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The Ritual

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 853 ratings · 234 reviews

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 the

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Paperback, 418 pages

Published May 1st 2011 by Pan Publishing (first published January 1st 2011)

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Mar 24, 2012 Trudi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: group-in-peril, survive-this, man-vs-nature, horror, 2012-reads, epic-creep

Wow. This one came soooo very close to getting five stars from me. I am a horror buff and I LOVE to be scared ...really, truly freaked out. Not grossed out (I'll take a bit of that in good fun) but creeped out. My ideal physiological response to horror is when I get the heebie-jeebies (pardon my use of technical terms here) -- you know, the tingling spine, sweaty palms, paranoia, pounding pulse. I'm addicted to dread, and if you can make me want to sleep with the light on I will love you forever...more
Wow. This one came soooo very close to getting five stars from me. I am a horror buff and I LOVE to be scared ...really, truly freaked out. Not grossed out (I'll take a bit of that in good fun) but creeped out. My ideal physiological response to horror is when I get the heebie-jeebies (pardon my use of technical terms here) -- you know, the tingling spine, sweaty palms, paranoia, pounding pulse. I'm addicted to dread, and if you can make me want to sleep with the light on I will love you forever and ever.

I’ve pretty much seen it all when it comes to the genre; sometimes suffering from “been there done that” fatigue. It takes a lot to freak me out these days, but that’s not to say it’s impossible. Because it isn’t. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them. In fact, I want to. I won’t fight you. Give me something to work with and I’m your gal. I don’t want to say I’m easy, but pretty close ;-)

I didn't have any expectations when I picked up this book. In fact, I can't even remember where or how I heard about it. The premise caught my eye though, because I'm a sucker for "group in peril" scenarios and getting lost in the woods. I've been lost in the woods ... there's nothing scarier in my books. It doesn't take long to start feeling hunted. I mean, there could be anything out there. Anything.

The first 200 pages of this book are some of the creepiest I've read in a loooong time. There's this irresistible slow build that sucks you in to the primeval environment. As the situation worsens and becomes more threatening, Neville's tight descriptive prose has put you into the story so completely that the threat feels unbearably close. Read this camping or tucked away in a cabin somewhere remote and I guarantee you your blood will chill. I read it with all the lights on in the middle of a city and I still didn't want to look out my back window into the darkness. The thought of going camping again this summer is giving me serious heebie-jeebies.

The book shifts gears in Part II (240 pages in) and for awhile, I thought something was lost in the momentum and intensity. It starts to feel like a different novel altogether, about something else entirely. That feeling lasted for about 100 pages. Fortunately, the last 60 pages are an outstanding turnabout, an adrenaline rush that, while lacking in the epic creep from the first half of the novel, nevertheless delivers the goods on sheer terror. (less)

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Nov 04, 2012 Kirsten rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, from-library, horror-and-horror-ish

The first half of this book was genuinely terrifying -- it's as harrowing as "The Descent," and in very similar ways. Luke and his three friends meet to go hiking and camping together, but Phil and Dom's less-than-stellar physical condition forces Hutch, the leader of the group, to propose a shortcut through a section of national forest. This shortcut turns frightening very quickly: not only is the forest much more dense and difficult to navigate than anyone anticipated, but early on they discov...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Mitra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

I love horror movies but never really read horror books until now. This was a surprisingly fast read for me. I couldn't put it down because I kept wanting to find out what happened next.

I was in my warm bed when they were lost in a raining forest, cold, and hungry. Little things like that make me happy.

Anyway, the story is split into two parts. At first I thought it really could have ended after part 1, but part 2 still kept me staying...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Martin Belcher rated it 5 of 5 stars

First of all, I must say this is one of the most terrifying books I have ever read, the front cover write up describes it as being "horrifyingly scary" and it is not wrong!

This is my second Adam Nevill book, the first being Apartment 16 which was good, but The Ritual is by far streets ahead.
The story begins with four University friends reuniting in London and taking a hiking holiday to the remote artic forests of Northern Sweden, The friends Hutch, Luke, Dom and Phil all seem to have their own p...more

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May 14, 2013 Felicity rated it 4 of 5 stars

My first foray into Adam Nevill as an author, and I'm impressed.

I was captivated right from the opening pages, and read the first third of the book in one evening. The suspense builds slowly and terrifyingly, drawing you deeper in as the characters are drawn deeper into the dank forest. Lifelike description, and primal human terror kept me turning the pages.

