Top Five Spookiest Sci-Fi Spaceships 

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"And the characters realized it, leading to the single most sensible line ever uttered in any horror film." I think that statement alone proves how scary the ship was. Still, fantastic video.

I'd like to put an honorable mention out there for the Borg Cubes, especially as they're originally presented in *Q Who?* They were held back a little by the 1990 TV budget, but they still have an absolutely skin-crawling atmosphere. The ambience, the weird cavernous chambers, the way borg drones just walk around and completely ignore the boarding party until they make a move, the little servo noises as they walk past, it's all so creepy. And then on the outside, the way the cube just hangs there with no clear forward, backward, bridge, or any sort of identifying marks, but you somehow know it's just watching and waiting... ugh, it's perfect.

Personally, the spookiest ship, heck, the scariest ship is the Shadows's spider ships...they are creepy to the extreme, and are one of the few ships that just creep me out whenever they appear on screen.

I'm not sure whether or not it's technically a "ship," and it's definitely not in a horror movie - but as a kid, V'ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture really got to me. It was so big, so powerful, and so clearly *alien,* and all the _Enterprise_ crew could do was keep advancing toward and into it, slowly, completely at its mercy, hoping that whatever-it-was didn't suddenly decide to squish them all like itty bitty bugs.

Bit of a weird honorable mention here but... the TARDIS. Most of the time you never leave the console room, but nearly every time an episode is set solely on the TARDIS itself, you get a sense of how unknowably *vast* it really is. And the fact it can dissolve, assemble and rearrange its rooms means that however carefully you explore it, you'll never actually know just how deep those corridors go.

That mention of the Ishimura in Dead Space 2 really caps the reason as to why the Ishimura deserves the top spot. While the Ishimura in Dead Space 1 was all sorts of scary already, the Dead Space 2 Ishimura combines nostalgia with the kind of spookiness you get from something that's very clearly under construction, similar to what you get when you say visit trespass a construction site in the dead of night. It doesn't help that the flashbacks remind you that beneath all that renovation are the memories of the horrible things that happened on the Ishimura, further adding to the creepiness factor.

Something I need to add about the #1 ship is that, while the actual details of the layout are dictated by what they want the audience to experience, the overall design still gives the impression of a ship that might have been rather nice to serve on. The corridors are open and full of navigation and maintenance labels, the quarters seem comfortable, the medical deck is clean and well-lit, and the oxygen and food facilities double as recreational parks!

The Shadow ships from Babylon 5, is one of my votes and should be mentioned. It's not just the spider shape that creep most people out, but the mystery of first contact. Then the realization they are crewed by living psychics and that they a nearly unstoppable.

I think the one reason why the USS Cygnus from The Black Hole doesn't rate higher is because it was a Disney film, and they had to walk a fine line between being creepy and still being family-friendly. Even so, the script had some wonderful touches, like the humanoids having a funeral for one of their fallen comrades or the android gardener with a limp--as Ernest Borgnine's character puts it, "Why create a robot with a limp?" When you find out the reason, it makes Reinhardt that much scarier...

The Dark Aster from Guardians of the Galaxy and the Reever ships from Firefly/ Serenity always creeped me out.

I appreciate the inclusion of the Collector cruiser and dead Reaper from Mass Effect. Both are definitely a fantastic kind of creepy and unknown, making you look around at every detail, jump at every movement, cringe at all the horrible things you see there. The Collectors are clearly more physical horror, stacking corpses and melting people alive and all that, but the Reaper is purely psychological. You literally go insane just by being around it, even though it's been dead for so long.

I loved Event Horizon. Made me uncomfortable the entire time and I never felt like there was any hope or escape.

