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Event Horizon
2046 A.D.: Seven years ago an experimental space vessel disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Now the ship has been found orbiting Neptune. When a salvage team is sent to investigate, they encounter the ultimate horror that lurks behind the Event Horizon. Paramount's major motion picture will be released in August and stars Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne, Kathleen Quinlan, Richard T. Jones and Joely Richardson.
218 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1997
About the author
Steven E. McDonald
8 books34 followersBorn on the edge of Sherwood Forest, ducking arrows ever since.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
November 5, 2017
2018 is slowly creeping up on me, so I'm trying my best to get my reviews up to date.
I have a love/hate relationship with Event Horizon (both the movie and the book). There is too much evil in it, too much.
Did you know that for those horrific scenes in the movie, porn actors and real-life amputees where used? And that the test screenings made people physically sick, so they decided to cut the gory scenes? How sick is that?
That is why, no matter how much I appreciated the movie and the book, I cannot give it more than 2 stars. Come to think of it, it's so good and convincing that I cannot give it more than 2 stars. That's how intense it makes me feel.
I have a love/hate relationship with Event Horizon (both the movie and the book). There is too much evil in it, too much.
Did you know that for those horrific scenes in the movie, porn actors and real-life amputees where used? And that the test screenings made people physically sick, so they decided to cut the gory scenes? How sick is that?
That is why, no matter how much I appreciated the movie and the book, I cannot give it more than 2 stars. Come to think of it, it's so good and convincing that I cannot give it more than 2 stars. That's how intense it makes me feel.
February 20, 2013
I love the movie and when I saw there was a novelization that disturbed and grossed people out, well I just had to read it. Now that I'm done I'm kind of confused. I was expecting something over the top graphic and horrifying, but the more I read the book the more I thought the people who read and reviewed the book must of never seen the movie. Maybe I'm immune to what most people find horrifying. The book followed the movie pretty much word for word and just added stuff here and there that feel like deleted scenes. And he adds just enough and he adds the information that people like me wanted to know. He gives more depth to the characters. There's even a one page chapter about what went on in the sphere. Things like that is why I love novelizations of movies. It just adds the right amount to a story you already love.
October 3, 2019
Hey so this wasn’t that bad at all. I feel like EH power lies quite a bit with visual representation on screen. I love this movie unabashedly. The author did a decent job with it but honestly, I started this book in July and just now took the time to finish it in October.
It’s currently out of print and I’ll treasure this copy first because it was a gift and second because it represents a movie I adore. I suppose if you’re a collector the current price of around $40+ might be worth it, but otherwise, keep an eye out in the thrift stores. And I mean that as nicely as possible.
TLDR? I liked it well enough and appreciate the effort that went into adapting a rock star film into a novel.
It’s currently out of print and I’ll treasure this copy first because it was a gift and second because it represents a movie I adore. I suppose if you’re a collector the current price of around $40+ might be worth it, but otherwise, keep an eye out in the thrift stores. And I mean that as nicely as possible.
TLDR? I liked it well enough and appreciate the effort that went into adapting a rock star film into a novel.
September 24, 2022
A really good novelization of the movie. I've not read anything by Steven McDonald but this was well written and enjoyable. Stayed, of course, very close to the movie, which I liked a lot.
June 4, 2024
Nostalgic. Heavy. Gory. Still a good read.
Getting my hands on a copy of this book has been a long-time goal of mine for the longest! It's a play-by-play of the movie, with a bit more dark insight to Dr. Weir's descension in to madness. But, it's mostly as speculative as the movie.
We do finally find out what was on that "tape" in the movie! (barf)
This is a book that I'd have loved to see the character development expand a bit more, especially for Dr. Weir. That's the only thing that kept this book from being 5 stars for me.
Getting my hands on a copy of this book has been a long-time goal of mine for the longest! It's a play-by-play of the movie, with a bit more dark insight to Dr. Weir's descension in to madness. But, it's mostly as speculative as the movie.
We do finally find out what was on that "tape" in the movie! (barf)
This is a book that I'd have loved to see the character development expand a bit more, especially for Dr. Weir. That's the only thing that kept this book from being 5 stars for me.
March 4, 2024
An underwhelming movie tie-in to an underwhelming movie.
May 22, 2013
i have see the film event horizon and i have to say that i loved the film...so when i discovered that they had a novel i had to pick it up...but the problem i had was finding it...it was not on nook or even amazon so i explored the net and got it used...i have to say the film ad novel was completely the same...i would say 90% of the book was like the movie with 10% was different and that is really rear in a book turning in a movie and it is rear for me to like both...i will if you love sci-fi horror then you will love this book and i will not get into details about it because people complain
March 12, 2026
This book is pure nostalgia for me. I remember watching the movie as a kid, and it scared the **** out of me. The book is terrifying and, in places, downright disgusting. It also made me wonder how my parents ever allowed me to watch the movie.