I adore horror, but find it hard to be shaken up by stories and films that depict things that are paranormal and unreal, but I found it so...more

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May 08, 2013 Craig DiLouie rated it 5 of 5 stars

In THE RITUAL by Adam Nevill, Luke and three old friends from university, living in the UK, reunite for a wilderness hike in a remote region of Sweden and find themselves in trouble when their shortcut takes them into heavy wilderness. Lost and hungry and feeling alienated from his friends, who have since acquired wives, children and successful jobs while he has turned into something of a deadbeat, Luke believes things can’t get any worse. But something evil is in the woods. Something very old....more

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Mar 26, 2013 B.P. Gregory rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-law-of-awesome-unto-itself

Give me the short version: Four men choose the worst place ever to go hiking: a chunk of Swedish forest as old as the last ice age, where visceral ancient powers have never lost their hold.

I personally believe that the mind comes with its own raw, dangling uvula. A sort of racially shared Jungian psychic gag reflex.

While writers like Chuck Palahnuik delight in ramming their finger in to induce vomiting, The Ritual skillfully tickles. Just enough to turn reasonable, educated people into packs of...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

I'm hovering between two and three stars for this book. On the one hand, there wasn't anything truly exceptional about this story, and the best horror novels for me are the ones with substance. On the other hand, I do love a good lost-in-the-woods story, and I applaud Adam Nevill for sticking with the idea that the things that scare us most are the things that we can't quite see.

The main storyline follows a group of four old college friends, now entering middle age, who embark on a hiking trip...more I'm hovering between two and three stars for this book. On the one hand, there wasn't anything truly exceptional about this story, and the best horror novels for me are the ones with substance. On the other hand, I do love a good lost-in-the-woods story, and I applaud Adam Nevill for sticking with the idea that the things that scare us most are the things that we can't quite see.

The main storyline follows a group of four old college friends, now entering middle age, who embark on a hiking trip in the Scandinavian woods. For anyone who isn't aware by now, this is a horrifically bad idea. The four men get lost, discover a disemboweled animal in the trees, and realize that they are being stalked by an unseen, monstrous creature. And on top of all this, there is some deeply hidden anger between the men, who subconsciously resent each other for how their lives have turned out.

The first half of the book is a pretty typical survival story, as the men deal with injuries and dwindling supplies, and are picked off one by one by this mysterious creature. The second half involves one of the characters stumbling across a group of young, angry anarchists in the middle of the woods, who plan to sacrifice the surviving character to the creature.

The writing is less than stellar, and at first, I was afraid that it would ruin the story for me. This may not be a problem for all readers, but I like an author's writing to feel effortless and natural, whereas Nevill tends to fall back on vague descriptions, clunky sentences, and half-hearted characterization. The clunky writing was especially apparent in several bizarre chapters that were written entirely in the 2nd person. 9 times out of 10, narration written in the 2nd person is unnecessary and distracting, and this was one of those times.

However, the story itself actually stood up fairly well. The suspense was well-crafted, and I believed the anger and resentment that the men in the group felt towards each other. I was also pleased that the story took a more interesting turn halfway through, because the survival story wouldn't have been strong enough to carry the entire novel on its own.

Recommended for: horror fans who are looking for a good scare and who aren't particularly concerned with writing style. This is a straight-out horror novel, so it probably won't appeal to anyone who doesn't read within the genre.

Readalikes:

The Terror by Dan Simmons is set in a different location (the Arctic) and a different time period (19th century), but both stories portray a group of men struggling to survive against a mysterious flesh-eating monster. Both stories also offer characters with psychological depth.

The Ruins by Scott Smith features a group of college students stranded in the jungle of Central America, battling an unseen evil. Both stories also feature fairly high levels of violence and gore, so be warned!

Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi is a mystery wrapped in a ghost story, but the characterization is psychologically complex, and the horror is built on the unknown and the unseen.

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King also features a group of old friends who reunite for a camping trip, and who must confront an unexpected terror. In Dreamcatcher, however, the terror comes from an alien invasion, as opposed to a monster in the woods.(less)

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Feb 23, 2013 James Cohen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the book. It had some genuinely creepy moments in it, and it definitely did a good job with building suspense. I particularly liked how the characters were developed in the first half of the book because their development made me care a little more about what would happen to them. I would have actually enjoyed more dialogue between them though. There were certain things that were revealed about the men that I thought should have had a larger impact on the novel.