0:54 USS Cygnus from "The Black Hole" (1979) 2:18 Elysium from "Pandorum" (2009) 4:10 Event Horizon from "Event Horizon" (1997) 6:26 UCSS Nostromo from "Alien" (1979) 7:35 Collector Vessel from "Mass Effect 2" Game (2010) -Honourable Mention. 8:10 USG Ishimura from "Dead Space" Game (2008)

Have to add the Derelict from Alien with the Space Jockey, mummified in its chair. Also, the derelict ship graveyard from the Space:1999 episode ‘Dragon’s Domain’ is still terrifying, especially when you dock with one of the ships.

Surprised that the Borg Cube wasn't mentioned. The dark alien interior and the air of inherent menace add wonderfully to the effect of "wrongness" of the Borg and their Collective.

An honorable mention from my end: the Anubis from The Expanse. The introduction of the protomolecule, the creepy atmosphere, and edge-of-your-seat, slow-burn tension throughout the episodes it appeared in made it one of, if not the, creepiest ships I've seen in science fiction. Of course, having said that, I can't disagree with any of the choices you made. Happy Halloween, nerds! :)

Shadow ships from B5 and wraith hives from SGA

I would like to put forward the Sprianza from the Priests of Mars series. There are plenty of haunted ship contenders in that series, but given that the ark mechanicus is ostensibly the hero ship and it is basically a giant AI, it gets pretty spooky at times between the unexplored corridors lower down the radiation zones, the Surprise murder robots and at least one eldar boarding party. It's pretty spooky

Something else that makes the Collector ship scary is the sound. If you turn the music down, you can hear the ambient noise of the ship. EDI has just told you that everything is powered down and there are no life signs. Why do I hear screaming every so often? Adds to the haunted house atmosphere.

Nostromo was a spooky ship even without the alien on the prowl. It has such a claustrophobic feel to it.

So happy to see the Cygnus on here. I adore that ship. I think the only time it's really *spooky* is when they're circling around it with the spotlight for quite a long time, and then suddenly it lights up, and it's just gorgeous. But when we get inside, 'spooky' is replaced by 'unease,' which they manage to maintain right up until the third act. It's just *vast* and so empty and yet well lit that it's a little overwhelming, while still reminiscent of a gothic cathederal, and I'm always a sucker for a scary movie that tries not to cheat by turning the lights off. Much as you mentioned the clean bits of the Nostromo are necessary for making the dingy rest of it scarier, likewise, Dr. Reinhardt's own quarters are much smaller, with human dimensions, and warm touches like wood paneling and oil paintings and so on, in opposition to the big, empty, spooky techno-gothic church outside with zombie monks wandering around. For me, the best part is the shot of the captain finding the crew's quarters, which are all identical, all lack doors, like a monk's cell, all have closets full of uniforms and pictures of families and stuff, and they just stretch on forever.

The Black Hole: the only Disney movie to give me nightmares as a kid.

More honorable mentions: The alien spaceship(s) found on LV-426 in Ridley Scott's movies Alien (1979) and Prometheus (2012), and the alien (vampire) spaceship in Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce (1985).

The engineer ships in Alien and Prometheus are even spookier. Giant alien ships filled with mystery and of creepy alien design.

I would suggest an honorable mention: The SDF1 from Robotech when the Terrans were first examining it. Dark, giant corridors and hatchways, an attack by a giant automoton, a 60 foot humanoid skeleton, one member being disected by the ship's active technology and the time dilation.

The collector ship from Mass Effect 2 is the spookiest for me, and a big part of that is the eerie music when you first enter the ship.

A possible honorable mention is the Ultra probe from the season one episode of "Space:1999", "Dragon's Domain"; although, it is spooky for the alien that invades it, not for the ship, itself.

Those Mass Effect ships you mentioned ALWAYS give me the heebie-jeebies even though I know whats going to happen. The look, the music, it all makes it so damn atmospheric.

The alien ship from the Space:1999 episode 'Dragon's Domain' scared the hell out me as a kid. It's literally floating in a space graveyard with dozens of other ships...the nightmare on board is terrifying.

the Elysium reminds a lot of the Laconian ships from The Expanse books with its eerie mixture of natural and man-made elements. It looks more like it was grown rather than built

Honorable mention from me. The Von Braun and UNN Rickenbacker from System Shock 2. Most scary thing for me was that allot of ppl said something like " i am sorry" before shot and scary friendly droid helpers....

