Rating: 
Summary: FOR THOSE WHO ENJOY WATCHING PAINT DRY.
Review: After 15 years of sitting on my shelf, I finally read The Ceremonies. A novel that won some kind of Award if I'm not mistaken. So I had high hopes but...to my chagrin it was a bit slow for my tastes. The action going on was just about NIL. If a little action was going on I would get so excited; I felt like a starving man receiving a crumb of stale bread. Also when the action did happen it ended so quickly and with out much to explain for it. What's up with that? Klein had a hard time coming to point with his characters.
Also the Love story didn't pan out, and the characters just died off with so little drama or fanfare. Here Klein builds up their personalities with long passages and through anecdotes, then he up and kills them off with the same enthusiasm as some one turning a door knob. There were also too many unimportant details that were added, which I personally thought should have been excluded.
Sad to say, as the book was nearing the last 10 pages there was a quick rap up, a forgetful ending, with nothing there to leave me with that felling of WOW. However I thought the novel's descriptions were top notch, but style still losses to content.
T.E.D Klein I will say is one of the best descriptive writers around, I though his method for building up a character and or situation are painstakingly detailed and deliberate. He would start explaining a situation that we would have no idea where it is going, only to see it come to a convincing conclusion. That is all well and good, but I also need some plot to keep me going.
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Too many loose ends in this book T.E.D
Rating: 
Summary: very creepy
Review: great atmosphere of malevolence here building to a climax that, admittedly, is a letdown. not a lot happens here but the undefined evil that is impending keeps you reading. that very lovecraftian sense of dread and an unstoppable evil just kept at bay, an interesting setting and believable characters make this book, despite the limp resolution. what happened to klein, anyway? only two books and then--nothing. get back on the horse t.e.d.!
Rating:
Summary: Very, very good
Review: I enjoyed the Ceremonies very much and the only reason it didn't get the 5 stars is because of the dinamics, which somewhat failed a little along the book. In some parts Klein did too much description and the action became boring. I sometimes had to put the book down because I was a little bored, but in general is a GREAT book and I recomend it.
Rating: 
Summary: A great horror read
Review: If you like reading horror, this book is for you. I'm only disappointed by the fact that Klein hasn't written more.
Rating:
Summary: Pulp Horror/Fantasy thriller
Review: Imagine H.P. Lovecraft in the nineties mixed with some of the better lovecraftian authors like R. Bloch and Wagner. Its an excellent read for pulp type horror fan
Rating: 
Summary: Like sands through the hour glass...
Review: Originally a short story, "The Ceremonies" clearly suffers being expanded into a full-length novel.While my interest may have held over twenty pages or so, there is no way around the fact that the story and characters are boring. Plain and simple. Chapters go by and you realize, "hey, nothing really happened that's different from when I started." It is too bad because Klein is an excellent writer and there is clearly effort in his work. But I've been more scared reading travelogues.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Horror Novel ...But Not Without Problems
Review: Reviewing this book and giving it only three stars is a bit tough for me. Mainly because I actually liked the way the author (Mr. Klein) writes. His prose is flowing, frightening, and fun all at the same time. The characters are vivid (even secondary characters like roommates) and get lodged in your psyche long after you've put the book down, too.
But let's talk about the story for a moment.
The plot circles around a creature that has long lay dormant in the Earth. Every so often - at special times of a special year - it can grow in strength. During one of these `strengthenings' it captures a young boy and plants within him the evils that it harbors for mankind. This boy, now grown to a very old but powerful man named Rosie, has received a message from his underworld master that the world is about to change; and the creature is about to come out of the Earth and reek havoc on humanity (because of the disrespect humans have shown toward the environment).
Enter Jeremy Freirs, a nobody-of-a-professor, who happens to fall for Carol, a beautiful virginal woman who tried to be a catholic nun (but failed) and is now a librarian in New York City. Little does Jeremy know that Carol's untouched virtue will play a pivotal role in The Ceremonies that are being set up by Rosie, the master's above ground puppet.