The first half of the no...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Tressa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, horror

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 31, 2012 Esme rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror-fantasy-scifi

Vier Mitdreißiger aus Großbritannien, die seit Studienzeiten miteinander befreundet sind, machen eine Wanderung in Schweden. Um den Weg abzukürzen, gehen sie durch einen Wald, was sich als schwerer Fehler erweist. Nach kurzer Zeit haben sie sich hoffnungslos verlaufen und werden von einer mordgierigen Kreatur gejagt.

Adam Nevill fackelt nicht lange in seinem Roman The Ritual (Im tiefen Wald). Gleich auf der ersten Seite werden die Wanderer mit einem ausgeweideten, in einem Baum aufgehängten Tier...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Koreander rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Adam Nevill es un gran escritor. Muy bueno. Por desgracia eso no significa que todas sus obras sean también grandes novelas. ‘El ritual‘ no es un gran libro. Tampoco es malo. Entretiene, y mucho. Asusta, algo muy difícil de conseguir hoy día mediante la literatura. Atrapa al lector, sobre todo durante la primera mitad… En definitiva, tiene todo lo que se le puede pedir a una novela de terror. Sin embargo, no va más allá, y es una pena, porque Adam Nevill tiene todos los instrumentos para escribi...more Adam Nevill es un gran escritor. Muy bueno. Por desgracia eso no significa que todas sus obras sean también grandes novelas. ‘El ritual‘ no es un gran libro. Tampoco es malo. Entretiene, y mucho. Asusta, algo muy difícil de conseguir hoy día mediante la literatura. Atrapa al lector, sobre todo durante la primera mitad… En definitiva, tiene todo lo que se le puede pedir a una novela de terror. Sin embargo, no va más allá, y es una pena, porque Adam Nevill tiene todos los instrumentos para escribir un gran libro de terror.

‘El ritual‘ cuenta la historia de cuatro londinenses y compañeros de la universidad que se reencuentran 15 años después de completar la carrera para volver a estrechar lazos. Lo hacen aprovechando una excursión por los bosques salvajes escandinavos. La cosa no marcha demasiado bien, ya que todo lo que parecía unirles en su época juvenil a desaparecido ahora que tres de los cuatro amigos se han casado. Dos de ellos (Dom y Phill) tienen hijos, problemas financieros y también conyugales. Todo ello les hace sentir una especie de apatía hacia el cuarto en discordia, Luke. Él es el único todavía soltero. Tras fracasar su aventura empresarial -montó una tienda de discos que no funcionó- se ha visto abocado a una especie de miseria económica que compensa manteniendo relaciones con numerosas mujeres. Por suerte, en medio está Hutch, el último en contraer nupcias y a medio camino entre ambos estilos de vida. Él será el nexo de unión para el grupo, y también el cabecilla del mismo. Por eso cuando propone un atajo en su ruta para atravesar una región inexplorada, lo que recortará en un día la excursión, a todos les parece bien.

Por desgracia el atajo les llevará a lo profundo de un bosque acenstral donde los antiguos ritos aún perduran. Perdidos y fatigados, los cuatro amigos llegan hasta una cabaña abandonada con las paredes cubiertas por restos de animales, y algo más… Allí pasarán la noche y padecerán unos extraños sueños, que alterará su concepto sobre lo que es real y lo que no. Desde entonces el objetivo de los cuatro compañeros será sobrevivir a toda costa, aunque no lo tendrán fácil.

Ésta es sólo la primera mitad de la novela. El libro se divide en dos partes, y la segunda, aunque mantiene el hilo argumental, supone un giro radical a la historia y un brutal cambio de ritmo. De pronto Nevill introduce nuevos personajes y cambia las reglas del juego. Es como si el clímax de la historia se alcanzara en la página 200, para después no volver al mismo punto álgido hasta la 400. Eso entorpece la lectura, y más que un giro necesario de la trama parece hecho para alargar la obra hasta las 400 páginas de rigor que exigen los editores.

El problema puede ser precisamente ese, que a la historia le sobran páginas. La trama está bien construida, y en

El escritor británico Adam Nevill, autor de otra obra traducida al español: ‘Apartamento 16′
muchos momentos no da tregua al lector. No obstante, en otros capítulos Nevill alarga innecesariamente el discurso del relato con interminables pensamientos fuera de lugar en una serie de ciclos que se repiten una y otra vez. El protagonista pasa de sentirse un fracasado y desear la muerte, a otros momentos en los que se aferra a la vida y quiere sobrevivir a toda costa, para después volver a pensar que ya nada merece la pena y querer dejarse llevar… y entonces otra vez vuelta a empezar. En el lado positivo, esto significa también que Nevill profundiza en los personajes y construye una historia de supervivencia y terror clásica, casi respetando las reglas de una películas de adolescentes, pero con personajes que no son para nada planos. En ese sentido recuerda, aunque no llega al nivel de suspense, del genial libro de terror de Scott Smith, ‘Las ruinas‘.

