In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?What was it like? Living in that house.Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she … questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
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Twenty-five years ago, the Holt family moved into Baneberry Hall, a house with a tragic past, but Ewan Holt believed his family could be happy. Though when his five-year old daughter, Maggie, begins to see imaginary friends and unexplained events haunt the house, Ewan must reevaluate. Documenting his experience, Ewan’s book became a best seller but Maggie has lived in the book’s shadow for most of her life. After all these years, she has always wanted the truth and now returns to where it all started.
“Never go back there, it’s not safe there. No for you.”
With the timeline shifting between Maggie’s perspective in the present and excerpts from the past in her father’s book, the plot is engaging and tensions rise. Uniquely, both perspectives offer parallels and each build upon the other. While it seems as though Maggie is eager for answers, she is constantly battling her inner voice and those who seek to deceive.
“What does Mr. Shadow say?” “He says – “Maggie gulped, trying hard to hold back her tears. “He says we’re going to die here.”
What I enjoyed the most about this story was how the timelines alternated and maintained a sense of being off kilter. Though Ewan’s account is presented as a non-fictional book, I kept trying to piece together the facts and unexplained phenomenon. Additionally, I was vested in his quest. As for Maggie’s perspective, I wanted her to find the truth, yet I didn’t feel as connected to her until closer to the end. Though I speculated correctly about certain aspects, I was also pleased for a couple twists.
Home Before Dark is a thriller where the truth lurks behind shadows of doubt. This book would appeal to those seeking a haunted tale mixed with the reality of facing one’s own demons.
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.*
Maggie Holt spent the first five years of her life in a haunted house. However, she has no recollection of it. She knows all about it, though, because of the bestselling book that her father wrote about her family’s experiences in Baneberry Hall. She blames that book for ruining her life. She had been infamous because of that book! But she remembers nothing of the ghosts or of the haunting. Why does she have no memory of the traumatic experiences written about in the book?
When Maggie’s father dies, she inherits everything he has, including Baneberry Hall! But how can that be? Why did he keep it all those years after they frantically fled the “House of Horrors”? As a restorer of old homes, she decides to restore the house herself. Maybe she will learn more about that part of her family’s life.
This book is not at all what I expected. It turns out that it is more than a scary book. It is a wonderful mystery with exciting twists along the way! The wonderfully developed characters take us through a maze of discovery within the mansion. What a fun and exciting ride! I bet you cannot put this one down once you start reading!
4.5 stars! I got the chills so many times while reading this book. I think it was fantastic. I love old houses with a story connected to them. The back and forth between present day and Maggie’s fathers books was perfect. His story added to the ghost story vibe and kept me guessing as to where this was going. Everyone was a suspect for me, and honestly, I didn’t have any idea what was going on most of the book. I loved that aspect. If you are looking for a book that isn’t predictable and will make your heart race, pick up this book. If you are looking for a book that is creepy and will keep you guessing, this one’s for you. Well done!
Terrible. Total rip off of other amazing haunted house books.
Ok, so lets pick this book apart shall we????
A lot of reviews i have seen say the book reminds them a lot of A Haunting of Hill House. I see that a lot in this book. Now under no circumstance am i implying or saying what i am about to list as my opinion. I actually see quite a few books in Home Before Dark, Like an element of each book put together. Ill list the books below you you can see if you feel the same.
Obsession by Nora Roberts
A Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
One One’s Home by D.M. Pulley
and maybe even a little bit of
The House On Cold Hill by Peter James
So another thing i want to pick at is every book i have read about a “haunting” always has the same elements.
1. Its a huge house/mansion
2. The house is selling for less then market value
3. The house will need renovated
4.The House has a past the whole town knows about
5. Previous owners died or packed up and left everything
only thing the book did not have was a door that no one has a key to so applause for that!
Speaking of applause, i do applauded Riley Sager and even Dutton Books on the different fonts when it comes to jumping back and forth between tells. It made it very easy to tell whose story was being told. I don’t know about any one else but my brain gets confused with so many back and forth between different POV.
With a book that was so good but yet had a similar vibe to other books what do i rate it. I’m feeling biased because i love ghost stories and Riley Sager is a great Author. UGH… this is so hard.
A clever, compelling mix of ghost story and murder mystery. I was all-in from the very first page.