Despite the horror elements, it’s a quick and entertaining read. I really enjoy older sci-fi stories where the physics feels “simpler.” Black holes, singularities, and long-distance screen communication were once the hottest topics of science and technology. In the 1990s, these ideas equally fascinated and frightened the audiences.
It’s not the best sci-fi book out there, but it is a decent horror story which fills you with a strong sense of nostalgia.
Despite the horror elements, it’s a quick and entertaining read. I really enjoy older sci-fi stories where the physics feels “simpler.” Black holes, singularities, and long-distance screen communication were once the hottest topics of science and technology. In the 1990s, these ideas equally fascinated and frightened the audiences.
It’s not the best sci-fi book out there, but it is a decent horror story which fills you with a strong sense of nostalgia.
June 5, 2020
My favorite horror movie is Event Horizon, so I was thrilled when I found the book based on the movie at the library. It is the best movie novelization I can remember ever reading. Great details. I would’ve thought the movie was based on the book and not the other way around. The first couple of chapters were a bit over my head, but I believe it was supposed to be from the Core of the Event Horizon.
May 15, 2021
4 / 5 for 'Event Horizon' by Steven E McDonald
This is the novelisation of the movie, so McDonald was not actually responsible for creating the story or characters, but to be fair I feel he did a really good job with this adaption. This is the first book I've read by McDonald, my first exposure to him.
As with the film, I would describe this as a sci-fi / horror story, as in it is a sci-fi story with horror elements. Some people might disagree, suggesting it is more a horror film with sci-fi elements, but for me, it's definitely sci-fi first.
On the whole, I really enjoyed this novelization; McDonald captures the mystery and terror of the movie, which for me, is a dealbreaker. If a film has high levels of scares and mysteries, then the novelization should echo this. McDonald does this in spades. The claustrophobic uneasiness of the film is replicated in this book, and even expanded upon, as is the dark mystery behind the Event Horizon itself.
As in the film, Dr Weir, inventor and designer of the first FTL spacecraft (the Event Horizon), accompanies a US Army space salvage and recovery team, when the Event Horizon itself suddenly reappears in orbit around Neptune, 7 years after its FTL drive was first initiated. The story follows the team's journey out to investigate and recover the ship, and the deepening mystery that surrounds where the ship had been for those 7 years, and what it has brought back from wherever it has been.
Weir starts out as our MC and supposedly the protagonist, and as the salvage team explore more of the ship and strange, terrifying events begin to occur, Weir gradually transitions into the antagonist - this is masterfully done. Weir has a real vibe of insanity towards the end.
The team itself is your typical group of military types; the young pup, the mother hen, the grumpy doctor, the fearless leader, the arrogant pilot, the techy one etc. Of these I really liked Starck and Cooper - they felt like the most developed and were the most enjoyable to read about. Characterisation on the whole is somewhat perfunctory, but it's just enough to do the job. The dialogue is quite humorous and everyone has a distinct personality.
The science is reasonably well explained, and the setting and world-building for this solar-expanded-humanity, circa 2047, is very well done - it all feels very believable. Similarly, the horror elements are well handled, with everything feeling real, terrifying and quite plausible. If a spacecraft opens a dimensional rift to travel through, who's to say it may not bring unpleasant entities back with it upon its return.
McDonald tells this tale in a fast-paced format - short chapters, focussing on swiftly changing scenes and events. This suits the book perfectly, keeping the book thrilling from start to finish, without a single dull or slow section. The scary sections are genuinely scary and the violence and gore is excellently done. I would have liked a fuller explanation at the end, but McDonald can't really be blamed for this.
But - I have to dock one star for one major negative. Not for the story itself but the Tor Books ebook version that I read, released in 2012 (copies of the paperback can be as much as £155, so fuck that). This ebook was absolutely riddled with spelling mistakes, grammar errors, unintentional line breaks and new paragraphs halfway through sentences....to be honest, it's a fucking mess! Tor should be ashamed of themselves.
Despite that, on the whole, this is a thrilling and excellently written adaption of a cracking sci-fi / horror film, and I'd recommend it to fans of either genre.
4 / 5
This is the novelisation of the movie, so McDonald was not actually responsible for creating the story or characters, but to be fair I feel he did a really good job with this adaption. This is the first book I've read by McDonald, my first exposure to him.