Jeremy decides to leave New York City for the summer and spend some time in the country. He moves in with a couple (Sarr and Deborah Poroth) who are VERY religiously inclined and live in an Amish-like settlement with similarly minded folks. Jeremy thinks he'll be able to get some reading and research done for next year's classes, but little does he know that the cycles of The Ceremonies are in the Poroth's backyard. A horrifying and engrossing set of circumstances are set forth and the world begins to change, bit by bit. The creature is coming, and no one can stop it.
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Even with these wonderful qualities, the book d-r-a-g-g-e-d for me. At over 500 pages, I felt that the author stretched the story too thin. I realize that Mr. Klein needed to get The Ceremonies set down so that the reader could visualize and understand them, but it took soooo long to do that; I had to force myself to keep reading the mid-sections of the novel. Also, Rosie, this incredibly powerful old man who can snap enemies in half and stuff them into hide-a-bed sofas, gets killed by wasps. By wasps! That didn't sit well with me. I also didn't like the fact that he developed several characters so well, making the reader form a nice reading relationship with them, and then snuffed them out (perhaps the author was trying to balance life and death in the book, but it didn't work for me).
Even so, I'm sure there are some readers out there who would absolutely love this book. I believe it is Mr. Klein's only novel, and thus probably makes it coveted by certain horror afficionados.
Rating:
Summary: A flawed masterpiece of atmospheric horror
Review: T.E.D. Klein entered the world of horror fiction with a great big splash when The Ceremonies was published in 1984. The novel was met with much critical success, being nominated for a 1985 World Fantasy Award and winning the British Fantasy Society award for best novel. Stephen King proclaimed it the most exciting horror novel since Peter Straub's Ghost Story. The Ceremonies really is a magnificent work of horror, but it is not for everyone. If you like action on top of action, you may find yourself bogged down and discouraged by this novel. At over 500 pages, it is rather long, and it can seem even longer than it really is to readers seeking quick thrills. Klein builds this novel quite slowly and tediously, creating an atmosphere of impending doom that grows in short increments from one page to the next. It is not the awful events that make this horror novel work; it is the atmosphere of dread and suspense. One cannot help but detect a little bit of Lovecraft in Klein (and not just because one of the characters is called the Old One), although both men's style differs considerably. The power that stands to be unleashed by the completion of "the ceremonies" described here is gargantuan, an awesome, world-destroying creature called up from the depths of the earth, a creature too ancient to even be labeled evil. There are several storylines running through this novel, and their paths converge on only a few occasions, which is a facet of the writing that may bother some readers. Jeremy Freirs is a graduate student and teacher who decides to spend his summer working on his dissertation and preparing for the class he will be teaching in the fall on Gothic Literature; he thinks he has found the perfect place in Gilead, New Jersey, is a world all to its own, the home of a strict religious sect with extremely puritan ideas. Moving into a former storage building on the farm of Sarr and Deborah Poroth, he expects to spend a productive summer free from essentially all distractions - he is quite wrong in this assumption. Meanwhile, in New York, the rather reserved Carol Conklin goes about trying to survive in the big city on a small income from her job at a library. She meets Jeremy in New York just before he leaves for the summer, and a connection is made which will find the couple developing a romantic relationship on somewhat strange terms. What Jeremy and Carol do not know is that this relationship is the work of a strange, little old man known as Mr. Rosebottom. Rosie is actually the Old One working to bring his master back after a very long absence, and Jeremy and Carol are the unsuspecting keys to his success. It can take some time to really get into this novel. A lot of time is spent introducing the characters, describing their true standing in the events to come, and introducing us to the Poroths, their farm, their community, and their ascetic religion. In time, the story comes alive in much the same way that untold numbers of snakes and worms come to infest the countryside of Gilead. Some might say that nothing much happens until late in the novel, but plenty is going on in terms of building the proper atmosphere in which this novel lives and breathes. The religious tie-ins to the events at the Poroth farm work beautifully in this context. As much as I love this novel, though, I have to say it is not perfect. Despite the rich and closely cultivated storyline, the relationship between Jeremy and the virginal Carol is rather mechanical, never developing the least bit of spark; Jeremy is in fact much more attracted to Deborah Poroth than he is to Carol. I did find the Old One to be a really effective character, one strong yet mysterious enough to hold this novel together as it see-saws back and forth between Jeremy in Gilead and Carol in New York, but there is seemingly a weakness in terms of character development here that prevents me from giving this novel five stars. Despite this fact, The Ceremonies is a truly landmark effort deserving to be read and admired by all who pursue the darker paths and are willing and eager to let the plot develop at its own pace without becoming frustrated over the lack of action early on.
