Thanks to my readers, Anne and Clive Nevill and Hugh Simmons. For bringing my horrors into existence, thanks again to my literary agent, John Jarrold, Julie and team at Gotham, Julie Crisp and
colleagues at Pan Macmillan, Susan Opie for her eagle-eyed copy-edit, Michael, Loren, and the crew at St Martins, and Stefan at Bragelonne.
Heartfelt appreciation goes out once again to (many of) the reviewers who’ve taken time to read my books and write about them. Special thanks to Jim McCleod of Gingernuts of Horror,
Anthony Watson, Delia of Postcards from Asia, Alex Cluness, The Reading Passport, Jo Playford, Alan Kelly, Wayne Simmons, James Everington, Pam Norfolk, Theresa Derwin, Marie O’Regan, Gemma
Files, Mathew Fryer,
SFX, Sci Fi Now
, The British Fantasy Society, Tim Lebbon, Mark Morris, Paul and Tracey Melloy, Hugh and Del Simmons, Gary McMahon, Gary Fry, Lisa Tuttle, Mathew Riley,
David Willbanks, Simon Strantzas, Ramsey Campbell, Justin Steele of Arkham Asylum, Sean Kitching and the Quietus, Jeff Vandemeer, Johnny Mains, Stephen Volk, Gary Power, Jonathan Wood, John Roome,
Zahar Znaev, Diala Atat, Rosil Barrantes, Ruba Naseraldeen, Emma Beckett, Lucy Twitty Halls, Jonathan Maberry, Scott Smith, Michael Marshall, Michael Koryta, and the many appreciative friends that
I’m lucky to have in social media. Special thanks goes out to those booksellers who’ve championed my novels, particularly Forbidden Planet in Belfast, Patty Dohle of Waterstones,
Witney, and Ellie Wixon of Blackwells, Edinburgh.
As ever, my final thanks go to my readers: without you, my books would be another endangered species.
Praise for Adam Nevill
‘This is riveting, and Nevill is fast becoming Britain’s answer to Stephen King’
Guardian
‘A wonderfully creepy and disturbing novel’
Independent on Sunday
‘This emotionally intense, intellectually challenging supernatural novel explores secret geographies of conscience while raising hackles, and is addictively
readable’
Publishers Weekly
‘Adam Nevill has forged his reputation as one of the UK’s best horror writers by writing elegantly stripped down, deceptively simple novels’
SFX
‘Frighteningly relevant and all the more compelling for it’
Starburst Magazine
‘A fiercely original imagination . . . a book that never looks down upon its readers and continuously delights with its unique approach to the classic haunted house
trope. And it’s scary as hell’
Upcoming4me
‘An ambitious, scary and remarkable step forward in the career of one of Britain’s finest horror writers’
ThisisHorror
‘Nevill is proving to be a strong creative force . . . It won’t be long before Hollywood comes knocking to adapt his books’
SFCrowsNest
Adam Nevill was born in Birmingham, England, in 1969 and grew up in England and New Zealand. He is the author of the supernatural horror novels
Banquet for the Damned,
Apartment 16, The Ritual, Last Days, House of Small Shadows, No One Gets Out Alive
and
Lost Girl
. In 2012
The Ritual
was the winner of The August Derleth Award for Best
Horror Novel, and in 2013
Last Days
won the same award.
The Ritual
and
Last Days
each won the RUSA for Best in Category: Horror. Adam lives in Devon, England, and can be
contacted through www.adamlgnevill.com.
By Adam Nevill
Banquet for the Damned
Apartment 16
The Ritual
Last Days
House of Small Shadows
No One Gets Out Alive
Lost Girl
First published 2015 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2015 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-230-77212-0
Copyright © Adam Nevill 2015
Cover Images: Figure © Stephen Mulcahey / Arcangel, all others © Shutterstock
The right of Adam Nevill to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third party websites referred to in or on this book.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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