A Haunted House, or Just A Good Book?

When she was five, Maggie Holt’s family bought a wonderful old Victorian. It seemed like the dream of a life time even though things, possible evil, had happened in the house. The strange occurrences in the house began shortly after moving in particularly in Maggie’s room. Maggie’s father wrote a best selling book about their experiences, and Maggie has felt uncomfortable and used ever since.

Now Maggie has inherited the house and her profession is restoring old houses. She doesn’t believe a word of her father’s book until she moves in and begins to experience strange things.

The story moves between Maggie Holt’s point of view and chapters from her father’s best selling book. This is an interesting juxtaposition, since Maggie is determined to believe that nothing in the book really happened.

The book moves well. The pacing moves us seamlessly from Maggie in the present to her father’s book in the past. Like so many books told in two time frames, this one is, in my opinion, better when reading Ewan, the father’s, book.

If you enjoy paranormal, this is a good book. However, it’s also grounded in reality so it’s fun to read no matter what you think about ghosts and other apparitions. I enjoyed the book and recommend it for a read – perhaps not late at night in an old Victorian.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

Look. I’m very likely ‘Riley Sager’s’ #1 fan girl. Since reading an early copy of Final Girls, I’ve anxiously waited for the next book because these are the types of books that I love. There’s suspense, there’s thrilling elements, there’s hints of pop culture - of classic horror novels and movies. This is someone who LOVES horror. Scream, Rosemary’s Baby, Friday the 13th, Halloween - they are classics for a reason - and Riley’s book are destined to be the same.

Okay - enough fangirling.

The blurb for this book “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?” - okay - sure. Does this tell you everything you need to know - absolutely not.

Home Before Dark is two books. There’s…”Home Before Dark” and then there’s “House of Horrors” . House of Horrors is part ‘'House on Haunted Hill” part “Amityville Horror”.

Maggie comes back to Baneberry Hall reluctantly. She’s not been in the house since she was 5 years old - and not since her family ran away in terror after less than a month. She wants to fix the house up and sell it to someone - finally ridding herself from the nightmare that has followed her for years. Her father’s book, House of Horrors” hangs over her head and has for her entire life.

Baneberry Hall is a character itself. The chandelier, the Indigo Room, the kitchen (oh, god….I can’t with the kitchen.”. The ivy covered walls, the third floor, the gate, the dark woods….. It’s the perfect setting for a ghost story. It’s the perfect hiding place for a body….

Maggie attempt to figure out the truth of her father’s book - and the truth of her life. Strange things start happening - many things similar to her father’s book. She reconnects with other people who were affected by ‘the book’,: the housekeeper and her daughter, the handyman’s nephew, the former owners wife. Maggie wants to know what actually happened. What is the truth? Has the past and the house finally come back to claim Maggie as their own.

Look - it’s hard to be to be unbiased - because I LOVE Riley’s writing so much. The books are an escape - and they are written in a way, that I can see the house, the girls, the ghosts. I can hear the music “You are sixteen…going on seventeen….”. Riley creates the atmosphere that it so often overwritten in thrillers.

Thank you to Penguin Random House, Dutton & Plume and my #1, Riley Sager, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Home Before Dark will be released on June 30, 2020.

What I Loved:
The twists and turns that this book took me on were insane! I had absolutely NO idea what was going on, no guesses as to what the truth was. It was an amazing ride, and I loved it!!

My Synopsis:
Maggie’s father wrote a book that has haunted her every day of her life. As a young girl, her family bought Baneberry Hall, a secluded estate with a tragic history. Maggie doesn’t remember anything about their less-than-a-month stay in the home. All of her memories are from the non-fiction book, House of Horrors, written by her father. Maggie knows that everything in the book is a lie, but her parents will never discuss it there.

When her father passes away, Maggie is shocked to learn that her father still owned the house, and she is now the owner of Baneberry Hall. Determined to understand what really happened during their stay in the home, Maggie moves in.

She is adamant that the ghost stories, snakes, and gruesome history were all a figment of her father’s imagination to create a best-selling book. When she arrives though, the things from her father’s book begin to seem less like a story and more like a foretelling of things to come.

How I Felt:
This is my first Riley Sager book! I know, I know. I’m so behind the times! But – I am with you all now, he is an amazing author, and I now need to read everything he has written!

The plot was so interesting. It definitely reminded me of Verity by Colleen Hoover. There’s a book within the story and the plot unfolds between the book and the present-day story. So, I would HIGHLY recommend this for fans of Verity! So, on to the plot…it was fabulous! It is told through Maggie’s point-of-view and from the POV of her father through his book. I loved the dual perspectives as Maggie’s timeline in the home aligns with her family’s from 25 years ago as the story unfolds. It created such a spooky story that I could not put down!

