Book Review — Home Before Dark

 

Title: Home Before Dark
Author: Riley Sager
Genre: Horror
Pages: Oversize paperback 384
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4519-6
Opening Lines: "Every house has a story to tell and a secret to share."

Rating

"Twenty-five years ago, Maggie Holt and her parents, Ean and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. Three weeks later they fled in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book titled House of Horrors. His horror memoir of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skeptics.

"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. Ghost, 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 as more fact than fiction."

~ Jacket copy

After all the dust settled and the media attention died down, after years of movies and the Satanic Panic, did you ever wonder what the Lutz children thought of The Amityville Horror? This is the follow-up book/docuseries you wanted—the Lutz children returning to the sight of their harrowing encounter with the supernatural and trying to sift through the truth and the lies. (Of course, this assumes the Netflix documentary following the youngest son does not exist . . . I kind of wish it didn't.)

Maggie Holt grew up in the shadow of The Book. Every life experience was shaped by it. Everyone's perception of her was shaped by the little girl in The Book. And she's spent the majority of her childhood trying to run from what she felt was a fictional identity. She has even gone so far as to denounce her parents' claims of spiritual encounters. After all, she cannot remember anything that happened in the house, so it must be true . . . Right? Further, when questioned, her parents either outright refuse to talk to her about their time in Baneberry Hall or give her the same canned response they give on camera. When she inherits Baneberry Hall, it comes as no surprise when Maggie jumps at the opportunity to return to the house and determine the truth of The Book. What is surprising is her parents' response. Her father dies making her promise never to return to the house, while her mother tells her to sell it sight-unseen.  

From start to finish, this book was a wild ride! The novel is structured as a frame narrative—The Book inside the book. Each chapter alternates between correlating chapters in The Book and Maggie's story. Further, while Maggie does venture into town, the majority of the novel takes place in Baneberry Hall, which immerses the reader in Maggie's experiences. Most of the characters were supporting, flat characters. However, Maggie's parents are more fleshed out in The Book, That added a completely different element.

This book is hard to explain without giving away the ending. Sager did a marvelous job throwing in twists and turns. After reading Final Girls, I expected it from him; however, I was still annoyed with myself for not figuring out the full ending before it hit me in the face. And something about his writing style got under my skin! I found myself feeling freaked out in broad daylight, and jumping at all the settling house noises at night.  I could not put this book down! It was devoured within a few days!

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it was the book I needed! If you're looking for a good creepy book with some interesting plot twists, I highly recommend this one!