Review: Ararat by Christopher Golden

After an avalanche on Ararat reveals a cave with what's possibly Noah's ark inside, a newly engaged couple seeks to climb the mountain and do an archaeological dig on the premises. They succeed in being in charge of the project which involves many more people including academics, translators, archaeologists, an observer from the UN, and Ben Walker who isn't exactly what he seems or claims to be - a member of the National Science Foundation sent to investigate what's happening in the cave.

As the story progresses, the group finds a coffin within the remains of the ship. Inside is a grotesque skeleton of something with horns. Immediately people begin leaping to the conclusion that it is some kind of demon. Tensions arise among the group as a blizzard blows in and traps them in the cave. The longer they are there, the more certain everyone becomes that they are not alone. Something lurks in the cave and threatens their very survival and sanity.

Ararat makes a good horror story. It's part haunted house and part monster story. I give it 5 out of 5 stars. It is well-written. The tempo increases as the story progresses. You get to know the people who are going to be in danger before things go haywire. And the end has a twist to it that I wasn't expecting at all. This is book one in the Ben Walker series and as such can be read as a stand-alone. It also won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel in 2017. If you enjoy a good horror novel, this is definitely worth a read. Ararat by Christopher Golden was published April 18th, 2017 by St. Martin's Press.