This was a spooky story for me, but not so scary that I couldn’t read it. I definitely needed to have my back against a wall at times, though! Sager does an excellent job of creating the heart-racing anticipation as he leads up to the next event. There’s something that happens consistently on the third floor and every time a character headed up those stairs, I had to cover the words so I wouldn’t look ahead because I was so nervous!

I found the characters to be a perfect mix for the story. There are people that were still around from when her family moved into the house the first time, helping Maggie to fill in the blanks as she explores her true history. I liked that everyone had a part to play in the story, and Sager kept it all a secret until just the right moment for a reveal.

Overall, I loved Home Before Dark. I could not put this book down. The story was expertly written with characters that drew you in. I highly, highly recommend this book!

To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend Home Before Dark for readers that enjoy a spooky ghost story with a lot of mystery.

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

My full review of this book will post to my blog on 6/30/20.

I've enjoyed most of Sager's book, minus Lock Every Door, so I was interested to see how this title read. I was so glad that I enjoyed like Sager's older titles.

Eeeee! Haunted house alert! I admit to actually having to read this suspense novel primarily during daylight, especially as the situation began to unfold in its haunting, slow build. (Eventually I just had to brace myself with reminders that I am a grown woman capable of reading a spooky novel when it is dark outside. Ahem!)

Sager has crafted a compelling suspense story in which we're along for the ride as Maggie, a young interior designer, returns to the childhood home where terrifying events exploded and led to her family's middle-of-the-night fleeing, never to return--until now. Maggie struggles to establish what is and was real and what could be imagined, tries to piece together who knows more than they're admitting about past tragedies and unexplained occurrences, debates whether any of her parents' accounts hold merit, and begins to wonder with horror whether she can trust even her own memories.

The structure was intriguing--a book within a book within a book. That kind of setup could feel forced, but for me it felt fluid and allowed for valuable layering and points of view.

I loved how Sager managed to keep me wondering who/what/when without making me feel manipulated by misleading details or bogged down by red herrings, and that he struck what was for me a perfectly eerie tone. I gleefully questioned whether any character was telling the truth--including, ultimately, whether the main protagonist was herself an unreliable narrator. I was kept guessing throughout, yet all the pieces eventually fit (without any eye rolls necessary about aspects unaccounted for at the end).

At a few points I did want to yell at Maggie, "Just leave! Who cares about what happened?" But luckily for the arc of the story, Sager does a good job of providing her with a stubborn grip on what she sees as truth over fantasy and a dismissive disbelief in ghosts that allow her to stick it out.

A minor niggling issue: I didn't feel as though the character of Jess in modern day resembled the Jess of the earlier account of events, to the point that the disconnect made me stop a few times with a "Wait, what?" People change, but for me her dramatic change from practical, protective, sometimes put-upon wife, mother , and teacher (although we never see her head to work or hear another word about that, presumably because events unfold so quickly) didn't fit with the present-day fabulously wealthy, globetrotting snob--without a little more explanation, at least. Having Jess gone and unreachable helps the story progress, but.

I received a prepublication copy of this book from Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Riley Sager is just about the only thrlller author I know I can depend on to keep me guessing and intrigued anymore. I don’t know that this one quite lived up to my expectations from his other books, but it was a fun read. I really liked the back and forth between “fiction” and “reality”, the lines got really blurry and it added to the suspense. I felt like the twists and turns were a little heavily packed into the last few chapters, and the “what happened” seemed a bit too far out there to be believable, but I enjoyed this book, nonetheless.

Maggie returns to Baneberry Hall, the infamous house that was the subject of her father’s best selling horror memoir, with hopes to renovate it when she inherits it upon her father’s death. But she's never believed the stories. Living in the house during the renovations, she experiences strange occurrences in line with events in her father’s book. She starts to wonder if the house really is haunted, and if the stories were true after all.

Told in alternating timelines, from her father’s perspective in excerpts from his book, and following Maggie in present time, the mysteries of Baneberry Hall unfold. With tones of the Haunting of Hill House and Amityville Horror, Home Before Dark was a fun ride with some heart-thumping thrills and kept me guessing til the very end, as Sager does.

If you’re a fan of Riley Sager (like I am), you’ll need this one.

Big thanks to Dutton, NetGalley and Mystery Book Club for the #gifted advance e-copy!

