Home Before Dark is my first Riley Sager novel. I LOVED IT!! I am going to find every book he has written and read all of his work!! I highly recommend this novel!!

4.5⭐

Home Before Dark is my 4th Riley Sager book, and like his other books, I really enjoyed it! This book is a good blend of horror and thriller, and I hope he continues with this pattern. If you enjoy books like Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly and The Weight of Lies by Emily Carpenter, this is definitely a book you should pick up.

The storytelling was good, and I loved the "book within a book" format. In the middle, things started to feel a little repetitive, but it all balanced out. There were a couple good spooky scenes, but I wish it would have gone a little darker at times.

I wasn't wild about the ending, and I felt like there were a few too many twist attempts. I'm not going to say anything else on this to avoid spoilers. I still enjoyed the book overall.

I always look forward to a summer Riley Sager read, and I can't wait to see what he does next!

CW - suicide, child murder

I was VERY nervous when I started reading this book, because I am a big baby when it comes to scary stories. This book did a great job of walking the line between ghost story and mystery. Weaving Maggie's dad's book into her present-day story was done masterfully. This book was suspenseful, but the plot moved along quickly. This might just be my favorite Riley Sager to date! I look forward to including Home Before Dark in our Summer Reading Guide!

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? We’re offered a fairly guessable revelation at first, but then an even more tense, more satisfying ending occurs, and it ties everything together nicely.

Let me just start out by saying- I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I have been a big fan of Riley Sager since I read The Final Girls and every book is better than the last. I don’t know how that is even possible, since I think every one is perfect. I am a sucker for anything with a gothic feel and this book has it in spades, from a spooky Victorian mansion to things that go bump in the night. I read lots of thrillers and it’s hard to surprise me, but this was an ending I never saw coming.

I really liked the alternating view points. I found myself having a hard time putting it down. As soon as I was done reading Ewan’s perspective, I was compelled to follow it up with Maggie’s and vice versa. I did make the mistake of reading it late at night while I was alone and it frightened me more than I had anticipated. Lucky for me, I LOVE to be scared. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know. One of my favorites of the year.

Yet another winner from Riley Sager! Although this one is very different from his last books (more ghost story than thriller), I absolutely loved it and read it in one night. This book alternated between the story Sager is telling and the book written by the main character’s father (also written by Sager, of course). This was an inventive way of writing this novel, and it was interesting to read her fathers story as she slowly began remembering her childhood. Highly recommended!

Riley Sager has become the go-to author for creepy, gothic, atmospheric thrillers and Home Before Dark doesn't disappoint. Maggie Holt's life has been defined by a book her father wrote about their experiences in a haunted house when she was 5. She has no memories of any of the occurrences and has long believed her father lied about the whole thing to sell a book. When her father dies and she discovers she now owns the house, she returns to it to try to discover the truth about why her family fled the house and never returned. There are enough twists and turns here to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

WOW!
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Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC. I love all Sager books but this was my favorite yet, which is saying a lot because they have all been so darn good!
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Maggie Holt has had a difficult life due to a series of incidents that occurred when she was five. She and her family moved into the large and looming Baneberry Hall after getting a killer deal on the mansion. Maggie's dad couldn't resist the house with all of its character and potential, even after hearing its terrible history that include many deaths within the house.
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Strange things start to happen almost immediately upon the Holt's arrival. Loud thuds in the night, creepy music from the attic (who knew The Sound of Music could be so eerie?), and now, Maggie has unpleasant imaginary friends who tell her that she and her parents are going to die in the house.
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This was a solid ghost story. What propelled it to five stars, for me, was the writing and the ending. It was VERY twisty and a twist that I didn't, even a little bit, anticipate. If you're looking for THE summer thriller to read, this is the way to go!

Thanks to Netgalley for a chance to read and review this wonderful book . This was a phenomenal read that kept me guessing the whole way through. The book is really two books in one. Maggie has spent her life haunted by her fathers book, the one that tells of the "true" experience in the haunted baneberry hall of her parents and her as a young child. The book has followed her, changed how people interact with her, and she hates it. Now Maggie finds herself the owner of baneberry hall and is back to try and fix it up so that she can sell it. Shes certain that the book is full of lies, But strange things begin occurring and suddenly shes less certain. Events seem to mirror those in her fathers book and Maggie is left to figure out what, or who, is happening to Baneberry Hall.

Normally I would want to talk more about characters and events and all of the wonderfully scary things that happen in this book, but I really don't want to give too much away. This book is extremely well written. The moment you think you know whats happening, everything twists away and your left guessing. This is a combined mystery, thriller, and ghost story. I love that the book has sections of House of Horrors buried within it, giving almost a dual narrative. I love how spooky the book reads and how you can feel Maggie's panic at various moments. The supporting characters are also great, with everyone being at least a little suspicious.

One of my favorite haunted house stories that I have read in a long time. Strongly recommended.

