Helpful Score: 2
Creepy, sinister crawlies that turned my stomach, ghosts and all sorts of happenings in a haunted house are the premise of this book within a book.
Riley Sager gave me nightmares Again as I read this book before going to sleep. It is a delicious plot and I savored it.
Riley Sager gave me nightmares Again as I read this book before going to sleep. It is a delicious plot and I savored it.
Helpful Score: 1
Haunted house stories are right up my alley and this one delivers the creep. Entertaining too, and even the alternating story lines worked for me. However, I feel like I've been played. A ghost story but not really a ghost story? And the ending was rushed and not altogether satisfying. 3 stars.
A young woman returns to the crumbling, isolated manor house her family purchased when she was a child -- only to flee a few weeks later, claiming angry ghosts were threatening her life. Fine, spooky tale, though it does get a bit convoluted at the end.
I'm not typically drawn to ghost stories or stories about the supernatural; if there's a mystery supposedly caused by some kind of creepy, otherworldly element, I want a human, tangible explanation for it.
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager meets that requirement...mostly.
Home renovator and interior decorator Maggie Holt has returned to Baneberry Hall, a huge, overgrown mansion that was her childhood home, though only for a few weeks before her parents fled in terror. Her father found fame in subsequently writing the tale of that short tenure in House of Horrors, chapters from which are interspersed with Maggie's account in the present day. The reader flips back and forth between Mr. Ewan Holt's account, as it unspools day by day, and Maggie's in the wake of her father's death decades later. (And both parts are compelling, which often isn't the case in books with two narratives threaded together). Despite his warning to never return to Baneberry Hall, Maggie's father also never sold the sprawling house, and he never told Maggie the truth of what happened before the family abandoned it when she was young. He has always claimed that his account is true (which is full of ghosts, mysteriously ringing bells, ancient record players and chandeliers that turn on in the night, armoire doors flying open, etc.) Maggie doesn't believe it, but she can't remember much, either.
Many characters populate the pages, and sometimes they are challenging to keep track of, as the house has spawned generational tragedies involving fathers and daughters.
The book contains many scary scenes (it would make a great movie, with so many scares just outside of the screen's frame jumping out), but its most memorable involves a horde of writhing snakes, vividly described.
I did NOT figure out the ending - and Sager presents one plausible ending, which is supplanted by two subsequent endings that upend the previous conclusions. Are ghosts the culprits? Or someone or something else? I can't say more!
The book contains a lot of the "f word," though far less than the average thriller you might flip through today.
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager meets that requirement...mostly.
Home renovator and interior decorator Maggie Holt has returned to Baneberry Hall, a huge, overgrown mansion that was her childhood home, though only for a few weeks before her parents fled in terror. Her father found fame in subsequently writing the tale of that short tenure in House of Horrors, chapters from which are interspersed with Maggie's account in the present day. The reader flips back and forth between Mr. Ewan Holt's account, as it unspools day by day, and Maggie's in the wake of her father's death decades later. (And both parts are compelling, which often isn't the case in books with two narratives threaded together). Despite his warning to never return to Baneberry Hall, Maggie's father also never sold the sprawling house, and he never told Maggie the truth of what happened before the family abandoned it when she was young. He has always claimed that his account is true (which is full of ghosts, mysteriously ringing bells, ancient record players and chandeliers that turn on in the night, armoire doors flying open, etc.) Maggie doesn't believe it, but she can't remember much, either.
Many characters populate the pages, and sometimes they are challenging to keep track of, as the house has spawned generational tragedies involving fathers and daughters.
The book contains many scary scenes (it would make a great movie, with so many scares just outside of the screen's frame jumping out), but its most memorable involves a horde of writhing snakes, vividly described.
I did NOT figure out the ending - and Sager presents one plausible ending, which is supplanted by two subsequent endings that upend the previous conclusions. Are ghosts the culprits? Or someone or something else? I can't say more!
The book contains a lot of the "f word," though far less than the average thriller you might flip through today.
I was in the mood for a scary house book, and Riley Sager's Home Before Dark delivers. Baneberry Hall (why would someone name his mansion after poisonous berries?) joins the ranks of my favorite spooky abodes with Shirley Jackson's Hill House and others. The first sentence pulled me right in because I do believe that houses can have stories and secrets to share, that people's experiences can somehow soak into the plaster and beams. One of the locals tells Maggie, "From what I've heard, that house hasn't witnessed a lot of love. It remembers that pain. What you need to do is make it forget." The question is, does Maggie have what it takes to make Baneberry Hall forget a very painful past?
Although other architectural details-- like the interior of the town library (!), that armoire in the Indigo Room, and others that shall remain nameless-- have landed firmly in my memory, Maggie Holt's journey to enlightenment has, too. She's a woman who doesn't know how to quit, especially when three momentous weeks of her childhood are coming to light. She's stubborn and distrustful, and she needs a lot of convincing, but Baneberry Hall gets the job done. Just how it does that, you'll have to find out for yourself.