En el lado positivo, ‘El ritual‘ es una historia original, al menos si se compara con otras novedades editoriales del género de terror. Nevill usa trucos casi cinematográficos en su novela, como la de ‘no enseñar’ a aquello que persigue a sus personajes hasta llegar al ‘clímax’, y hace gala de un increíble talento para generar atmósfera y crear tensión entre sus personajes. Precisamente esa virtud, junto con un estilo narrativo muy depurado, hacen que se le pueda pedir más a un escritor que seguramente dará historias mejores. Hasta la fecha Nevill ya tiene publicado en castellano otra novela: ‘Apartamento 16‘, también en Minotauro, y otras dos obras en inglés tituladas ‘Banquet for the Damned’ y ‘Last Days’. Su página web es: www.adamlgnevill.com (less)

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Jun 01, 2012 Bryn Greenwood rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this a mixed bag. On the one hand, it had the compelling must-finish quality to it that I consider a must for horror novels. If a horror novel can't force you stay up past your bedtime alone in a dark house, it's not worth reading. In that sense, Nevill succeeds very well. In particular he amplifies the terror with some well-placed dream sequences that hint at horrors past and horrors to come.

I also felt that he did well at character development. In the first few chapters, it's a bit dif...more I found this a mixed bag. On the one hand, it had the compelling must-finish quality to it that I consider a must for horror novels. If a horror novel can't force you stay up past your bedtime alone in a dark house, it's not worth reading. In that sense, Nevill succeeds very well. In particular he amplifies the terror with some well-placed dream sequences that hint at horrors past and horrors to come.

I also felt that he did well at character development. In the first few chapters, it's a bit difficult to keep the four former college buddies distinguished, especially as they all sort into one of two types--fit and capable or fat and incompetent. Eventually, however, Nevill sets into describing the contours of their relationships and their places in the world and that he does well. When the friends are inevitably picked off one by one by some ancient monster, we care for them and for the impact their deaths leave on the remaining friends.

Among the elements that I felt were not quite as strong was Nevill's depiction of his monster. The caricature of it that the friends encounter early on in the book is in some ways more frightening that the monster as we discover it in real life. Of course, I confess that I may have been hampered by my excessive fondness for goat gods/monsters. I found that I kept imagining the diabolical monster as a slightly less cuddly Krampus. The other element is simply that I'm convinced nobody has created a monster more terrifying than the one in Alien. It's a tough order to fill.

Nevill also falls into a common trap for horror and suspense novelists. The thing that is supposed to really freak us out is held off, as Nevill waits to spring it on us. Sadly, I'd guessed what many of his spring-loaded traps were chapters and chapters before he springs them. Why, oh, why would the old woman have such loud footsteps on wooden floors? Gosh, I cannot think of -- oh, wait, yes, I can.

The thing that ultimately nagged at me as I finished the book was the plot hole that Neville points out himself--why can't the old woman rid herself of the metal band psychopaths without Luke's help--but never really closes or adequately explains. It just remains open, leaving me wishing that Nevill hadn't even pointed it out. After all, in the grips of a compelling horror novel, I don't waste a lot of time worrying about plot holes, why stick a flag in it?

That said, the book was a lot of fun to read. If you love a good, atmospheric scare, with an alarming monster and ancient cult waiting to pounce as soon as you wander off the main trail, definitely check this one out.(less)

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Mar 13, 2012 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Bri

Recommended to Lisa by: Tom

Shelves: 2012, 2012s-most-enjoyed

Pant-wettingly good.

Four old uni friends are having a reunion, trekking through Sweden. With two of the four slightly out of shape, a shortcut is proposed through some virgin forest that should pop them out where they want to be in no time at all...

Tramping through the bleak and forboding forest, tensions start to escalate as they start to go off track and the men struggle to remember why they were friends in the first place, ratcheting ever higher as the woods close around them and something pi...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Allisyn rated it 1 of 5 stars

I don't read much horror but I was excited for this book because I won it from one of the monthly giveaways for the Speculative Fiction Challenge. I read The Ritual in one sitting. The first half of the book was, for me, everything a horror story should be. It was suspenseful, chilling and scary. The unseen monster in the woods was made real enough that I wouldn't want to go hiking for a while. If you had asked me at that point I'd have said that I'd be sleeping with my light on that night.