Get ready summer 2020, Riley Sager is on the way with a ghost story fit for reading. Thank you to Dutton Books and Netgalley for allowing me an electronic copy for review in conjunction with the Mystery Book Club on Instagram.

Maggie Holt doesn't remember much of her short time in Baneberry Hall, a.k.a. The House of Horrors. After less than three weeks at Baneberry Hall, Maggie and her parents fled into the night due to hauntings in the house. Maggie didn't think she'd ever be back but after her father's death she finds herself back at Baneberry Hall to refinish it. The past of Baneberry Hall doesn't want to stay hidden and it's about to make itself known.

Riley Sager has a way with words and he does it well with Home Before Dark. He paints Baneberry Hall as a house alive and with its own sinister personality. Home Before Dark is told in alternating perspectives between the present with Maggie and the past in the story her father published about their time in Baneberry Hall. Home Before Dark is a ghost story that's fit for the summer and will be a quick read during quarantine, and beyond. I liked the majority of the story but it fell flat for me in the last few chapters. I wish the story had stopped right before the twist Riley is known for because after that it didn't work for me. I know I'm in the minority with those feelings and so many online are in love with this book. It's destined to be one of the top thrillers in summer 2020. Regardless of those feelings I'm looking forward to seeing what Riley Sager will have up his sleeve next.

I loved the spooky vibes in this book! Sager is excellent at creating eerie scenes and leaving you feeling unsettled. I will definitely continue to read anything and everything he writes. However, The Last Time I Lied and Lock Every Door both grabbed me from the beginning and for some reason this one did not do that. Despite that, I was intrigued throughout the book and did not solve exactly what was going on until it played out so once again, Sager keeps the mystery and suspense going throughout the book. I highly recommend it if you're a fan of thrillers, horror, or just ghost stories!

Riley Sager is already one of my favorite thriller authors, so I was super excited to get to read an ARC! This was a great read about the mystery of Baneberry Hall. The story goes from present day as Maggie learns she has inherited Baneberry Hall after her father's passing to 25 years ago from her father's perspective. The two stories slowly meet at present day as the mysteries of Baneberry Hall are finally revealed! The end threw me for...two loops! I definitely recommend adding to my must read list!

Thank you for the free book @duttonbooks #DuttonPartner @duttonbooks

4.5 Spooky Stars

"Every house has a story. Ours is a ghost story. It's also a lie. And now that yet another person has died within these walls, it's finally time to tell the truth." -Home Before Dark.

SYNOPSIS: What was it like? Living in that house. Maggie Holt is used to such 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. - Home Before Dark.

REVIEW: Thank you so much to NetGalley, Penguin Group/ Dutton, and Riley Sager for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. When I saw I got approved to read and review this book I lost my mind with excitement. I am in love with Riley Sager's books and this one is no exception. This book kept me interested, entertained, and on-edge since the start. It is full of twists, great characters, spooky scenes, and complicated family secrets. While slightly different than Riley Sager's previous titles (delving more into horror/ thriller rather than just thriller), anyone who has read and enjoyed his previous books will also love this one.

This book is filled with spooky moments and even though I read this while the sun is shining outside, I felt like I was also trapped within the dark and dusty walls of Baneberry Hall. I think that it is a great idea to go into this book as blind as possible because there are so many amazing reveals and twists that make the story memorable. I would recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed a previous book by Riley Sager, those fans of the thriller and horror genre, and especially those who are a fan of scary movies and ghost stories (Netflix's Haunting of Hill House, anyone?). Make sure to pick this up when it releases next month!

RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2020

I have read all of Rileys books... This was good but not the best.... When I read Lock Every Door, I could not put the book down... This one, although nice and twisty, was somewhat predictable. I didn't guess it all but close to it and it reminded me of another sillier tale. I liked the characters, etc but can't say I loved the alternating chapters of the different time periods. It was a good beach read, or pandemic escape.

Thank you so much to @jordys.book.club and @bostonbookfanatic for having me be apart of the Home Before Dark #mysterybookclub!! Thank you to @duttonbooks for sending over my e-arc!

OH.MY.GOSH. I DON’T HAVE THE WORDS TO EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! This comes out June 30th so you better be adding this to your TBR!!!!!!!

What’s real? What’s imaginary? What’s the truth? What’s the lie? What happened 25 years ago when Maggie and her family lived in Baneberry Hall? What really happened on July 15th?

This book was amazing. I was texting Leslie, @shobizreads, my thoughts and theories throughout my entire read. I probably was annoying the heck out of her but I clearly didn’t care. I even got a few of my theories correct!!

I honestly don’t even have the words to process what I read except that it was mind blowing. The twists and turns did not disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I thought I knew one thing and then bam, something else happens but it is after all. He should just own the title of the twist and turn genius.

Also, to be honest, I really like Dane.