How does keep topping himself? u2063
u2063 is now my favorite of his titles. I love a haunted house and his clever use of a book written within a book blew me away. Using a strong literary device like that can be more dangerous than his stories but it worked beautifully.u2063
u2063
From a writer’s standpoint, Sager is a master at alternating timelines but in this book, the subjects needed to align and unfold in such a linear fashion that using the book within a book became a brilliant way to titillate us and show the distinct perceptions of two people with different motives.u2063 It also kept his writing fresh. Having just reread all of his books I can attest that his style is consistent but his techniques improve each time giving the reader a new experience that doesn’t feel recycled. , . . u2063
I only gave 4 stars, which for me is a very high rating (5 stars are a unicorn) because there were disappointments in this book. I pondered a while to balance the scale of my opinion but I didn’t feel as connected to Maggie Holt as say, Jules Larsen, or some of his other “final girls” and I did not get the fear-factor I wanted in the haunted house. The ghostly chills were missing for me. That said, he still created a world that I wanted to stay in and figure out. The novel had an aura that enveloped you like a fog, which I loved.
One of the best aspects of Sager’s writing style is the horror inspiration even though he is by no means a horror fiction writer. His thrillers capture iconic tropes often used in horror films without the gore. The tension and questions that lead down twisted paths are the journeys that make his books so much fun. This book had plenty of dark paths and felt even a bit sleuthy, which was fun. I highly recommend picking this book up… And I highly recommend rereading the first chapter after you finish the last one. You’ll be entertained in an entirely new way.
I love Riley Sager book!! Although this was not my favorite book from him I still enjoyed the creepiness story. So much so that the night before I finished the book I couldn’t sleep & was up throughout the night the one time I looked at the clock it said 4:54am!!! I think I may have wet myself!!! LOL
Oh my what a scare! I love ghost stories! This takes place inside an old Victorian estate, the Baneberry Hall. It’s similar to Haunting at Hill House but with a Riley Sager twist! MC Maggie Holt is a restorer of old homes. She inherits Baneberry Hall after the passing of her father & returns to restore it to sale. All the memories from her past living at the estate comes back. This is a page turner, it’s creepy and very twisty! It’s my favorite of his books! Thank you to Dutton Books and NetGalley for an ebook ARC.
Another great book! I wasn’t terrified, but I was creeped out by some things. I feel like Lock Every Door was scarier, but this book still held me. There were a few things that were a bit creepy and I had to wonder, is this house haunted. Literally, I didn’t know what happened until the last chapter. Very well written.
A story that centers around a haunted house? Sign me up!
Another page turner from Riley Sager that had me trying to figure out the mystery behind the story. Told in the present day by our heroine Maggie and flashing back to her father’s perspective by means of excerpts from his best-selling book about their experience in the house. Did the events in the house really happen or was it all an Amityville Horror-style ruse? That question is what propels Maggie to return to her childhood home to find out the answers. I’m not saying anymore than that, so you’ll have to find out for yourself when the book comes out on June 30th!
HOME BEFORE DARK
By Riley Sager
As always, Mr. Sager has written a fall off the shelf into your hands must read. I was suspended in its grips and vices and as scary as I thought it was, I couldn’t look away. The unusual story with its flips and twists are what makes it unlike any other thriller that you’ve ever read. It was going to definitely going to be a 5 Star…until the end. If Mr. Sager had stuck with the original storyline that it was throughout the book, it would have been a remarkable ghost story that I would forever be haunted by. Instead of having an answer, Scooby Doo style for everything, I would have preferred to still been left with not necessarily questions but answers that were perhaps a little more frightening. With that said, I would still without hesitation recommend this book 100%. Everyone is different; therefore has different opinions and others may absolutely agree that it ended exactly as it should.
The story begins with Maggie Holt inheriting Baneberry Hill, a Victorian Estate in which she lived with her parents 25 years before. Her father who has just passed away had written a book called HOUSE OF HORRORS based on this house that they lived in for 3 weeks before they ended up fleeing and leaving everything behind, never to return.
Her parents in the years that passed, have divorced, but at his passing one message both parents have made loud and clear to Maggie is to never return to Baneberry Hill. But Maggie is a restorer of old homes by trade and for her, she was too young to remember anything that went on according to the book; therefore believes her father made it all up. She is interested in bringing the Estate up to date and in shape to get ready to sell.
Upon Maggie’s return to Baneberry Hill, the locals are not too thrilled. The book her father wrote has brought much unwanted notoriety to the town throughout the years. The ghostly happenings and events brought about a phenomenon much like the Amityville Horror; along with its skepticism.
Maggie begins her stay and soon starts to feel unease and unexplained ghostly occurrences that seemingly match what it says in her father’s book. Wanting to know the truth, she’s coming to discover that what he wrote may be more truth than what she believed to be fiction.