As with the film, I would describe this as a sci-fi / horror story, as in it is a sci-fi story with horror elements. Some people might disagree, suggesting it is more a horror film with sci-fi elements, but for me, it's definitely sci-fi first.
On the whole, I really enjoyed this novelization; McDonald captures the mystery and terror of the movie, which for me, is a dealbreaker. If a film has high levels of scares and mysteries, then the novelization should echo this. McDonald does this in spades. The claustrophobic uneasiness of the film is replicated in this book, and even expanded upon, as is the dark mystery behind the Event Horizon itself.
As in the film, Dr Weir, inventor and designer of the first FTL spacecraft (the Event Horizon), accompanies a US Army space salvage and recovery team, when the Event Horizon itself suddenly reappears in orbit around Neptune, 7 years after its FTL drive was first initiated. The story follows the team's journey out to investigate and recover the ship, and the deepening mystery that surrounds where the ship had been for those 7 years, and what it has brought back from wherever it has been.
Weir starts out as our MC and supposedly the protagonist, and as the salvage team explore more of the ship and strange, terrifying events begin to occur, Weir gradually transitions into the antagonist - this is masterfully done. Weir has a real vibe of insanity towards the end.
The team itself is your typical group of military types; the young pup, the mother hen, the grumpy doctor, the fearless leader, the arrogant pilot, the techy one etc. Of these I really liked Starck and Cooper - they felt like the most developed and were the most enjoyable to read about. Characterisation on the whole is somewhat perfunctory, but it's just enough to do the job. The dialogue is quite humorous and everyone has a distinct personality.
The science is reasonably well explained, and the setting and world-building for this solar-expanded-humanity, circa 2047, is very well done - it all feels very believable. Similarly, the horror elements are well handled, with everything feeling real, terrifying and quite plausible. If a spacecraft opens a dimensional rift to travel through, who's to say it may not bring unpleasant entities back with it upon its return.
McDonald tells this tale in a fast-paced format - short chapters, focussing on swiftly changing scenes and events. This suits the book perfectly, keeping the book thrilling from start to finish, without a single dull or slow section. The scary sections are genuinely scary and the violence and gore is excellently done. I would have liked a fuller explanation at the end, but McDonald can't really be blamed for this.
But - I have to dock one star for one major negative. Not for the story itself but the Tor Books ebook version that I read, released in 2012 (copies of the paperback can be as much as £155, so fuck that). This ebook was absolutely riddled with spelling mistakes, grammar errors, unintentional line breaks and new paragraphs halfway through sentences....to be honest, it's a fucking mess! Tor should be ashamed of themselves.
Despite that, on the whole, this is a thrilling and excellently written adaption of a cracking sci-fi / horror film, and I'd recommend it to fans of either genre.
4 / 5
October 12, 2012
Absolutely terrorific and completely envoling. It took me a while to find a copy after watching the movie, and it was absolutely worth it.
March 10, 2018
An enjoyable novelization of the cult sci-fi horror flick. Reads like Lem's Solaris with action and gore but with less thinking and faster pace.
Descent into the mouth of madness (pun intended :)).
Descent into the mouth of madness (pun intended :)).
September 24, 2020
As a book it was good.
As a book about a movie,,, I was disappointed because I thought it was gonna go into more details.
I'm sure i would have liked it more if i hadn't seen the movie.
As a book about a movie,,, I was disappointed because I thought it was gonna go into more details.
I'm sure i would have liked it more if i hadn't seen the movie.
October 14, 2021
Very well written.
Very similar to the movie.
Really really terrifying. Disturbing book.
The plot was a melding of the plots and stories of the following:
Alien, Sphere, Dead Space, Doom, Cloverfield Paradox, As Above So Below
Would recommend if you can stomach it.
4.3/5
Very similar to the movie.
Really really terrifying. Disturbing book.
The plot was a melding of the plots and stories of the following:
Alien, Sphere, Dead Space, Doom, Cloverfield Paradox, As Above So Below
Would recommend if you can stomach it.
4.3/5
March 7, 2026
DNF
Someone recently mentioned Event Horizon . I loved the 90ties movie. Still one of the best cosmic horror movies ever, even though I imagine it must be somewhat dated by now. I never even checked if it was based on a novel. I found this one, but it's one of those' book adaptations '
A shame really, because I would have loved to read a novel that would go deeper into the metaphysics of the Movie storyline. This is a 150 page booklet cashing in on the movie's cult status.
