Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Dutton (2020), 400 pages
Description
In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father's bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound--and dangerous--secrets hidden within its walls? 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. Alternating between Maggie's uneasy homecoming and chapters from her father's book, Home Before Dark is the story of a house with long-buried secrets and a woman's quest to uncover them--even if the truth is far more terrifying than any haunting.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member BookNookRetreat7
This was a creepy and haunted story!
A small backstory without giving away spoilers:
A young woman, Maggie Holt, learns that her father has died, but she gets a shock when she finds out that she has also inherited a mansion called Baneberry Hall. A place that she has actually lived in when she was a
Maggie upon arrival to Baneberry Hall plans to restore the home and decides to move in as she doesn't believe in ghosts and vehemently refuses to even acknowledge that the mansion is haunted. Though as time moves on, she cannot deny that "something" is happening within the mansion.
Thoughts:
This was a very spooky tale which is told in two pov's. The one pov is told from the book that her father wrote along with what him and his family experienced while they were living there. The other pov is of Maggie and her story of what she has to go through from the time her father died to her time in the mansion.
This was definitely a page turner with lots of spooky atmosphere throughout the story. Though I have to say that the spookiness of the mansion creeped me out mostly from the storytelling part of the father's book and what the family had to endure. I do have to say though that to me it wasn't a "leave the lights on" scary book, but then again it takes a lot to scare me, but there were moments that had some spook factors throughout the story. Giving this book four "spooky" stars.
A small backstory without giving away spoilers:
A young woman, Maggie Holt, learns that her father has died, but she gets a shock when she finds out that she has also inherited a mansion called Baneberry Hall. A place that she has actually lived in when she was a
Show More
child and didn't know that her father still owned. Her father even wrote a book about the mansion as he believed it to be haunted.Maggie upon arrival to Baneberry Hall plans to restore the home and decides to move in as she doesn't believe in ghosts and vehemently refuses to even acknowledge that the mansion is haunted. Though as time moves on, she cannot deny that "something" is happening within the mansion.
Thoughts:
This was a very spooky tale which is told in two pov's. The one pov is told from the book that her father wrote along with what him and his family experienced while they were living there. The other pov is of Maggie and her story of what she has to go through from the time her father died to her time in the mansion.
This was definitely a page turner with lots of spooky atmosphere throughout the story. Though I have to say that the spookiness of the mansion creeped me out mostly from the storytelling part of the father's book and what the family had to endure. I do have to say though that to me it wasn't a "leave the lights on" scary book, but then again it takes a lot to scare me, but there were moments that had some spook factors throughout the story. Giving this book four "spooky" stars.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Carol420
A ghost story collides with a family mystery. Maggie Holt was 5 years old when her mother and father took her and fled the house known as Baneberry Hall that they thought would be their dream home on the edge of a Vermont forest. Her parents always told her "never return...it's not safe...for you".
Note: In spite of the reference to the Amityville Horror in the book description ...this book is listed as a work of fiction.
Show More
Her father wrote a best seller about their experience in the house that they only occupied for 20 days...Maggie didn't believe a word of it which I thought was a bit dramatic on her part since she had almost no memory of anything that happened in the house. Of course she didn't listen and after calling her parents...especially her father... a liar Maggie returns to try to get the house in shape to put it on the market...but the house and what occupies it... has other plans for Maggie. Events begin to unfold that defy logic and begin to call into question all that Maggie believed...or didn’t believe... about her family’s ordeal years prior. Ghosts aren’t real…are they? Find out for yourself but leave your lights on...make sure your closets are as empty as you think they are...and get ready for a chilling journey into Maggie Holt's forgotten world.Note: In spite of the reference to the Amityville Horror in the book description ...this book is listed as a work of fiction.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ecataldi
Absolutely stellar! This horror novel had definite "Haunting of Hill House" vibes. I couldn't put it down. It was compulsively readable, creepy, and super intriguing! When Maggie was 5 she and her parents lived in a huge hulking house that turned out to be haunted. They fled after 20 days never to
Show More
return. Her father wrote a bestselling book about their experience and that book has changed Maggie's life. She was too young to remember those 20 days so all she knows is what her father wrote about it and she doesn't believe any of it. Her parents refused to ever discuss it with her. When her father dies she discovers that she has inherited the house. She didn't even know her father still had it. What else was he lying to her about. She goes to the house to flip it and try to sell it for a profit, but really she's going for answers. Chapters alternate between Maggie's present day experiences in the house and excerpts from her fathers book. So good and I didn't see the ending coming. I loved it! Riley Sager hits another one out of the ballpark! Show Less
LibraryThing member Darcia
I was so ready for a creepy, haunted house story to freak me out, but Home Before Dark gave me only flashes of that Gothic feel.