Once...more

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Aug 25, 2011 G.R. Yeates rated it 5 of 5 stars

A fusion of old world mysticism and modern world malevolence & violence.

The Ritual introduces us to four old friends on a hiking holiday through the more remote borderlands of Sweden and Norway. They are becoming estranged as they realise that the different paths their lives have taken mean they are not as close as they once were. In this respect, their journey mirrors their fracturing relationships as they take the wrong paths, again and again, through an ancient, overgrown forest and confr...more

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May 22, 2011 Colin Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Adam Nevill's previous two books Banquet For The Damned and Apartment 16 have been excellent ghost stories, mixing the best traditional elements with modern settings to revamp the genre for the modern age. Now, with The Ritual, he takes us deep into nature and pagan rituals in a Scandinavian forest with another powerful supernatural tale.
We follow the misadventures of former university colleagues, Luke, Phil, Dom and Hutch as they make the biggest mistake of their lives. What is planned as a reu...more Adam Nevill's previous two books Banquet For The Damned and Apartment 16 have been excellent ghost stories, mixing the best traditional elements with modern settings to revamp the genre for the modern age. Now, with The Ritual, he takes us deep into nature and pagan rituals in a Scandinavian forest with another powerful supernatural tale.
We follow the misadventures of former university colleagues, Luke, Phil, Dom and Hutch as they make the biggest mistake of their lives. What is planned as a reunion trip to a "completely untampered with virgin forest", soon turns into chaos as a short cut takes them into an increasingly dangerous part of the woods. The group find evidence of strange rituals and pagan practices, but are completely lost and it's not long before they realise there are even greater threats in this wild forest.
This is a book of two halves, the first very much connected with the unseen threat of the supernatural and it's strong connections to the nature of the landscape. In the second half, the threat becomes visible bringing a different pace and very different feel to the story. At the heart of the book are the main characters who have drifted apart following university, the different cultures and lifestyles they have adopted are contentious issues within the group. Couple this with the supernatural threat and we watch as a group of 'normal' individuals are driven to the brink of madness and beyond.
Nevill evokes the atmosphere of the ancient forest wilderness brilliantly and the gradual revelation of the threat is nicely handled as the reader only knows as much as the main characters. The forest is adorned with pagan symbols and signs, "dark and sunken" buildings and increasing doom as the men find themselves unable to escape. Owing much to Blackwood's The Wendigo and The Willows but with modern nods to the likes of the Blair Witch Project this was the more succesfull half of the book for me.
The second section is much more about revelation on a rather limited stage as opposed to the vast wilderness of the first section. Here the story moves in a much more direct fashion introducing several new themes while expanding on the previous pagan threat. It's well written but for me lacks the atmosphere of the first section, it's much more modern in tone. It also feels slightly drawn out after the tight pacing of the first half.
It might not have been the intention to create a novel with such distinctive atmosphere in it's two parts, indeed it almost feels as if the two parts could have been written at different times, but overall this does not detract from what is an excellent horror novel. Once again, Adam Nevill has reached into the past for inspiration but has successfully created a thoroughly modern supernatural horror story. He respects the traditions of the genre without being constrained by them. His best book so far it combines the atmospheric qualities of Banquet For The Damned with the character driven drama of Apartment 16 to create a thoroughly enjoyable and delightfully creepy horror story.
Rating 4.5 out of 5

(less)

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Dec 26, 2012 Tanja Seppä rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, kindle

Rating 3.5 out of 5*. Four friends are hiking in the Scandinavian wilderness. One of them, Dom, has hurt his knee. Hutch, the leader of the group, convinces the rest to take a short cut through some virginial - as in ancient and left to itself - forest to save a day. By the time they are getting lost, they find the carcass of something unidentifiable strung up in a tree. Rather than trying to retrace their steps, they plunge on. It soon becomes obvious that something is hunting them. Something w...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Gerhard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

What compelled me to read this was that it won the British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel; Jo Walton's Among Others won for Best Fantasy Novel. I will definitely seek out and read Nevill's other work.

