Book cover of The Ceremonies

Book description

Graduate student Jeremy Freirs and aspiring dancer Carol Conklin, summering in the New Jersey village of Gilead, are trapped in a nightmare of terror, with an evil force emanating from a place once called Maquineanok, the Place of Burning

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Ceremonies as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Spending the summer in a cabin in the woods? Then The Ceremonies is a darn fine choice. The first time I read it was on a camping trip, and I was captivated by the way Klein describes the empty, lonely wilderness surrounding the Poroth Farm (the main location of the tale).

The protagonist of the book is an English professor who’s writing a book on the Gothics, and through the course of the book name drops a ton of classic horror novels and stories from the early 20th century. This book is not only a tremendous cosmic/folk horror novel, but…

I have a real weakness for ‘doorstopper’ books. Mighty tomes in which you can lose yourself and this is a folk horror that allows you to do just that.

Klein’s The Ceremonies takes place in an isolated farming community where their religion is central to their way of life. Into this mix you bring two outsiders whose arrival trigger the attempts of the Old One to bring back his supernatural master.

Again, nature and setting are at the forefront of the story, adding to the atmosphere which, combined with certain demonic characters, brings in that sense of otherworldliness and isolation.…

From Stephanie's list on the dark delights of folk horror.

If you love The Ceremonies...

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These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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