Shadow ships from Babylon 5.

Always got creeped out by the truth and reconciliation. It was unsettling the first time you fight through it then downright terrifying the second time through

IMO, Veger (Voyager 6) From Star Trek's first major motion picture. It has all the look and makings of an on coming storm including lightning flashing somewhere within. It began as a simple exploration ship that vanished in 'what was' called a black hole. It returned as a sentient juggernaut determined to return all the data it had obtained to the 'creator' who had died centuries before.

An excellent list, but it should have been longer. I would also suggest the Borg Cube from Star Trek, Shadow vessels from Babylon 5. Wraith hive ships from SGA, the Engineer ship from Prometheus and the Mona Lisa from Halo.

By the God-Emperor Event Horizon IS a prequel to 40K and there's nothing anyone can say to change my mind.

My Expanse addiction is obligating me to mention the first time we see the Laconian ships in Persepolis Rising. The consistent mention of organic looking asymmetry and bonelike structure and the tone of total defeat felt by the roci crew and the reader made me go, wow, this is a bit of a horror story. The ships lose that feel in later books, but I really enjoyed the sense of terror for that book.

I think something that should've been touched on for the Event Horizon is the fact that drive and chamber itself also evokes the image of the true appearance of "angels" with strange halos and multiple sets of eyes. Truly unsettling when added to the chapel feel of the crew section.

Borg Cubes and Wraith Cruisers from SG Atlantis were pretty unnerving. That ME mission made me crap myself the first time I played it lol. Every corner you turned you expected a jumpscare. Phenomenal mission design.

My favorite is the Homeworld Cataclysm Beast. That whole game was nuts off the scale fun and spooky for an RTS game.

The Nostromo from 1979 movie Alien is my favorite. It's dark and shadowy even before things get bloody. With stuff dripping and things dangling, clanking, and hissing all on its own.

I feel that an Honorable Mention would go to the RAS Prosecutor from Star Wars: Republic Commando. In that game, the mission of the four veteran Clone Commandos of Delta Squad is to investigate the fate of this Republic Assault Ship that had been lost for two weeks and had been discovered so far away from its original mission. As the Deltas investigate, they find butchered and slaughtered clone troopers, heavy damage all over the ship, and inevitably the unsettling revelation of a Trandoshan/Separatist Alliance.

Not nearly spooky enough for this list but the initial stages onboard the ISA Cassandra from Killzone: Shadow Fall kept me on edge a lot more than I expected. Something about the ship’s atmosphere, the biohazard warnings and piles of corpses killed by the bioweapon, the darkness. I half expected a necromorph to pop out at me which kept making me more nervous when it never did.

I was just about to start watching a review for The Sojourn V1 after listening to V3 and then I get a notification for this... You're not spying on me now, are you Spacedock? I love the Sojourn btw, I only hate that I had to wait so long for V3 and now I have to wait again for V4.

Homeworld: Cataclysm video game. The Beast was a bio-mechanical virus that would dissolve and reduce the crew to gore. On the sides of the ship, you could see the red from the remains. Vessels would be able to talk using those same remains to speak to other ships (essentially zombie ships that would go after you). Plus it could easily spread using various means, giving the sense of death as they try to close in on you.

Thank dude, the Cygnus is awesome, we should have more ships that are just large and open, most ships in scifi look like a small room inside

Let's not forget the time ship in Sphere but only one ship I know of screams. That is the Shadows ships that literally look like a spider from hell.

From Star Trek ENT: The Seleya & Vaankara From Farscape: The Zelbinion

Id like to nominate the Nostalgia for Infinity from the book Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds. There is something really creepy about a ship that is infected by some unknown contagion which is slowly melding its captain and ship together, turning the ship biological. IIRC there are spaces in that ship filled with bodily fluids and organs.

i thought the wraith hive ships from stargate atlantis knowing what happens in those hive always added a sense of horror to it for me,

The Prosecutor from Republic Commandos. The first part of that mission scared me a lot as a kid.

