Ararat by Christopher Golden is a chilling and atmospheric horror story with a truly great premise and some terrifying moments. It’s a tense thriller that keeps you on edge and has some twists you’d never see coming.
When a newly engaged couple climbs Mount Ararat in Turkey, an avalanche forces them to seek shelter inside a massive cave uncovered by the snow fall. The cave is actually an ancient, buried ship that many quickly come to believe is really Noah’s Ark. When a team of scholars, archaeologists, and filmmakers make it inside the ark for the first time, they discover an elaborate coffin in its recesses. The artifact tempts their professional curiosity; so they break it open. Inside, they find an ugly, misshapen cadaver—not the holy man that they expected, a hideous creature with horns. A massive blizzard blows in, trapping them in that cave thousands of meters up the side of a remote mountain…but they are not alone.
Set against the harsh, unforgiving backdrop of a snow-covered mountain, Ararat is a chilling, atmospheric story of survival horror with a bit of supernatural elements. Christopher Golden crafts a solid story with a unique and compelling premise. While not exactly a locked-room story, Ararat gives off the feeling of a similar story–stuck on a desolate stretch of the Turkish mountains during an ongoing blizzard—which puts the story close to the category. The isolation and claustrophobic setting delivers an experience that was truly terrifying.
Ararat is horrifying enough with the unrelenting snowstorm and the characters’ physical and emotional isolation, but Golden tosses in a bit of supernatural elements that create tension and suspense that is deeply unsettling. The novel strikes a nice balance, evoking thoughts of an Indiana Jones archaeological style story with a more horrific storyline.
While the setting and premise really shine, it’s the characters that largely fall flat in Ararat. None of them feel particularly compelling or deserving of our attention, which made it hard to fully invest in their stories. Their lack of connection made it difficult to get pulled into the story at times, leaving me wanting more.
Ararat definitely had standout moments–many of which it’s hard to explain here without spoiling the book–and succeeds at delivering a solid horror adventure, it doesn’t fully live up to its potential. Some of the book felt contrived and the story lacked a big of the cohesion necessary to keep me invested. I did enjoy the overall story and was worth the journey. Christopher Golden continues to be one of my favorite in the genre, but I will likely read his other novels over again before this one.
Ararat is available at bookstores everywhere from St. Martin’s Griffin. The audiobook, narrated by Robert Fass, is available at Libro.fm!
