Jon Taylor’s Reviews > The Ceremonies > Status Update

The cat is possessed - I liked the night visit with the flash of lightning. Also like all the references to old folk horror tales like Algernon Blackwood - going to give them a go.

Carol is pathetic. Klein has not done enough to convince us that she would trust the old man sufficiently to accept his guidance all the time - why would she wear the dress and, worse, change her underwear for him? Why would she go on a rollercoaster? Is it supposed to be some kind of hypnotic power he has over her? Cat’s cool though.

Honestly, this is nothing more than an American Folk Horror potboiler. The graphic sex is embarrassing. The Old One is laughable. No one is at all likeable, least of all Jeremy. But it is building some momentum and at least has its roots in some genuinely interesting arcana such as Machen’s ‘The White People’.

Read on first night in Zurich. Sarr’s experiences of the city. Quite atmospheric and the old man was chilling.

Carol arrives. Nicely built, through intertwined narratives.

Thoughts on Book 2: Slow pacing so it doesn’t feel that we’re too much further on from Book 1. But I shouldn’t complain - at least Klein is taking his time with the story, in a world where everything is rushed or boiled down to essentials. The only character I actually like is Sarr. Jeremy seems a little smug and patronising and Carol is just weak.

Very much a book of the 80s in prose style. The cadence is of its time as are the narrative voices - Stephen King has a lot to answer for. The depiction of women is also of its time. But I enjoyed the insects besieging Jeremy. And the moment the mask slips on the Old One with the child. I made myself picture that and it chilled me.

… He comes across as a servant to a higher power rather than an ancient evil. Similarly, the character’s voice is unconvincing - the very proper tones are pantomime villain so the threat to Florence (is that her name?) feels minimal.

Just some notes on the ending of Book 1. The Old One is a very prosaic character. I’m not sure he works. He seems very limited in power - I would have preferred something more Lovecraftian, beyond our understanding. Maybe it would have worked better if this ancient power had been able to manipulate others to his will, in a Dracula / Renfield type scenario?…