The Ritual goes to show that you can take any hoary old cliche -- in this instance, four disparate friends go hiking in a Swedish forest, only to get lost, whereafter they are hunted donwn by Some Unspeakable Evil -- and turn it into something transcendent. This book is like a Masterclass exerc...more

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May 19, 2012 Delaney rated it 3 of 5 stars

i won this book a while a go and i finally got around to reading it and thank god i did THIS BOOK IS SOOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING TERRIFYING! and usually thats a good thing for me but this book has changed my whole outlook on the word terrifying i couldnt pick this up at night and read it cause i was so scared i only read it during the day when it was light out side. even though i never gone hikingbefore its scary enough that I wouldn't want to go hiking.the story is split into two parts. At first I th...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Kealan Burke rated it 3 of 5 stars

An old-fashioned tale told in an old-fashioned voice, there is no denying the talent behind this book. An intriguing setup finds four college friends reunited for a trek through a dense forest in Norway. All goes well until their leader decides to take a shortcut through "virgin" territory, and soon they find themselves stalked by something monstrous and ancient. All the ingredients are here for an excellent horror novel, but while more than competently told, instances of long-windedness, repeti...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Ronya rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, thriller, religion-spirituality

The Ritual is a camping-trip-gone-wrong horror story ala Blair Witch Project and Deliverance, but fused with ancient Norse mythology. Four friends long past their London university days reunite in Sweden to hike into the forested borderlands, and find out that nowadays they really don't have much in common. The protagonist, Luke, feels especially alienated--but when they stumble across a house, a stone circle, and an ancient church, and something horrific begins stalking them in their nightmares...more

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Jul 14, 2012 David Jordan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book begins as a survival-in-the-wilderness thriller, which isn't normally something I'd read. However, Nevill, whom I had never heard of before seeing this book in the browsing section of my library, is a strong writer. I cared about the characters and wanted them to survive their camping trip. Even without the promises of seriously evil shit to come, I'd still read this through the end.

But this is a horror novel, not just a thriller in search of a film deal. Nevill manages to depict a be...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Lianne Burwell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, library

The Ritual reads like two seperate books, but both parts are equally creepy.

The first half of the book deals with a group of four men in their forties that once shared an apartment back in their twenties, met up again at the wedding of one, and decided to take a trip together, hiking and camping in the Norwegian woods. The only problem is, two of them are out of shape, and when the standard path is taking too long, Hutch (the driving force of the group) decides they should take a short-cut throu...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Mehmet rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes when I read a book the authors description seems to speak out to you, it seems to call out and shout and scream and say yes I understand or I have felt like that at some point in my life. Adam Nevill understands that horror is in essance a mind game, we are reading it witness the characters being frightened and hoping that we never have to feel or fear what they are suffering. The book is divided into two section, a hiking nightmare and a captive old world magic story. Its a story abou...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Owen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Yesterday I was reading this book and then I went over my neighbor's house and watched part of Paranormal Activity 3. But then we got bored and ate cake. Well, I didn't because I'm on a diet. When I got home, I was like "Wait. Am I going to have nightmares?"
No. I didn't. Because I got bored of this book too and neither this nor that movie would give me nightmares anyway so...

I thought I was going to be getting a creepy horror story set in the ancient, cold, dark Scandinavian forest. What I got i...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

A very good horror book set in one of the scariest settings I have read about– a dark ancient forest with gruesome secrets and a very disturbing atmosphere! Four old friends are in Sweden for a walking holiday, they end up taking a short cut which gets them lost in this nightmare of a forest - the worst mistake they could ever make! They stumble across a decapitated animal in a tree which sets off in motion a fast paced terrifying story. In parts the book genuinely scared me, the scene in partic...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Amanda Steinhoff rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-2012

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Jun 20, 2011 Helen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror-fiction

Imagine, if you can, that the Blair Witch project had actually been scary, and not just irritating teens with runny snotty noses randomly appearing in the dark, running, falling over, running again ... anyway, I digress. Nevill utilises the dark and primal iconography of pre-Christian religion to draw the reader absolutely into the bleak yet compelling landscapes of Swedish forests, where unnatural things lurk and stalk human prey. The atmospherics were superb, and I particularly enjoyed the Nor...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Shaxar rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

I just happened to trawl into this on accident, and it sounded interesting enough to earn an "Eh, sure, why not?" and for me to cart it home from the library. While it wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be, it still had some very good moments.

The ambience of the story was its strongest point. Nevill did a great job of presenting the eerie, almost claustrophobic feeling of the dense Scandanavian forest. Even sitting on the couch wrapped in a warm blanket, I could still feel the cold he describe...more

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About Adam Nevill

Adam L.G. Nevill was born in Birmingham, England, in 1969, and grew up in England and New Zealand. He is the author of novels: Banquet for the Damned, Apartment 16, The Ritual and Last Days. He lives in London and can be contacted through wwww.adamlgnevill.com

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