The Ritual

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 to The Ritual were optioned by Stillking Films, before being passed to Imaginarium. A film adaptation directed by David Bruckner and starring Rafe Spall and Robert James-Collier was released in cinemas on 13 October 2017. Plot Old university friends Dom, Phil, Luke, and Hutch have decided to reunite on a hiking trip through the Swedish mountains. The trip was chosen for its frugality due to the fact that Luke is unable to afford much else. The group is forced to take a shortcut through the woods when Phil develops blisters on his feet and Dom injures his knee. However, the shortcut ends up causing the group to become lost and scared, especially after they discover a disembowelled animal corpse hanging from the trees. They come across an ancient shack filled with bones and artifacts. They also find an abandoned church, desecrated and repurposed for pagan practices. Hutch falls through the floor of the church as he and Luke explore it, and find a massive amount of human remains, belonging to adults and children, and animals. The four are disturbed each night with dreams - mostly nightmares - and visions. There is much conflict between the four. Luke is the "odd one out", the only one who didn't get a career and settle down. Further rows reveal that Dom and Phil are about to get divorced. Hutch convinces Luke to leave them and press ahead for help, but before Luke can leave, Hutch is taken by an unseen entity, and the others find him naked and gutted in the branches. Phil vanishes next, and Luke and Dom later pass his body, treated in the same fashion. Despite sleeping in shifts, and Luke managing to hurt the creature with a rock, Dom disappears as well. Luke passes out and wakes up in bed in an old room.