I'd say the Derelict from Alien is even _more_ creepy than the Nostromo, because to quote Cat: _What is it?_ Everything about it gives me the creeps, from the dank, ribcage-like structure to the surrealness of the pilot's seat itself. It's like he's... _Biologically fused_ to the control interface?? Now _that_ is a ship I can call alien.

Any Space Hulk from 40k.

Anyone remember the Guild Heighliner from Lynch‘s Dune? Sure, we didn’t get to see much of it during the movie, but a massive black, shimmering tube with a gate for the smaller ships that looks like a deep black pit, framed with golden ornaments. And especially the area where the navigators ‘work’ …

You know, weirdly, I'd pitch some of the locations from Red Dwarf as good horror locale's, including Big Red herself. When that show decides it wants to dip into horror, it has the same industrial, grimey vibe as the top ships here. Shoutout to the Prison Complex where they are being chased around by the Agonoid/Simulant in "Justice", though, got great atmosphere during the actual chase.

The RAS Prosecutor level in Republic Commando is a favorite spooky ship of mine. The game creators did an excellent job spookifying the ship not only through the usual dark, abandoned aesthetic but also seperating you from your squad shortly after you really started working well together. It raised the stakes as you could no longer get revived adding to the fear.

The Borg don’t get a mention? Every time you see their utilitarian geometric constructs on screen, they’re terrifying. This is especially true in the 2-parter Scorpion. When they first discover the vessel where the Borg have been dismembered and used as building blocks by the Undine. The inside of a Borg cube is terrifying at the best of times, but this was on another level.

We need to have an Event Horizon video, but about the ship itself.

A friend watched Event Horizon while sick. Had a 105° temp, started hallucinating that he was in the walls of the ship. He's still screams in his sleep sometimes.

I think the Von Braun from System Shock 2 is up there too. Between the isolation, the mutated crew, and... something else (not to spoil), it's a pretty creepy setting.

So glad the Cygnus made it in. That's been a favorite film of mine for 30 years now. It's slow and it has problems but it has an atmosphere to it that not many films can achieve. It's oppressive. Gothic. And yeah, the Event Horizon is an absolutely gorgeous looking ship that manages to also look extremely unfriendly in every way possible. With the corridors above engineering being shaped like the outline of a coffin even.

I feel convinced that if consideration was given to ships that arent filmed inside of and dont have "crew spaces" to explore that the shadow battlecrab would be number 1, or possibly even the shadow deathcloud planet killer. Living ships, pure black, they scream telepathically through space, they fade in and out of normal space in a shimmer, the battlecrabs are "carriers" in that they shoot a spiky ball at you which spawns dozens of fighter craft. Add into that the creepy modified telepaths they stick inside the heart of each battlecrab.

I have some honorable mentions. One of the freakiest of ships for me was a ship from the WarHammer 40,000 Universe, I can't remember the name of it but is was Human ship with an entire complement of space Marines and crew aboard her when she disappeared into the warp and didn't show up again until several hundred years later, old rusted and although still ornate with its neo gothic style as all human WarHammer warships are; she was totally corrupted by the warp and the forces of darkness and it showed not only on the outside but definitely on the inside, and the overall effect is outright spine chilling, the other ship (okay, not just one ship, but a group of ships) I want to mention are the Reaver ships from the movie Serenity. The way those reavers "decorate" their ships, with the uneaten remains of their victims, and knowing just how manically violent and insane their occupants are fills you with a sense of panic and a visceral, instinct driven need to flee makes those ships perhaps the scariest of all. they are much different than the ships you're talking about, which are creepy but appear to be regular ships and only after you board them do you discover you're in for some serious pain and fear, but the Reaver ships inspire that fear and uncontrollable need to flee just by showing up, because it is already known what is inside of them and their reputation precedes them. that is all. Oh BTW I liked your choices very much and I think I have to agree with your choices too, excepting the two more that I mentioned, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the Warhammer ship, I want to say that it was in the game with Inquisitor Eisenhorn in it, but I cannot remember correctly if it truly is or if it's from another game.

i think the Wraith Ships from Stargate are pretty spookie aswell!