Rating:
Summary: A flawed masterpiece of atmospheric horror
Review: T.E.D. Klein entered the world of horror fiction with a great big splash when The Ceremonies was published in 1984. The novel was met with much critical success, being nominated for a 1985 World Fantasy Award and winning the British Fantasy Society award for best novel. Stephen King proclaimed it the most exciting horror novel since Peter Straub's Ghost Story. The Ceremonies really is a magnificent work of horror, but it is not for everyone. If you like action on top of action, you may find yourself bogged down and discouraged by this novel. At over 500 pages, it is rather long, and it can seem even longer than it really is to readers seeking quick thrills. Klein builds this novel quite slowly and tediously, creating an atmosphere of impending doom that grows in short increments from one page to the next. It is not the awful events that make this horror novel work; it is the atmosphere of dread and suspense. One cannot help but detect a little bit of Lovecraft in Klein (and not just because one of the characters is called the Old One), although both men's style differs considerably. The power that stands to be unleashed by the completion of "the ceremonies" described here is gargantuan, an awesome, world-destroying creature called up from the depths of the earth, a creature too ancient to even be labeled evil. There are several storylines running through this novel, and their paths converge on only a few occasions, which is a facet of the writing that may bother some readers. Jeremy Freirs is a graduate student and teacher who decides to spend his summer working on his dissertation and preparing for the class he will be teaching in the fall on Gothic Literature; he thinks he has found the perfect place in Gilead, New Jersey, is a world all to its own, the home of a strict religious sect with extremely puritan ideas. Moving into a former storage building on the farm of Sarr and Deborah Poroth, he expects to spend a productive summer free from essentially all distractions - he is quite wrong in this assumption. Meanwhile, in New York, the rather reserved Carol Conklin goes about trying to survive in the big city on a small income from her job at a library. She meets Jeremy in New York just before he leaves for the summer, and a connection is made which will find the couple developing a romantic relationship on somewhat strange terms. What Jeremy and Carol do not know is that this relationship is the work of a strange, little old man known as Mr. Rosebottom. Rosie is actually the Old One working to bring his master back after a very long absence, and Jeremy and Carol are the unsuspecting keys to his success. It can take some time to really get into this novel. A lot of time is spent introducing the characters, describing their true standing in the events to come, and introducing us to the Poroths, their farm, their community, and their ascetic religion. In time, the story comes alive in much the same way that untold numbers of snakes and worms come to infest the countryside of Gilead. Some might say that nothing much happens until late in the novel, but plenty is going on in terms of building the proper atmosphere in which this novel lives and breathes. The religious tie-ins to the events at the Poroth farm work beautifully in this context. As much as I love this novel, though, I have to say it is not perfect. Despite the rich and closely cultivated storyline, the relationship between Jeremy and the virginal Carol is rather mechanical, never developing the least bit of spark; Jeremy is in fact much more attracted to Deborah Poroth than he is to Carol. I did find the Old One to be a really effective character, one strong yet mysterious enough to hold this novel together as it see-saws back and forth between Jeremy in Gilead and Carol in New York, but there is seemingly a weakness in terms of character development here that prevents me from giving this novel five stars. Despite this fact, The Ceremonies is a truly landmark effort deserving to be read and admired by all who pursue the darker paths and are willing and eager to let the plot develop at its own pace without becoming frustrated over the lack of action early on.
Rating:
Summary: A serious continuation of Lovecraft's work; quite disturbing
Review: The first time I read this book, I way lying on a beach in the sun, yet parts of the novel truly chilled me. Klein's book is clearly an homage to Lovecraft, yet his attention to detail, dialogue and setting create an often disturbing story with considerable immediacy. For someone who appreciates Lovecraft (as I do), Klein's ability to recreate the texture and depth of Lovecraft's better work makes this book compelling. My only criticsim: I've been unable to find any other work by Klein.
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