Thursday, October 11, 2018

The Ritual


The Ritual is a 2011 award-winning horror novel by Adam Nevill. When I finished it, which didn't take long because I couldn't put it down, my first thought was that it should be adapted for film, and here it is. This is a good, solid horror story, with those ill-equipped young men lost in the primeval Scandinavian forest.

from the back of the book:
When four old university friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect with one another. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise. With limited experience between them, a shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives.

Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, Luke figures things couldn't possibly get any worse. But then they stumble across a derelict building. Ancient artifacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the dry floors. The residue of old rites and pagan sacrifice for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. As the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation, they learn that death doesn't come easy among these ancient trees....
quotes that struck me:
Maybe for short periods of time it seemed to him, inside that stinking bed, that some people were exempt from tragedy and pain, but these respites were short; in the scheme of things and in the length of eternity, respites were nothing but anomalies in a relentless flow of despair and pain and sadness and horror that surely would eventually sweep everyone away.
*******
And so it all continued; it was dull in its predictability. Evil was, he decided, inevitable, relentless, and predictable. Imaginative,
he'd give it that much, but soulless.
*******

The Guardian opens a positive review by saying, "This novel grabs from the very first page, refuses to be laid aside, and carries the hapless reader, exhausted and wrung out, to the very last sentence."

If you're interested in other horror stories and weird tales I've read, please check out those posts here.

12 comments:

  1. I actually remember reading this book a few years ago. I didn't realize it was a horror story until I got into it awhile. Actually, it didn't strike me so much as horror, but sci-fi, even after the three friends were killed and gutted by the teens. The old lady was the one that got me, though, along with her goat people. Great choice for this month, dear.

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    1. It won some horror award, which was how I came across it. I've been looking for more horror reading to balance out the horror viewing. Those primeval woods can be horrifying!

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  2. I can hear Ma telling us we were forbidden to go into the woods because there were hobos. As many times as I played in the woods, I never saw a hobo or traces hobos had been around.

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    1. We do get the random homeless person sleeping in local woods, but they tend to be anxious not to be see. I'm told they're there but never see them. Now there's a horror story plot lol The People in the Woods *cue eerie music* ;)

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  3. I'll have to read this :)

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    1. I hope you like it. It made a big hit with me :)

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  4. The setting sounds fantastic for a good murder mystery. I'd like that better than horror. Hugs-Erika

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    1. It would make a good setting for one of the mystery/detective stories. There are some of those set in Scandinavia, and it works well.

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  5. Okay--found it on Netflix streaming and added it to my queue. ;)

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    1. Let me know if you like it. I've been curious, having liked the book so much :)

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  6. This sounds really good. I have it on Netflix, so can watch it when I have time. Thanks! Valerie

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    1. We don't have Netflix right now. The book was so good, and I'm looking forward to catching the film sometime.

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