My honorable mention: the GFS Valhalla from Metroid Prime 3. A ship that was raided, torn in two, having its Aurora Unit removed by force. (Theres even a secret final message from the AU thats pretty amonous) Troops and space pirate corpses strung about, and disintegrate when touched. And that music...both versions are terrifying, especially as a 12 year old playing it for the first time. Underrated ship, and that goes for metroid as a whole. The entire series was based off ridley scotts Alien, with several nods to the film. Would love to see some metroid representation on spacedock.

I'd add The Probe from Star Trek 4. It literally shuts down any craft approaching it without a shot fired, can alter an entire planets weather pattern, and for the most part no one actually knows what to do but hunker down and hope a time travel hail mary works.

Dead Space really nailed the spookiness vibe, for me. When I first played it I even had a piece of sweetcorn pop from my bum. I'd got shorts on as it was a hot summer day, so I left the piece of sweetcorn on the chair. As I went home I pointed to my chair and said "I'll leave that. I don't want it". My mate looked at it, frowned, and asked what it was. I pointed at my bum as I left the room and said "it came out of there. You can have it. If you don't want it, throw it away, I won't mind". Just then his dog, Keith, a tiny chihuahua, walked up to the chair and ate the piece of vegetable, looking gratefully at me as he enjoyed the small morsel of food. My mate frowned at me as I said "see? He gets it!" That was a good day. Thanks for the reminiscence.

I feel like Farscape's Rovhu is worth a mention. A ship transporting the criminally insane with a cannibal that breaks free and clones everybody. Of course, once someone's been cloned a few times, mental degradation becomes a factor and they become cannibals themselves. The Pilot on the ship has its arms eaten over and over again as they grow back.

The Event Horizon is clearly the prequel to Warhammer 40K. They are at the stage where the warp drive has been discovered, but not the Geller Field....thats scary. The design features you pointed out (Vaulted ceilings, wall sconces and gothic arches) are well done....you can see how they could develop over time into the features common in 40K. I' add (as others have) the Shadow ships from B5, and totally agree with the Ishimura in Deep space 2. Great vid.

Pandorum was SUCH a good movie. I feel it's unfairly underrated.

This makes me wish we got that canceled Yuuzahn Vong arc in the Clone Wars.

The Shivan Sathanas from Freespace 2 had the most terrifying presence I've ever saw in a spaceship. It has a vibe of a gigantic spider reaching out for its prey with its 4 forward spikes, and the Reaper-like scale and numbers. But the most terrifying thing about it was the fact that the Shivans had an incomprehensible, mysterious, and terrifying objective that you were only a small obstacle on the way towards. All you could do was to run, burning bridges behind you and praying that that nightmarish armada had no way to follow you.

How can the Shadow ship not be on this list? "It was jet-black. A shade of black so deep, your eye just kind of slides off it. And it shimmered when you looked at it. A spider, big as death and twice as ugly. When it flies past, it's like you hear a scream in your mind." Warren Keffer

1. Any Reaver ship from FIREFLY 2. The Borg ship from Star Trek Voyager: Scorpion part 1

In a Star Trek The Next Generation movie, Cpt. Picard enters a borg ship alone, that was one of the most unnerving and scary segments I’ve had to watch for a space ship setting, the borg are former people who have been captured and turned into cyborgs, they have eccentric behavior because they think almost like computers or a hive mind. Picard is able to avoid attracting attention as he walks past them but you never know when they’ll see him as a threat and attack. Very unnerving, the atmosphere of the ship matches the terrifying look of the borg.

