The Unknown

by Jonathan Tripp

Horrors get unleashed after a space freighter, Drago, intercepts a weak signal from an old escape pod. An unknown specimen gets aboard, killing the crew one by one.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction

62 pages, Paperback

Published December 30, 2022

Reviews

[Escapereality4now · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Unknown,” by Jonathan Tripp, has everything a sci-fi horror novella should have: creatures, abandoned space transport, and dark hallways. This story gave me Alien and Dream Catcher vibes.

At 52 pages, “The Unknown” packs tension and horror tightly. Tripp wastes no time. The story opens with an investigation of a pod. My rule is never to investigate anything abandoned and creepy 👀. Who knows what is lurking in the shadows? But I digress. The investigation leads to a non-stop, unrelenting creature feature horror. Never have I been so afraid of bug bites😆

The pacing is perfect. Tripp throws the reader into horror quickly. The environment is eerie. There is much character development, but it isn’t needed. The creature, who wreaks havoc on humans, is the star of this novella.
I read this in under an hour. It is a fun, entertaining story of what can go wrong in space.

[Brian G Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new angle for Tripp, and I can tell you now that he killed it. Fun story; a definite straight to VHS piece as far as I'm concerned, and that's a helluva compliment! What awaits the crew of the Dargo? You'll have to crack this baby open and find out for yourself!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could use a good edit, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless. There's not much you can do with space horror, but I still appreciate any and all that is published.

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

What you read in the synopsis for this story is exactly what you get. So, a decent and fast alien story, but really no background or character development.

[Terry and dog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non stop action and gruesomeness in this short sci fi horror book. You don't really get to know very much about the characters in this book, but it doesn't take long to get hooked and want to keep reading to find out what happens to them. A very fun read and I know one thing, in space always protect your bite holes and any other holes you have.

[Rebecca Gangaram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, I enjoyed it.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

“We got a reading. Something is alive on that thing.”


Set several centuries in the future.

Captain Morris leads the crew of the Dargo freighter. Their only medic, Dr. McKinney, recently died of what they presume was a heart attack.

The distress signal—and a perplexing sign of life.

Genesis was the first ship to go through the Oort Cloud.

Killing. Taking a host.

Gross and creepy. The creatures…

Needs editing work.

Ending is pretty meh. 😑 Heavy on MCD.


“They left me. All alone now. But the hunger is still there.”

[J.M. Horn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect blend of horror and sci-fi.

Excellent intro to Tripp's writing.

Dig the pacing and atmosphere of the story. The creature is definably the star of the story and the human characters are fodder. And watch those holes.

Looking forward to more creature features stories from Tripp.

[Adrian Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 / 5 rounded up to help ratings. Exactly as per the synopsis, an enjoyable short romp, pretty 2 dimensional fast writing style, could have really benefitted from more dread inducing words to go with the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped on a spaceship with flesh eating parasites.

[Rem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very unique short story about space parasites and my first time getting into Tripp's works. Will be getting alot more into his stories. Very underrated for sure.