Thank you Netgalley and Emily for the opportunity to preview Riley Sager's new novel - Home Before Dark. I didn't think anything would be up to last year's Lock Every Door, but he's done it again.
A young woman inherits a mansion in Vermont - this is the home of her childhood. But this home is not your average one - this is a haunted house.
When Maggie Holt was a child she and her mother and father moved into Baneberry Hall. Maggie doesn't remember too much of her time there - they were there only a month when her family fled from it in the night. Her father later wrote a book about this home and it was a hit, a bestseller in fact - people love haunted house stories. But Maggie doesn't believe in this book. It's built on lies; it's not haunted. But Maggie's memory isn't too good.
When her father dies, Maggie learns that she is the heiress to this house. She's surprised and determined to go back there, find out what happened, why her family has built a life on lies. After all she owns Baneberry Hall. After all these years she thought they sold the house, but her father never sold it. And his dying words haunt Maggie - he tells her not to go back - go back to where????
But soon Maggie sees that what she doesn't remember may be what's haunting her and soon she realizes that Baneberry Hall is not just a mansion. No, it's more than that, and much more.
Wow - suggest you keep the lights on. Loved it. 5 stars

I'm a scaredy-cat, so I'm also anxious going into thrillers, especially when they have to do with a house. I knew this had to do with a haunted house and since I now do all of my physical reading at home, I was nervous of being scared of my own house while reading this book. I KNOW. But I decided to suck it up and finally pick up this book.

First, when this book started, I loved the format that this story was told. Maggie has no memory of living in Baneberry Hall and all she knows is what she read in her father's bestselling "non-fiction" book. Maggie doesn't know what's real and what's fiction in the book, so when her father dies and leaves her the house, Maggie decides to visit and flip the house to sell. The book is told in alternating chapters of the book her father wrote and Maggie's current journey of fixing the house and uncovering its secrets. Everything lined up so well and I was never bored with either storyline.

This book definitely got spooky at times and I really wasn't sure if things really were paranormal or something else. I liked the constant second-guessing on my part and how I truly didn't know what the answers were until the very end. While it wasn't necessarily super thrilling of a read, it was definitely creepy and I found myself flying through the story.

As my second Riley Sager book, I know that I want to pick up more of his books. I have yet to be disappointed and would definitely recommend Home Before Dark if you want a spooky story about a house that may or may not be haunted.

I really like Riley Sager's work and this book did not disappoint. The story, at first, seemed like a spin on the Amityville Horror, which, in a way, it kind of is. Normally I tend to avoid re-tellings since they have a tendency to just be near carbon copies of the original. This was not the case with this book. I really appreciated the obvious nod to the Lutz family. The twists in this book were so nicely delivered. I loved being led down one path and then watch it unfold in a completely different way. The ending was just so good. I'm too afraid to elaborate beyond that for fear I may spoil something. I highly recommend this book and I'm glad I purchased it for my library's collection.

As a longtime RS fan I have to start by saying I think this may be his best yet, you’ve got a suspenseful storyline with the added bonus of a creepy AF haunted house, a book within a book AND two timelines. There is something about the authors style that is truly his own, there’s a scariness of the type that gives you legit goosebumps, coupled with a taut and twisty plot that always seems to leave my head spinning and this was no exception.

Per usual one of the best aspects of this is the setting, did I mention there’s a haunted house?! There is such scary, well crafted atmosphere in this setting that by the time I finished it I was convinced my own house was haunted. I’m not really gonna get into the plot because it’s best left discovered on your own, but I will say that the flipping back and forth between the book House of Horrors and Maggie in present day was fantastic, especially as Maggie’s experiences started to mirror what had happened at Baneberry Hall when she was a kid, SO creepy! Definitely another hit from the author, especially if you like a thriller with a supernatural touch.

I've been a big fan of all of Riley Sager's books and this haunted house story is a new favorite. One of my favorite things in fiction is a creepy house with a storied and troubled past, and that's exactly what we get in Home Before Dark. Main character Maggie's life has been defined by the book her father wrote about the family's experience living in a house with a tragic past and the supernatural elements that haunted them, and now that he's passed away the house becomes her responsibility. The story has chapters from "the Book" woven into it, and the parallels between what Maggie finds at the house and what her father wrote about are unsettling. I could NOT put this down (and I loved the chapters from "the Book" as much as I loved Maggie's story), and I thought Riley Sager really cleverly pulled this one together, leaving readers with just enough mystery and possibility without sacrificing a satisfying ending.

Maggie Holt is too young to remember the events that caused her family to flee Baneberry Hall just three weeks after moving in, although her father has recounted them in great detail in a book titled "House of Horrors" that has brought attention and infamy to the Vermont town where the house is located. Now an adult, Maggie has inherited the house and is ready to put the past behind her and restore it to its former glory. She does not believe a word of what her father wrote about the house, and her lack of superstition leads her to move back into the house. The locals are not fond of her family after Maggie's father put them on the map in his book, and so Maggie's welcome to the town is less than warm. Soon after her arrival, odd things begin to happen at Baneberry hall - occurrences straight out of the book she thought was fiction.