Probably the best thing about Home Before Dark should please all those who don't care for any paranormal elements in their reading. Logic plays a very large role in uncovering the truth of Baneberry Hall's history-- but that doesn't mean I'd walk into that mansion without feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up. If you like being pleasantly spooked and solidly entertained, this is the book for you.
Although other architectural details-- like the interior of the town library (!), that armoire in the Indigo Room, and others that shall remain nameless-- have landed firmly in my memory, Maggie Holt's journey to enlightenment has, too. She's a woman who doesn't know how to quit, especially when three momentous weeks of her childhood are coming to light. She's stubborn and distrustful, and she needs a lot of convincing, but Baneberry Hall gets the job done. Just how it does that, you'll have to find out for yourself.
Probably the best thing about Home Before Dark should please all those who don't care for any paranormal elements in their reading. Logic plays a very large role in uncovering the truth of Baneberry Hall's history-- but that doesn't mean I'd walk into that mansion without feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up. If you like being pleasantly spooked and solidly entertained, this is the book for you.
This is my new favorite Riley Sager book! Wow! It was so scary!!! I had to sleep with the light on and check that the closet doors were closed! It is a great haunted house/ghost story but also a good murder mystery with twists and surprises. I loved it in the end!
So good I want my own copy. Definitely keeps you guessing. A thrilling ride.
A ghost story that sends chills down your spine. Except it isn't a ghost story but it is a ghost story but it isn't. That is how much of the feel of the book goes. You are on a delightful roller coaster ride and not sure what the heck is going on.
This story is about a haunted house and the family who lived in it and fled, leaving all their possessions behind. It mostly revolves around their daughter Maggie who at the time of the haunting was 5 years old. Fast forward 25 years later and Maggie is a busy individual who remembers nothing of the haunting. Matter of fact, even after dad wrote a book of it, she still believes it was all made up. After her dad passes away, she finds he left everything to her, including the house. To face her demons and find out the truth, she makes her way back to the place that has been, unfortunately, a big part of her life.
Really enjoyed the story and not only did it keep me guessing, it had a wonderful pace. The ending was crazy but it also felt like too many things were getting thrown at you at one time. I felt it a bit overwhelming and rushed. Other than that a great story.
This story is about a haunted house and the family who lived in it and fled, leaving all their possessions behind. It mostly revolves around their daughter Maggie who at the time of the haunting was 5 years old. Fast forward 25 years later and Maggie is a busy individual who remembers nothing of the haunting. Matter of fact, even after dad wrote a book of it, she still believes it was all made up. After her dad passes away, she finds he left everything to her, including the house. To face her demons and find out the truth, she makes her way back to the place that has been, unfortunately, a big part of her life.
Really enjoyed the story and not only did it keep me guessing, it had a wonderful pace. The ending was crazy but it also felt like too many things were getting thrown at you at one time. I felt it a bit overwhelming and rushed. Other than that a great story.
This is a story of a house with long-buried secrets and Maggie Holt's quest to uncover them. 25 years ago she and her parents lived in Baneberry Hall but only stayed for 20 days. She soon finds out that the truth is more terrifying than any haunted house. This is a creepy Amityville Horror spine-chilling tale that switches from past and present. It is my first Riley Sager book but won't be my last.
This was such a disappointment.
It is THE poor re-telling of the same story. Reading the summary, I thought "oh, like Amityville Horror", and reading the first page, I thought "The Haunting of Hill House" (a very poor knock-off of Haunting of Hill House). But I bought the book. No returns. So I kept reading. Somewhere past the half way mark, I really couldn't understand all the rave reviews of this book. Did these readers not ever read a haunted house book before? See the movies? IT wasn't spooky or thrilling or suspenseful - it stayed so on-script that I knew what would happen all along the way. I looked at some of the reviews, and saw some with 2 star ratings - one commented that it was like fan-fic for the Netflix version of Haunting of Hill House. THAT is what was bugging me. THAT is what this is. I turned on the series to re-watch the first episode and it all clicked.
As for the book-within-a-book thing - Yeah, nice touch, I suppose. But I've read better.
It is THE poor re-telling of the same story. Reading the summary, I thought "oh, like Amityville Horror", and reading the first page, I thought "The Haunting of Hill House" (a very poor knock-off of Haunting of Hill House). But I bought the book. No returns. So I kept reading. Somewhere past the half way mark, I really couldn't understand all the rave reviews of this book. Did these readers not ever read a haunted house book before? See the movies? IT wasn't spooky or thrilling or suspenseful - it stayed so on-script that I knew what would happen all along the way. I looked at some of the reviews, and saw some with 2 star ratings - one commented that it was like fan-fic for the Netflix version of Haunting of Hill House. THAT is what was bugging me. THAT is what this is. I turned on the series to re-watch the first episode and it all clicked.
As for the book-within-a-book thing - Yeah, nice touch, I suppose. But I've read better.