What a ghost story! This is a story within a story which I love - it’s like getting to read 2 books in 1. In Riley Sager’s upcoming 5th novel (released June 30,2020 you will meet Maggie Holt and follow her story as she tries to uncover secrets she has carried since childhood: was the home where she lived haunted? We’re the creatures that caused her night terrors real? Can she trust her mom and dad? Maggie is back in her childhood home, a home that had snakes in the ceiling, wiring that made electric turn on and off and brought with it horrifying ghosts. I loved that Maggie’s father transcribed her memories into a book. But if ghosts aren’t real how much of the story is? A ghost story, a murder mystery, a psychological thriller. This is a book that had scenes so terrifying that I didn’t want to close my eyes. Memories and stories so horrific that I wanted to make sure Maggie was okay. Very well written. In style this novel reminded me a lot of another novel I loved: Kate Moretti’s IN HER BONES

This story kept me up all night. If only I had listened to Joey and made room in the freezer. I am glad Nicholle and I were able to do a buddy read of this book. I know she will have to remind me that my basement apartment doesn’t have snakes In the ceiling. @riley.sager if your goal was to scare and surprise to the very end you have succeeded. This is a ghost story for the ages. Ps what a beautiful dedication and cover that GLOWS in the dark!

I highly enjoyed Riley Sager's "Lock Every Door" and eagerly requested an advanced reader's copy of "Home Before Dark." The novel is written in parallel narratives, which is the plot device.. One of the narratives consists of excerpts from the protagonist's father's tell-all horror book, "House of Horrors," written years before, so that the protagonist, Maggie, can have experiences in the creepy haunted house that are the same, or nearly the same, as her father's experiences.

What really happened at Baneberry Hall is the mystery. Maggie arrives a total skeptic, having inherited the house that her family fled and hoping to flip it. Weird things start to happen.. How much of her father's account is real, and how much was fabricated? And if it's real, are ghosts to blame, or something else?

Since "House of Horrors" is necessarily amateurish and sort of cheesy, I found each perspective switch irritating.. I would have far preferred a linear narrative, with Maggie pointing out bits and pieces of her father's story along the way.. The shocking twists and the ending are just as solid as you would expect from Sager, but I couldn't get past the irritation every time the perspective switched from Maggie's POV.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley and was encouraged to submit a review.

S y n o p s I s ||

When Maggie was a child, her parents purchased Baneberry Hall. Her parents fell in love with the home and wanted to raise their child there! Only a few days in, they start hearing strange sounds and weird things start happening. After running away from this home, her father writes their family story of their time at Baneberry Hall which ends up defining Maggie’s life more than she wished.

My thoughts:

Book within a book: I loved the book within a book aspect of this one! I switched perspective between Megan and Megan's father's perspective of what went on in their home. I loved seeing both perspectives of the story and how it took us through this creepy houses history.

The creep factor: I loved how creepy this one was. I get spooked easily, but this one had a consistent creep factor that was great.

The ending: I wasn't a super huge fan of the ending. It all seemed to convenient to blame what happened through the whole book on an extra door they didn't know about.

Riley Sager always keeps me turning the pages! Home Before Dark was no exception. I love a haunted house story that asks the reader if the house is haunted or the family. Sager unravels the tale for the reader between two perspectives: Maggie as an adult who has been left the house and now must unravel her memories, and that of her father’s, specifically chapters from his famous book about their experience at the house. The dark history of the house makes it easy to believe her father’s account, but Maggie has never really believed in the ghosts. I enjoyed unraveling the ghost story, memories, and family secrets (and there are many of each). I will definitely recommend to fans of Ruth Ware, Gillian Flynn, and B.A. Paris.

Riley Sager books are a sort of guilty pleasure because he takes well-known horror classics and reimagines them into modern-day thrillers. The fun of reading them is that while you identify all the elements and you know exactly what is supposed to happen next, it's still somehow turned into a completely different story by the end of the book. "Home Before Dark," Sager's take on "Amityville Horror," is possibly his best yet.

The "real" Amityville Horror is a book written by a man who'd purchased a house where a murder had taken place, then abruptly moved his family out in the middle of the night and wrote a "nonfiction" novel about the super-horrific haunting they'd endured. I've always wondered about the kids in that family and what it must have been like for them to live under the shadow of that book, and I guess Sager did too. Sager's protagonist grew up being known as the central character in her father's famous haunted house novel. Now a grown adult, she has zero memories of the house and wants to know what really happened, so she decides to go back and stay there for a while.

The novel alternates back and forth in time between passages from her father's book and her present-day experiences there. There's a lot going on, but the different elements of the story tie together nicely in the end. in keeping with Sager's style he doesn't quite take you to the same places that Amityville Horror did, to the extent that it's not necessary to have read Amityville in order to enjoy this novel. I think Sager has somewhat redeemed that Amityville author, too - it might have been a total con, but at least it inspired some good fiction! Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for review.