8.6 /10 1 Votes
9.8/10 Fantasy Book Review Media type Print, e-book Preceded by Apartment 16 Originally published 2011 Genre Horror ISBN 0330514970 | 3.6/5 Goodreads Language English Pages 432 pages Followed by Last Days Award August Derleth Award Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Awards August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel Similar Adam Nevill books, Horror books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Ritual is a 2011 British horror novel by Adam Nevill. The book was first released in the United Kingdom on 7 October 2011 through Pan Macmillan and was released in the United States on 14 February 2012 through Macmillan imprint St. Martin's Griffin. It is Nevill's third published novel and was followed by his 2012 work Last Days. The Ritual is the winner of the 2012 August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel. Film rights were optioned by Stillking Films, before the option was passed to Imaginarium, who currently holds the film and TV rights.
Contents
Plot
Old college friends Dom, Phil, Luke, and Hutch have decided to reunite and reminisce about their past exploits while hiking through the Swedish Forests. The location wasn't the first choice some of the men would have chosen due to their limited or non-existent outdoors experience, but the trip was chosen for its frugality due to the fact that one member, Luke, would be unable to afford much else. As the group goes further and further into the woods, they are forced to take a shortcut due to Phil developing severe blisters on his feet and Dom badly injuring his knee. However the shortcut ends up causing the group to become hopelessly lost and scared, especially after they discover a disemboweled animal corpse hanging from the trees. They eventually make their way to an ancient shack filled with bones and strange artifacts, where they discover that they are not alone in the woods and that something is intent on ensuring that they never leave.
Reception
Critical reception for The Ritual has been mostly positive. The South African paper Independent Online praised the work as "intense and creepy" and commented that it would work well as a horror film. HorrorNews.net also praised The Ritual, commenting "Nevill's writing style is top-notch and he is one of those guys who can just naturally tell a good story with little to no effort." Tor.com commented that "Nevill does a good job exploiting the isolation, dreariness, and enormous age of the Swedish forest setting", but also expressed a desire that the "most intriguing ideas [were] more thoroughly explored".