I've been playing Outer wilds echoes of the eye and the stranger and the mystery surrounding it is absolutely very spooky.

RAS Arrestor from Clone Commando's still gives me the heebie jeebies in the early parts of that act. The random droid attacks and the hints of Trandoshans around combined with the 'someone's watching you' atmosphere.

I'll give you another one. The Groomlake, from the Stasis videogame. Dark, moody and full of spooky moments.

I'd definitely put the Wraith-Ships from Stargate Atlantis on the list

5:56 WE'RE LEAVING ! When I watched this movie all those years ago I burst out laughing when Laurence Fishburne said that line.

Event Horizon is one of the few horror movies that actually scared me.

The ship from: Space Pirate Captain Harlock should have had an honorable mention, it's terrifying in its universe.

The Mona Lisa from Halo Evolutions continues to live with me as best spooky ship

Dude thank you for giving me some love to classic sci fi from when I was a kid AKA The Black hole.

I'd say Tarak Nor from DS9, but that was technically a station, and it was only unsettling when Garak got high on murder juice. Mayhaps, the Leviathan from Destiny 2? The thing was infected by space fungus that can grow inside people, is now controlled by said fungus which is metaphysically linked to the space tetrahedron of doom, as well as the ships master. Not to mention the personally tailored projections of Trauma and internal woes that manifest as phantoms that follow you around and torture you.

The Cylon basestars from the early 2000s reboot of BSG would be my pick for this list, since I know people have already suggested the Borg ships and the TARDIS, which both admittedly have their merits where one is like a giant factory and the other is an endless maze.

The derelict Federation Frigate from Metroid Prime 3!!! Most of the of the games have creepy, derelict vessels to explore. I know Metroid isn’t “horror” but it definitely spooked me on many occasion when I was younger.

Cannot agree more, the Ishimura the first time was scary enough. But walking through it the second time in dead space 2 was so terrifying and satisfying at the same time.

perfect halloween geek theme I love it thanks for making this.

I liked the idea that Event Horizon is in the same universe as Hellraiser.

Wraith hiveship stargate atlantis

UNN Von Braun from System Shock 2 is hands down the spookiest ship ever, getting from there to the Rickenbacker (another spooky ship) is actually a relief.

the reaver ship from firefly (show) i havent seen the movie yet im on it) is at the top of my list, just the silence as it passes the bridge of the serenity so eerie i love it! you dont get to see the inside but they do board a derelict ship later so u can imagine how the inside must feel. and just the mystery and stories told about them you cant even tell if they're real or just a ghost story the set up is amazing and the pay off is worth it!! i think!!

I seriously didn't realise that the large room on board the Nostromo we see in the Alien movie is one of the huge landing struts. I can clearly remember previously watching this movie and thinking 'volume is a premium on a spaceship and yet this room is huge and what is that big tall thing in the middle?'. Now I know and it makes perfect sense!

When I read the title of the video, the U.S.S. Cygnus immediately jumped into my head. Fantastic list, I whole heartedly agree with your entire list. Although it's not a spaceship, I also like Hadley's Hope and the Atmosphere Processor from Aliens. Unlike the Cygnus, you wouldn't want to go on the other ships. "I wanna go home now."

Event Horizon is a criminally underrated sci-fi horror film.

A great list, I'd almost forgotten Event Horizon. Lots of people mention the B5 Shadow ships and for good reason, but to me the 'sleeper ship' USS Copernicus was WAY spookier, the thought of a shadow soldier quietly munching on the sleeping occupants as the ship slides through the universe towards Za'ha'dum gave me a shiver. Even the "this is the Copernicus" automated message sounded haunting. To me at least.

I agree with the first choice. I have yet to encounter a ship with a similar feel. It was supernatural horror meet sci-fi, and the fact that you can't run away until you exterminate every monster.

Hmmm. Good choices. Mine would've included the crashed spaceship from Aliens (designed by Giger) and possibly the shadow vessels from Babylon 5.