks the transwarp (faster than warp 10) barrier. While not experiencing any ill health effects at first, he begins to mutate into a lizard-like creature. Then, he kidnaps Captain Janeway and subjects her to the same process, which mutates her as well. In their new lizard forms, they travel to a distant planet and produce offspring. “Threshold” has many problematic elements, but it is also a grand exercise in body horror. Both Paris and Janeway’s bodies undergo extreme metamorphosis, changing species within a matter of hours. This type of shift is common in the body horror genre. Star Trek had toyed with the idea of changing species before, but “Threshold” remains perhaps its most extreme expression. Part of the episode’s tension is watching Janeway and Paris struggle to hold onto the spark that makes them unique. “Threshold” looks at the influence technology can have on body horror, playing on a common anxiety of losing our humanity in the face of advancing science. Breaking the Warp 10 barrier was supposed to have been impossible, but Paris managed. In doing so, however, he nearly condemned himself and his captain to a fate worse than death. It is worth noting that Starfleet seemed to abandon their transwarp experiments soon after. 1 “Much Ado About Boimler” Leave it to Lower Decks to Show the Lighter Side of Body Horror Star Trek: Lower Decks 1x7 "Much Ado About Boimler" Written By: Directed By: Air Date: M. Willis Barry J. Kelly September 17, 2020 Star Trek: Lower Decks might seem like an odd place to showcase body horror. The show is an animated comedy set in the Star Trek universe, depicting the lighter side of life in the 24th century. It regularly sends up franchise tropes, and is packed with in-jokes for longtime fans. In many ways, Lower Decks is a Valentine to Star Trek fans, rewarding them for their years of devotion. Yet early in season one, Lower Decks briefly stepped into the body horror genre, sort of. Boimler, the Cerritos’ hapless ensign, is caught in a transporter accident that causes his body to “phase” in and out. Unable to find a solution, Starfleet opts to send Boimler to the “Farm,” a facility for medical oddities that science cannot help. For the bulk of the episode, Lower Decks plays on the audiences’ fear and expectations: is Boimler truly going to a dark place where he will be a guinea pig? The answer soon proved to be: no. It turns out the “Farm” is actually a paradise, where Starfleet’s medical curiosities could live out their lives in peace and comfort until a cure can be found. If there was no cure, then the person would have the accommodations they need. This is a far more positive depiction of what body horror entails, but just might be a true reflection of how Star Trek would handle the genre’s ideas and concepts.