By Bruce Priddy
TED Klein may be the epitome of the lazy genius. Since his novella The Incident at Poros Farm received critical acclaim more than four decades ago, Klein has produced only a dozen short stories (collected in two collections, Dark God and A reassuring story) and a novel, ceremonyKlein said in an interview in the 1980s that he would do anything to avoid writing. The Ritual, for example, took him five years to write. Perhaps due to the scarcity of his output, Klein, despite his talent, is not nearly as well known among horror fans today as he should be. His admirers are limited to other writers and critics. ST Joshi has said that Klein’s “achievements far exceed those of his more prolific contemporaries.” In fact, I would be willing to do terrible things, many of which would be punishable by death, to have Klein’s skills.
Although I am a long-time fan of Klein, I had not read The Poros Farm Incident in many years. ceremonywhich is a lengthy expansion of the novella, which I didn’t think was necessary. I finally finished The Incident last year, and then I hated myself for not reading it sooner, so I decided to go back to ceremonyone of my favorite horror novels, and see how these two works differ. ceremony Still exists, although my opinion of it has changed.
Long ago, something ancient and strange fell from the sky, crashed onto what would become the East Coast of the United States, and then fell asleep. Thousands of years later, New York professor Jeffrey Frears leaves the city on a sabbatical to study the works of the great master of Gothic horror. He rents the guest house of Deborah and Sal Poros, members of a strict religious community in rural New Jersey. In his hometown, his new girlfriend Carol is a librarian. All are unaware that their will is not their own and that no relationship is a coincidence. Each is the key to a series of rituals that will awaken the ancient evil behind the Poros community. One such apparent ritual is hidden in the work that Frears is studying.
I have considered ceremony is a perfect horror novel. It is different after reading the original. The seams are obvious and the filler is obvious. The book is over 500 pages and most of the filler and exposition could be cut out without losing the excitement of the novel.
Despite this shortcoming, ceremony Still, it’s an outstanding work. It’s not for everyone, though. If you like fast and bloody horror, you’ll find Klein’s novel frustrating. ceremony The plot is slow and ponderous, forgoing action in favor of atmosphere. Every horror presented in the first few pages, from the supernatural to the mundane, is there to build that atmosphere. ceremony It is a modern Gothic novel, belonging to the non-mythological stories of Lovecraft and the style of Arthur Machen.
The latter not only influenced Crane, but is also a key element in the novel. The ritual that can awaken the sleeping ancients does not exist in the worm-eaten books in the rare books section of the fictional library, but on the bookshelves of many shops and homes in the English-speaking world. In creating a famous true work, a major element of Crane’s novel not only gave ceremony The aura of authenticity also threatens our own world. Any one of us may be a poor creature manipulated by various forces in the novel, and the end of the world may begin on your bookshelf.
Order yours right here.
grade:4/5
