The Rise of Them (Novelization) Wikia

The Rise of Them is a 2015 horror novel written by the author of Apocalyptia. It features Ryan Lee and a few of his high school friends when they take a winter vacation on Blackwood Mountain, only for their winter getaway to turn sinister as they begin to suspect that they are not alone.

Plot
Sometime in 2005, on Blackwood Mountain, a hunter searches the woods in search of an extremely dangerous creature. Tracking it to a small clearing, he nearly succeeds in killing it, but before he can, the creature suddenly leaps forward and takes his head off. The creature escapes into the wood and encounters another hunter that narrowly escapes. The second hunter arrives in the clearing and sees his dead companion and screams in agony.

The novel then skips ahead to the present day, in December of 2016, where Karsten Seidel invites some of his closest friends, including his girlfriend Taylor Williamson and Ryan Lee to join him for a winter getaway up at Blackwood Mountain. Ryan confirms he's available, as does Taylor. Later that afternoon, the friends make their way up to the Washington Lodge in separate ways. Karsten and Taylor hike up to the lodge while Megan Tan takes a bus up to the mountain. Angelica Malagon bumps into Jonathan Hicks at a cable car, which they take up to the mountain after Jonathan is practising with his rifle. Eric Vanderzwaag arrives last, startling Ashleigh Yzerman as she is peering through a telescope surveying the area.

After the two of them reach the lodge, they find that Ryan and Caleb Meyerhoff have already made it. After a brief greeting between Ryan and Ashleigh, Caleb takes Ryan around the side where Ryan climbs through an open window to enter the lodge. Once he reaches the front door, he tries to scare the others, only to be surprised when Angelica peeks through the window and tells him to hurry up. He then unlocks the door and lets them all inside. They all begin to settle down when Megan starts a heated argument with Karsten, which Eric defuses by suggesting that Karsten go with Taylor to the guest lodge for some "alone" time from everyone else.

On the way to the guest lodge, they are followed by something. Thinking it's one of their friends, Taylor yells at them to leave them be, despite Karsten telling her to ignore it. However, they soon become terrified after encountering a wounded deer dragged out of sight and are chased to the guest lodge. However, Taylor dropped her cell phone outside, and she suddenly remembers a few minutes later. When Karsten goes to investigate a noise coming from the side, he finds her cell phone having been thrown through the window. Frustrated and still on the assumption their friends are toying with them, Taylor steps outside and yells at them, mentioning an intercourse. Karsten is seen staring at her when she steps back inside, only for her to be pulled through the window by an unseen creature a second later, prompting Karsten to rush out after his girlfriend.

Back at the lodge, Angelica recruits Caleb to help her get the boiler working when she finds out there's no hot water for a bath. On their way to the basement, Caleb tells Angelica that he gave Ryan and Ashleigh a task, believing they could do with some of their own alone time. After getting the boiler working, they are chased out of the basement by someone dressed like a psycho clown. Once out of the basement, it's revealed to be Ryan, who tells them that he couldn't resist playing a joke when he found all the movie equipment downstairs before revealing the spirit board. Angelica pardons herself for a shower while the others set up the Ouija board.

Karsten tracks Taylor and her attacker to an abandoned mining building where he finds her lying unconscious inside an old elevator, which falls down the shaft before he can get her out. When he looks up the shaft, he spots a figure looking down at him. After missing a shot, he climbs up to the top floor and attempts to follow the stranger, only to end up losing him. Spotting a nearby sanitorium, he makes his way inside, thinking the stranger might've gone there. While exploring the sanitorium, Karsten discovers what really happened in the mines in 1952. Shocked, he realizes that he's got to find the others and tell them about this new information.

Back at the lodge, while Angelica is having a relaxing bath, Ryan explains to Caleb and Ashleigh how the séance works and then passes the role of medium to Ashleigh. They soon realize that the spirit of someone who died on the mountain is communicating with them. When the pointer flies off the table, Caleb storms off, trying hard not to believe it. Concerned about him, Ashleigh suggests they go find him; Ryan agrees that they should. A clue given during the séance leads them to the library beforehand, where they find a hidden room behind a bookcase. Ashleigh finds threat letters written to occupants of the lodge.

Protagonists

 * Ryan Lee
 * Caleb Meyerhoff
 * Ashleigh Yzerman
 * Karsten Seidel
 * Taylor Williamson
 * Eric Vanderzwaag
 * Angelica Malagon
 * Jonathan Hicks
 * Megan Tan

Other Characters

 * Broadcaster
 * Police Officer
 * Helicopter Pilot
 * Police Interviewer
 * The Stranger

Antagonist

 * The Wendigos