Talk:A Diary in a Mine/@comment-2007196-20190711213656

Regarding the claim that the story is plagiarised from a Star Trek episode, there are two which this story reminds me of.

One is from The Original Series, The Devil in the Dark, which resembles this story superficially in that there is a mine, and the creature who lives in the mine secretes a substance that creates grooves on the walls. However, in the Star Trek episode, there is only one monster and it turns out to be benevolent in the end. The Star Trek Episode also has few or no horror elements but that may just be the campiness from its age. The ending of this story makes it unclear as to whether or not this story contains a monster at all, or if was a hallucination. The way the creatures are described in this story is also not consistent with the Star Trek episode.

The other story it calls to mind is an episode of Star Trek Enterprise, Strange New World, where one of the characters thinks that similar creatures are inhabiting a cave he's trapped in, thanks to hallucinogenic pollen, but there is no mine or miner in the episode. This episode tries to play up the horror a bit but doesn't do it very well. The creatures in that episode are described as humanoid and rock like, not like diamonds.

In both episodes, the plot is, in my opinion, highly different from this story with the exception of a monster, and a mine or cave. Of course, I don't remember every Star Trek episode, so if anyone can think of anything else, feel free to prove me wrong.

In The Devil in the Dark, fifty miners are dead, rather than a few going missing, so the mine's foreman enlists the help of the crew of the Enterprise, they go down into the mine, they wound the creature, and then Spock mind melds with it iirc. The find out it was just protecting its eggs and then at the end it gets along with the miners. There's no mention of any miners being trapped or communication with trapped miners, or having to tunnel in through a secondary shaft. There is no rescue operation because the missing miners are dead.

In Strange New World, there's not even a mine. They go to a planet that's apparently completely unihabited, get caught in a storm, and infected with hallucinogenic pollen. They take shelter in a cave. Tucker gets the worst symptoms and thinks that rock people are walking in and out of the walls of the cave, and becomes paranoid, believing that the Vulcan crew member is conspiring with them. Captain Archer has to talk him down by saying the rock people are aliens that only Vulcans can talk to, then the Dr. makes an antidote and they're beamed up to the ship after the storm ends.

All things considered, I don't think this is a plagiarization of a Star Trek episode. At best, the monster(s?) are inspired by it, if the story is trying to imply they ever existed at all.