Fiction Book Review: Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

By Mary Beth Newbill | Southern History Department | Central Library

The days are getting shorter and (hopefully) cooler and as summer turns to fall, a nice ghost story is a great way to welcome the season. Riley Sager’s newest book, Home Before Dark, is a fun, satisfying, and scary (but not too scary) haunted house tale. 

Maggie Holt learns, much to her surprise, that her deceased father has left her their old home, Baneberry Hall, in his will. Maggie’s surprise stems from the fact that she had no idea her father still owned the house. As far as Maggie knew, no one in the family had set foot in it since they fled in the middle of the night after having lived there for only three weeks when she was five years old. The family’s sudden departure and the subsequent police investigation attracted enough attention that Maggie’s father (a writer, of course) decided to tell their story. The resulting book, House of Horrors, became a bestseller, provided the family with a comfortable living, and changed Maggie’s life forever.

Determined to claim her inheritance and learn what really happened that long ago summer, Maggie (against her mother’s wishes) returns to Baneberry Hall. Ostensibly, she’s there to fix up the rambling Victorian and sell it for a profit. However, her primary motive is to untangle fact from fiction. Maggie is convinced House of Horrors is pure make-believe, designed to sell as many books as possible, but as she spends more time in her childhood home, she can’t deny there is some truth in her father’s words.

Home Before Dark moves at a fast pace but doesn’t skimp on the atmosphere. Baneberry Hall and its former inhabitants (many of whom met unpleasant ends) are incorporated into the story. Like any good haunted house book, the house itself is one of the main characters. The descriptions of the house and grounds are wonderful and readers won’t have any trouble imagining them. Like Maggie, the residents of Bartleby, Vermont, have been affected by The Book (as Maggie calls it) and are not exactly thrilled to see her back again. Secrets and fears from long ago begin to surface. A murdered girl, a distraught mother, and a woman with a tragic past all seem to coalesce around Maggie and her family until finally, the truth is revealed.

I really enjoyed Home Before Dark. This is a perfect ghost story for anyone who doesn’t want something over-the-top scary or gory. It’s creepy enough to be fun, but doesn't cross into “keep you up at night” territory.