Someone recently mentioned Event Horizon . I loved the 90ties movie. Still one of the best cosmic horror movies ever, even though I imagine it must be somewhat dated by now. I never even checked if it was based on a novel. I found this one, but it's one of those' book adaptations '
A shame really, because I would have loved to read a novel that would go deeper into the metaphysics of the Movie storyline. This is a 150 page booklet cashing in on the movie's cult status.
February 27, 2026
This was a great book. I only wish there was a second one because I have many questions.
August 25, 2024
Okay, objectively I know this book is not 5 stars perfect but admittedly, I absolutely love this movie. Therefore, I totally loved this and devoured it. It doesn’t really add anything to the overall story but I have to admire Anderson’s ability to reverse engineer what happened on screen and translate it to paper without it being absolutely dull. He manages to really build up the scenes and keep things rather faithful to the movie without the admittedly dated 90s CG that sort of plagues the motion picture. Nevertheless the one major contention I do have with this is the ending really recreates Weir to be almost more reptilian and alien in nature than he is in the film, and I found that to be sort of silly. All things considered though, I had a great time reading this. Thanks to Interlibrary loan I was able to get a copy of this super rare book and I’m glad I did.
April 9, 2011
I just wrote a review of "The Taking" by Dean Koontz and referenced this book in my review. I have no idea why I read this book... perhaps because I'd already read most of what was on the shelf, but seriously, it's like the author went all out, spent days and days, thinking about situations that are just plain awful, gross, and honestly, exploiting the worst of human nature. It's that terrible bit in everyone that makes people slow down while passing a car accident, not wanting and wanting to see something awful. Why do we do this to ourselves? It's like putting a poison in your brain.
Anyway, hated this book. I think that honestly I shouldn't put that I read this book because I skipped too many pages due to the gratuitous violence and gore,
BTW, did NOT see the movie.
Anyway, hated this book. I think that honestly I shouldn't put that I read this book because I skipped too many pages due to the gratuitous violence and gore,
BTW, did NOT see the movie.
August 8, 2016
I feel in love with this movie when I saw it when I was younger, but hasn't seen it since. So when the opportunity to read the novelization presented itself, I took the chance. I couldn't even remember a majority if the movie, and how many people get to experience something for the first time twice. If you haven't seen the movie in a while and remember enjoying it, read this book. It's very good. It's one of the few books I have on my bookshelf, it will always have a place, and I absolutely plan to revisit it soon.
June 7, 2011
This was fun. It was basically a play by play of the movie which would be fine if I'd been able to read before seeing the flick. But after seeing a movie you hope that the book will be a bit more detailed and (in my case) a bit more nasty. For what it is though, it is well written with minimal editing errors. It definitely would've given me the creepin' willies had I not already been floored by the film.
September 14, 2012
Esta es la clase de historia donde el cine funciona mucho mejor para contarla que al leer el libro te preguntas porqué alguien lo escribiría tan similar, sin explotar los fuertes de una página.
Lo que en unos segundos en pantalla bastan para ser terrorífico, aquí pierde su impacto. Lo que en una película de ciencia ficción puedes pasar como explicación plausible aquí es incómodo y solo te deja dudas e incredulidad.
No es terrible, pero no lo recomiendo.
Lo que en unos segundos en pantalla bastan para ser terrorífico, aquí pierde su impacto. Lo que en una película de ciencia ficción puedes pasar como explicación plausible aquí es incómodo y solo te deja dudas e incredulidad.
No es terrible, pero no lo recomiendo.
July 21, 2014
I got this book thinking that the movie had been based on it. To my dismay, I discovered that the book was based on be movie?
So, it was exactly like watching the movie. If that's what you want from a book, try this.
So, it was exactly like watching the movie. If that's what you want from a book, try this.
December 16, 2019
Easily one of the most entertaining novelizations I've read, along with Yvonno Navarro's Species and Alan Dean Foster's The Thing. If you enjoyed the film and want a good look at most of the missing/deleted scenes, the book provides them.
February 21, 2025
I've seen this movie like a couple of dozen times and couldn't find this book for a long time. I guess it's a rare book. But this book was almost exactly the same as the movie. I'm not sure if this is a novelization, but it might as well be.
August 22, 2015
Where's the next one? I hope to get to read it soon! Love this series!!
February 21, 2021
Love the film, love the book. Amazing read. I managed to find a copy few years ago. It now sits pride of place.
March 5, 2021
One of the greatest books I have ever read.
December 28, 2021
Great book! It was hard to find, but I was so glad I did!! Similar to the movie but you get more of the creepy horror from the book.
May 22, 2023
So much more detail than the movie. Let your imagination run and you will be terrified.
December 14, 2023
Read the book and watched the movie both were masterpieces. The moved stared Sam Neil he exceptional as always.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews