The Ritual: Now A Major Film, The Most Thrilling Chiller You’ll Read This Year
£4.70
Winner of the August Derleth Award.
In Adam Nevill’s The Ritual, four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. No longer young men, they have little left in common and tensions rise as they struggle to connect. Frustrated and tired they take a shortcut that turns their hike into a nightmare that could cost them their lives.
Lost, hungry and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, they stumble across an isolated old house. Inside, they find the macabre remains of old rites and pagan sacrifices; ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. A place of dark ritual and home to a bestial presence that is still present in the ancient forest, and now they’re the prey.
As the four friends struggle toward salvation they discover that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees . . .
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Additional information
| Publisher | Main Market edition (6 May 2011), Pan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 4572 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 447 pages |
by Paul M. Feeney
Adam Nevill should be, by now, a name no serious aficionado of horror is unaware of. The author of – as of writing – seven highly acclaimed novels and is considered one of the best that British horror has to offer, and possibly internationally, too. However, I must admit that I have been woefully lax when it comes to his work. Though I have purchased every book he has had released thus far (and will most certainly continue to do so), I only managed to get around to reading his first, Banquet For The Damned, about a year or so ago. Since then – as is my way – I have decided to read his books in published order. Being a chronically slow reader, I’m only up to his third, The Ritual, but what a piece of work it is.
*Possible spoilers*
Though I very much enjoyed his first two novels (the second being Apartment 16), I felt that they represented two parts of a similar whole, concerning as they both did the spectres of past transgressions and dark secrets rearing their supernatural heads. Both these early novels were very much steeped in the traditions of M. R. James, Dickens, etc.; of a particular British approach to horror and supernatural fiction. And absolutely nothing wrong with that; they are very strong, well written literary horror books. But I feel with The Ritual that Nevill has made a huge leap forward in both his approach, his writing and his story-telling ability (which was already bloody great to start with).
Concerning a reunion of sorts between four college friends (who are all now in various stages approaching middle-aged), we are immediately dropped into the latter stages of their hike through Scandinavian woods – though woods is perhaps a little meagre to describe the wild, expansive forest these men find themselves in – as they find themselves lost, turning in circles and discovering dead animals hung from the trees. It’s a striking decision, to eschew the slow build-up of atmosphere and characterisation of most books of this type in favour of immediate peril, and in lesser hands, it might have come off as a confused mess as the reader tries to both figure out what the hell is going on and gets to know who these people are. But Nevill is far too good at this game, and he both manages to convey the tension of the situation and amongst the group well, whilst also giving us an insight into the characters and their various dynamics. Hutch is the seemingly typical adventurer type who initially appears calm and knowledgeable; Luke is the black sheep of the group, content to still live a student existence into his thirties, and also drawing the ire of the last two members of the group; Dom and Phil, relatively successful in life on the surface, but woefully unequipped – physically and mentally – to undertake a venture of this kind. As panic starts to manifest within the group, thinly buried jealousies and antagonisms come to the surface, resulting in physical confrontations that serve to shock and rattle the group dynamic further. As if all this isn’t enough, the four hapless explorers encounter first an abandoned cabin (I know, I know, but it’s done so well) with some rather creepy ornaments, decoration and stuffed animals inside, and then an old, desolate church which houses some grisly remains. On top of this, they guys become convinced someone – or something – is stalking them through the woods. This suspicion is eventually borne out as the members are picked off one by one in a series of terrifyingly realised set pieces.
Essentially a book of two halves, the first section deals with the men as they slowly succumb to both the creature harrying them and the harsh environment. And the descriptions of dehydration, weariness, injury and increasing desperation are palpable; the prose is tight and clear, and very accessible. My take on the beast that stalks them was that it was a further representation of the truly inhospitable parts of the world that still exist; those places where, divested of our creature comforts, we wouldn’t last long at all. It is a true man vs. nature narrative, and one where nature will always win regardless. nothing the men do gives them any victory or release; all they can do is try to run, but each step robs them of the strength to do so. Every injury is an insurmountable disadvantage. It’s depicted with such surety and immediacy that if this had been the book entire, I’d have still loved it. As it is, there is more…
The second section shows Luke, as sole survivor, whereby he is ‘rescued’ by the most unlikely group of people; a bunch of Norwegian black metal fans who play in their own primitive band and stay in another old cabin with a silent old woman who may or may not be a relative. What follows is a tense, often bizarre, psychological drama as the three members of the band slowly reveal their plans for Luke, and their – and his – connection to the creature that has inadvertently – or otherwise – delivered him to them. This section elevates the book to new heights and I loved it more; the use of black metal to illuminate the cruel, banality of evil (though I was sadly disappointed not to see mention of either Immortal or Enslaved…); the terrifying unpredictability of the three Norwegians; and the slow build up to an inevitable and horrific outcome. It really is a fantastic shift in narrative to the book, yet still retains that metaphor of nature as harsh, uncaring and casually cruel. Whilst the ending may not be as bleak as some might have liked (and I fully expected something along the lines of The Wicker Man), it still works, it still fits.
As for the novel being a refinement on what has gone before – and I’ve read this is what Adam strives to do with each piece – it certainly showcases far more concise and to the point prose. Whilst there were perhaps a couple of sentences or so that I felt could have done with trimming, I was otherwise caught up in the clear descriptions, and economic and reinforcing style. I certainly didn’t find the writing a confused, rambling mess as some of the more negative reviews claim to have. As most horror books rarely manage to properly scare me – and that’s not a negative, it just rarely happens, yet I can enjoy them on other levels – The Ritual actually offered me a number of scenes that had my skin crawling, my head spinning. It definitely felt that a new level was reached here from the previous two novels, and considering the commonly held opinion is that each Nevill book is better than its predecessor, I’m itching to jump into Last Days…
by The Thriller girls book club
We’ve literally just finished this book, and keep taking deep restorative breaths.
Here’s a little book description…
In Adam Nevill’s The Ritual, four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. No longer young men, they have little left in common and tensions rise as they struggle to connect. Frustrated and tired they take a shortcut that turns their hike into a nightmare that could cost them their lives.
Lost, hungry and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, they stumble across an isolated old house. Inside, they find the macabre remains of old rites and pagan sacrifices; ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. A place of dark ritual and home to a bestial presence that is still present in the ancient forest, and now they’re the prey.
As the four friends struggle toward salvation they discover that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees . . .
The Ritual is an absolutely astounding story, and has left us feeling wrung out, exhausted and thoroughly satiated by what was an epic story of survival against ancient evil forces in an hostile, Scandinavian wasteland. Neville literary skills ensured that we felt the same hunted, terrorised emotions of the four friends – with clear, tight prose he enables us to experience the despair, the pain, the abject terror and palpable fear of being lost, and hunted. Weakened by injury, tired, hungry and vulnerable prey to a primal predator they can’t comprehend. You are transported to the damp, low light of the forest, you can literally smell the moss and the moist earth, feel the cold mist- and rarely has a book taken us there so, so authentically.
It’s almost left us speechless- but not quite!
The Ritual is reminiscent of the Blair witch project- that age old cliche of a group of friends lost in the woods ( one that the thriller girls love and return to again and again ) is made all the more horrifying! This book feels like, a tale of two halves, the first is eerie and intense, the second becomes more horror filled and filled with urgency, as it reaches a cinematic climax that left us breathless. We had to keep putting the book down to take a breath, this is not light reading and not for the faint hearted! Several scenes left our skin crawling and the hairs on the back of our necks rising.. The holy grail of a good horror!
If you’re looking for a read that’s genuinely scary and that will disturb as well as entertain you, you’ve found the book.This is a modern horror that delivers, well written and exceptionally eerie, Nevill crafts a terrifying atmosphere that literally grabs you with urgency and will not let you rest … there’s no slow build, no setting the scene we as the reader are catapulted straight into a sense of peril, of impending doom, which we really liked.
For so, so many reasons this books going to haunt us for a VERY long time! It provides all a horror / thriller seeker could ask for in abundance… It’s powerful, disturbing and Macabre and extraordinarily exceptional. WE LOVED IT! Can you tell??
It’s an unforgettable read that we can’t recommend enough.
We just can’t help but ask why its taken us this long to discover such a talented writer?? We will be looking forward to catching up on his vast back catalog now ( as he boasts several exciting titles with promising premises that sound like perfect reads for us ) we’ve heard he should be celebrated as a horror aficionado and we can see why, he has serious talent!
We are also looking forward to watching the movie version of the book to compare and contrast as it looks like it involves a strong cast and will be interesting to see if they captured the atmosphere as successfully as the book.
So to sum up this was our perfect read with strong elements of thriller, survival and horror, it’s pacy, descriptive and boasts a great storyline that keeps you engaged from start to finish! It’s very easy to award this 5 stars⭐️… Grab this amazing, gritty book and we bet you won’t be able to put it down!!
by RhiannonsWheel
Starts off as a well-written but fairly standard ‘lost in the woods with monster’ story. Then halfway through…there is a twist which brings in a very original set of new horrific characters. Gripping.