This book is probably Sager's slowest burn to date. I have enjoyed his previous three books immensely, and so was ecstatic to receive an advanced ebook of his fourth book. The premise is solid, and of course the book is enjoyable, but Sager seems to be drifting further from what made his first two books so enjoyable. The over-the-top camp of Final Girls and the teen-horror-flick tropes he dragged out in Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied were exactly what made those books so readable. In Home Before Dark, we have the somewhat cliche "haunted house" trend that's becoming a bit played out now that it has appeared in nearly every summer thriller for the last two years. Still, Sager knows how to weave a story, and this one is better than most. While the book can feel like a bit of a slog at times, it does lead to an exciting conclusion that pays off the earlier wait. I'll still eagerly read Sager's next book, I only hope that he goes back to what made Final Girls such a smash hit.

Riley Sager does it again.
I love a good ghost story. And I especially love it when you don't know if the ghosts are real or if there is some human gullibility involved.
I found myself reaching for this book every spare moment I had. I flew through the pages, and secrets kept coming right up until the very end.
This was a riveting supernatural tale about a haunted house and the girl who lived there. I was terrified but hooked from page 1, and I had to know if Maggie truly saw ghosts or if it was all conceited by her infamous father.
If you want a fast paced summer read, this needs to be put at the top of your TBR pile.

A deliciously addictive haunted house plot that compels you to find out what happens next with every chapter! You can expect Riley Sager’s engrossing signature style, as well as an inclusion of the book-within-a-book element that gives the story more depth, and a strong protagonist who returns to her childhood home to find out if there’s any truth to her father’s bestseller book about the house.

The plot keeps getting more entertaining as it consecutively alternates between the main character’s POV and snippets from her dad’s book. Is the house really haunted as “The Book” claims? Or is there something else hiding in the shadows? At first, we’re offered a revelation that makes us go, “oh...that’s it?”, but then an even more tense - more satisfying - ending occurs, and it ties everything together nicely.

I really enjoyed this book, but did not care for the character of Maggie who is one of two POV's we read about, the other being her father's. I really enjoyed the father's POV which is from the past and then there is Maggie's from the present. It's about a haunted house( or is it?), a missing person and a best selling book about a haunted house. As a fan of Riley Sager I feel this book is one of his best. I read it in 2 days which I normally don't do unless the story really grabs me. I look forward to any new works by him.

Maggie Holt doesn't remember her time at Baneberry Hall, the house her father claimed was haunted in his famous, best-selling ghost story. She and her family fled Baneberry Hall one night when she was only 5 years old, never to return. When her father dies and leaves her the house, she decides she needs to go back to find out what really happened 25 years ago. There's no way it could actually be haunted, right? Fact and fiction intertwine as the story alternates between the book written by her father and Maggie's experience when she returns. Home Before Dark is a deliciously scary haunted house story that will keep you guessing until the end. Riley Sager is a master ghost story writer. For fans of The Sun Down Motel and Lock Every Door.

Loved this book! I've read all of Riley Sager's books and this is my favorite. His writing keeps getting better and better. The beginning of this reminded me of Amityville Horror. It was creepy right away. I liked the main character and wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a spooky, suspenseful, mystery.

I have always enjoyed Riley Sager's work and had high hopes for Home Before Dark.

While the story was gripping and I was interested in seeing how the story ended, I couldn't help but feel that I had heard this story before.

The similarities between Home Before Dark and Haunting of Hill House are many. And if you enjoyed Hill House (book or movie) I think you will really like Home Before Dark as well.

For me, I think the similarities took away from the story because I kept looking for HBD to follow HH.
I was pleasantly surprised by some new plot twist about halfway through Home Before Dark, but it was enough of a differentiator for me to get me to love this book.

If you are a fan of Sager or Haunting of Hill House, I think you will really like this book.

This is the newest release by the successful American author of 'Lock Every Door', 'The Last Time I Lied' and 'Final Girls'. Sager is a pseudonym and he has also written under his own name of Todd Ritter. This book is really a book within a book. Maggie's dad wrote a bestselling non-fiction book about their experiences of living for a brief while in a haunted house with a dark history. He has now died and to Maggie's surprise he stilled owned the house, which they left 25 years ago when she was five. The house, Baneberry Hall, is now Maggie's. She plans to renovate and flip the house...but living there, she soon begins to experience unexplained events. In alternate chapters we read the book written by Maggie's dad. This is a great thriller that will leave you guessing until the end as to what is really going on.