Home before Dark by Riley Sager

4.7 (20)
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Product details

Web ID: 15843590

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One of USA Today's Best Books of 2020 A haunted house story with a twist. [Sager] does not hold back (Rolling Stone) in this chilling thriller from the author of Final Girls and Survive the Night. Every house has a story to tell and a secret to share. Twenty-five years ago, Maggie Holt and her parents moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. Three weeks later they fled in the dead of night, an ordeal her father recounted in a memoir called House of Horrors. His story of supernatural happenings and malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity and skepticism. Maggie was too young to remember any of the horrific events that supposedly took place, and as an adult she doesn't believe a word of her father's claims. Ghosts, after all, don't exist. When she inherits Baneberry Hall after his death and returns to renovate the place and sell it, her homecoming is anything but warm. The locals aren't thrilled that their small town has been made infamous, and human characters with starring roles in House of Horrors are waiting in the shadows.

  • Product Features

    • Suggested age range - Adult
    • Format - Paperback
    • Product dimensions - 5.4" W x 8.1" H x 1.1" D
    • Genre - Mystery and Thriller
    • Publisher - Penguin Publishing Group, Publication date - 08-31-2021
    • Page count - 416
    • ISBN - 9781524745196
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Ratings & Reviews

4.7/5

20 star ratings & reviews

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2 months ago

Stunned...

This book is my 2nd by Sager, my mind is blown... I found the mystery compelling and in equal parts terrifying.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

4 months ago
from Indianapolis

Highly Recommend!

My first Riley Sager book and it has me hooked. Love the mix of horror and thriller vibes. Reminded me of a Darcy Coates haunted house story. So fast paced and the ending was well done.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 months ago

This book got me into thrillers

I went into this book liking the idea of the story and fell in love with how Riley Sager brought the story to life! The dual perspective between the daughter and the father’s book was a cool way to show the progress through the story.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

7 months ago

Classic Riley Sager

Riley Sager’s supernatural-esque books are always hit or miss for me. As usual, I enjoyed his characters, their development, and the overall setting of the story. I felt like I was physically in the house at multiple times throughout the book! I wish it had been a touch shorter and that there weren’t so many twists at the end, but it was still a very strong thriller.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

10 months ago
from KimSue13

A great haunted house mystery!

Home Before Dark has a lot going for it. We jump into the present story from Maggie’s POV as she returns to her haunting childhood home to investigate. Her portion of the book is eerie and had me feeling paranoid about who Maggie can trust. Then we jump right to excerpts from her father’s infamous book for a more in-your-face, scary time. I enjoyed unraveling the mystery along with both protagonists, particularly, because the constant switching between their stories kept the things interesting. I really enjoyed that Maggie was an expert on her Father’s story, so she didn’t miss the minor details. It was a nice departure from the common thriller set up where we have multiple points of view and end up knowing much more than the protagonist. Maggie knew more than the reader and slowly filled in the blanks when we needed the help. This was a good haunted house book and a better spooky mystery. This was my third Riley Sager book this year and he is quickly becoming a favorite of mine!

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

1 year ago

home before dark

such an amazing book! 10/10 recommend!

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 years ago
from IL

creepy read

I enjoyed the dual storytelling—Maggie’s present timeline alternating with excerpts from her father’s book. I found the details of this tale interesting and increasingly creepy, but I struggled to get fully behind Maggie. She was so angrily insistent in the beginning that her parents were complete liars and that nothing supernatural was possible that it felt a bit extreme. And as spooky things started happening to her that were similar to the events in her father’s book, and as she confirmed some of the book was true, she still kept complaining about the book being a lie and I was ready for a change. Luckily, the plot took unexpected and intriguing turns, so I easily continued reading until the end. Overall, this was a creepy read but I wish I could have connected more to Maggie before the big reveal at the end.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 years ago
from Arizona

Creepy and scary!

If you are looking for a creepy, scary, very suspenseful book to read for Halloween, this book will definitely fill the bill. Maggie Holt is a designer/historian who has a business with her friend, Alli, renovating and selling homes. Maggie inherited Baneberry Hall when her father died. It was home to her and her parents when she was 5 years old and they only stayed there for 21 days before they fled. After fleeing, Maggie's father wrote a best seller called The House of Horrors detailing all the strange things as well as the ghosts that were present which only Maggie could see which included Mr. Shadow and Miss Pennyface. Lots of strange things begin to happen after Maggie moves in to begin removations, especially after she meets her neighbor and handyman, Dane. The story is told from the viewpoints alternating between Maggie's father basically reading from his "nonfiction" book and Maggie's current experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed this book with all of its scary twists, turns and big surprises.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com