The Ruins is a 2006 horror novel by American author Scott Smith, set on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The book fits specifically into the survival horror genre, which is marked by people doing whatever it takes to conquer their environment and stay alive. The novel was released on July 18, 2006 (ISBN 1-4000-4387-5).

Scott Bechtel Smith is an American author and screenwriter. He has written two novels, A Simple Plan (1993) and The Ruins (2006). Both were adapted into films - A Simple Plan (1998) and The Ruins (2008), respectively - based on Smith's own screenplays. He also wrote the screenplays for the films Siberia (2018) and The Burnt Orange Heresy (2019). His screenplay for A Simple Plan earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.