What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Ritual
David Bruckner · Film · 2017
If you loved The Ritual, start with The Terror (David Kajganich, 2018) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Ritual across media.
What hooked you in The Ritual was the way the weight of past guilt transforms an isolated wilderness into a psychological nightmare.
Books on the same thread
Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森)
Haruki Murakami · Book · 1987
Shares a thread with The Ritual: Grief.
If the heavy sense of lingering grief in The Ritual resonated with you, this novel offers a similarly intimate exploration of how loss shapes our most significant personal connections.
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson · Book · 1987
Shares a thread with The Ritual: Psychological Horror.
Much like the encroaching dread found in The Ritual, this classic masterfully uses a confined, unsettling setting to force characters to confront their own fragile sanity and internal demons.
Ghost Story
Peter Straub · Book · 1979
Shares 3 threads with The Ritual: Guilt, Male Friendship, Psychological Horror.
This story mirrors the group dynamics of The Ritual, focusing on how shared past trauma and long-buried guilt eventually manifest as a lethal, supernatural force hunting four old friends.
The Fellowship of the Ring
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien · Book · 2002
Explores: Good vs Evil, The Hero's Journey, Friendship.
The Ritual utilized the vast, dangerous landscape to challenge its protagonists, a theme you will recognize in this epic journey where the environment itself feels like an opposing character.
Series on the same thread
The Terror
David Kajganich · Series · 2018
Explores: Survival, Isolation, Madness.
You will find the same atmosphere of desperate survival against an indifferent, frozen wilderness that made The Ritual so effective, combined with a descent into madness and isolation.
Twin Peaks
Mark Frost · Series · 1990
Explores: Small Town Secrets, Doppelgangers, Good vs Evil.
Like the forest entities in The Ritual, this series excels at embedding existential dread within a specific, haunting location, slowly revealing that the darkness is far older than humanity.
IT: Welcome to Derry
Andy Muschietti · Series · 2025
Explores: Childhood Trauma, Ancient Evil, Group of Friends.
If the bond between friends facing an ancient evil in The Ritual was your highlight, this series captures that same interplay of childhood trauma and local, lurking supernatural threats.
FROM
John Griffin · Series · 2022
Explores: Trapped in a mysterious town, Monsters in the woods, Survival horror.
This series perfectly replicates the core premise of The Ritual by forcing a group into a trapped, inescapable environment where the surrounding woods harbor lethal, mysterious, and ancient monsters.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Magnus Archives
Podcast
Explores: Esoteric Research, The Weird, Paranormal Investigation.
The Ritual thrives on the fear of the unknown, an element this podcast masters by documenting research into esoteric, paranormal phenomena that threaten to consume those who seek them.
The White Vault
Fool and Scholar Productions · Podcast · 2026
Much like the repair team in The Ritual, you will experience the harrowing isolation of a remote expedition where the environment hides something deeply hostile waiting in the cold.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Ritual based on a true story?
The Ritual is a fictional 2017 film directed by David Bruckner. It follows a group of college friends on a trip to the forest who encounter a menacing presence. The plot is a work of creative storytelling rather than a recount of actual historical events.
What is the primary conflict in The Ritual?
The primary conflict in The Ritual centers on a group of college friends who reunite for a trip to the forest. Their journey takes a dark turn when they discover they are being stalked by a menacing presence lurking within the woods.
Who directed The Ritual?
The 2017 film The Ritual was directed by David Bruckner. The movie focuses on the harrowing experience of college friends who find themselves hunted by an unknown entity while hiking in the wilderness.
Is The Ritual a survival horror movie?
The Ritual is a 2017 film that depicts college friends struggling to survive against a menacing presence in the woods. It focuses on the group's attempt to navigate the forest while being stalked by an entity, fitting the criteria for a survival-themed horror narrative.