In part one of this 2-part series, we looked at some aliens from Star Trek's original series that haunted my dreams as a kid. My parents were both fans of the show and would watch the episodes in syndication on the weekends, leaving a parade of aliens to march through my mind while I slept. From creepy salt suckers to intense god-beings, here are 3 more freaky Star Trek aliens that are hard to forget!
1. The salt-sucker from "Man Trap" (S1E05)
The Enterprise delivers supplies to planet M-113, which is inhabited only by Dr. Crater and his wife, Nancy. They have spent the past five years mapping and exploring some archaeological ruins on the planet. McCoy, who is Nancy Crater's old flame, is amazed that Nancy is unchanged and still as beautiful as she was 12 years ago when he last saw her. Kirk sees her as a slightly aged woman and not the young beauty McCoy sees, because in truth, Nancy is a shape-shifting salt sucker!
This thing appears to be part leech, part demon, and part decayed lizard. Its shape-shifting ability allows it to take on the form of someone pleasing to lure its prey in. Dr. Crater reveals that the creature killed his real wife for her salt, and it is the last of its kind. While it's unfortunate the thing has to die, it also had the creep level of the last wasp in the nest!
2. Apollo from "Who Mourns for Adonias?" (S2E04)
When a giant green hand floats out from space and holds the Enterprise in place, that's enough to give any 8-year-old the heebie jeebies! In this creepy episode, the crew finds itself the unwilling guests of a being who claims to be the Greek god, Apollo. While Michael Forest made a fine Apollo, his intensity comes off a bit creepy at times, especially when he tries to woo Lieutenant Palamas, the ship's anthropology and archeological specialist.
It wasn't just the weird green hand that gave me the willies. Imagine being a kid who was terrified of stories like Jack and the Beanstalk because of the giant and his horrifying threats, then watching this man grow to huge proportions right in front of the landing party! Fee, fi, fo, fum indeed!
3. Redjac from "Wolf In the Fold" (S2E14)
The creeps I got from this episode as a kid! It wasn't the swirling light that was supposed to represent the spirit of Redjac that was frightening; it was the weird, shrieking voice it spoke in after leaving its host, the unfortunate Mr. Hengist. Creepy and off-putting, I never quite forgot those disembodied threats! Of course, I wouldn't learn about Jack the Ripper until my teens, which gave a rewatch a whole new layer of anxiety!
It's interesting that while Star Trek scared me as a kid, it came to mean so much to me as an adult. The nostalgia for that thrill is a powerful thing, and few shows could crank up the creepy dial the way the original series did.