Sager fans, please don't crucify me. The writing here is excellent. I enjoyed the story overall, though I didn't love it, and I wasn't ever totally committed to the fear
The story starts strong. The sense of otherworldly unknown had me on edge. But then the middle sagged and dragged a bit for me.
We have two timelines, or a book within a book. The present is narrated by Maggie, and the past is chapters from the book her father wrote about their experience in the house when Maggie was a child. Both parts are written in first person. I found the father's parts much more engaging than Maggie's. Her sections are repetitive and her character is dull.
The ghost aspect is certainly creepy enough, but this is also where the repetition occurs most. The same few things happen over and over, so it becomes expected and not all that scary.
Intensity builds and pacing picks up during the last quarter, where we have several twists. I was all in. Then the ending happened, and, well, I felt it was overblown. I suppose it's plausible, but I didn't like it.
So this isn't quite the Gothic ghost story I was hoping for, but it's still an enjoyable read.
Sager fans, please don't crucify me. The writing here is excellent. I enjoyed the story overall, though I didn't love it, and I wasn't ever totally committed to the fear
Show More
factor.The story starts strong. The sense of otherworldly unknown had me on edge. But then the middle sagged and dragged a bit for me.
We have two timelines, or a book within a book. The present is narrated by Maggie, and the past is chapters from the book her father wrote about their experience in the house when Maggie was a child. Both parts are written in first person. I found the father's parts much more engaging than Maggie's. Her sections are repetitive and her character is dull.
The ghost aspect is certainly creepy enough, but this is also where the repetition occurs most. The same few things happen over and over, so it becomes expected and not all that scary.
Intensity builds and pacing picks up during the last quarter, where we have several twists. I was all in. Then the ending happened, and, well, I felt it was overblown. I suppose it's plausible, but I didn't like it.
So this isn't quite the Gothic ghost story I was hoping for, but it's still an enjoyable read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member marykuhl
Are the imagings of 5 year old Maggie Holt just that, or are they something more. Children see and sense things adults can't. Growing up in the shadow of House of Horrors, the "real life book her father wrote about their time at Baneberry Hall, Maggie has just wanted to know the truth about those
Show More
20 days they spent there, and why they left in the middle of the night. I wasn't terrified, but I was creeped out by some things. I feel like Lock Every Door was scarier, but this book still held me. I had to wonder, is this house haunted. Literally, I didn't know what happened until the last chapter. Very well written. Show Less
LibraryThing member laurscartelli
Not all old houses are haunted; some of them don't even have a history of death on the premises. But those that do never keep the secret for very long.
At the root of Riley Sager's newest thriller is the battle between one's logical sense-ridden response to an old house, and one's emotional
When, for instance, Maggie Holt learns that her father has not only retained the deed to old Baneberry Hall, but has now left it to her in his will, she has a choice to make: she can either capitalize on the house's fame and sell it outright, or she can go there herself and pursue her demons. And in this case, pathos prevails. Logic and reason fly right out the window.
Much like Eleanor in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, from which Sager draws (in this reviewer's opinion) an overwhelming amount of inspiration, Maggie sees the keys to the house as an invitation - one that she had the opportunity to ignore, one that her mother encouraged her to ignore - that cannot be declined. Anyone operating with sense would just sell infamous manse for whatever they could get, but Maggie is determined to prove to herself that her parents have been lying to her for all these years, about what happened in the house when she was a child.
As a narrator, Maggie is hardly reliable. Her memories of the past have been at least partly manufactured by the creative falsehoods of her parents, the burden of which has left her with so much general mistrust and insecurity that it's no surprise that she's still coping so many years later. According to the book her father Ewan wrote (another motif borrowed from Jackson if not outright stolen from Jay Anson), the "House of Horrors" is well-haunted by at least a few of the previous tenants who had met tragic ends on the grounds. By his account, his family ran for their lives when the ghosts threatened young Maggie, something the now-adult Maggie believes has always been a lie. But the real truth, it turns out, is darker even than the secret Ewan lied to protect.
The ending leaves no secrets - as with most pop-thrillers, the shadows give way and the house's truth is laid bare in the light. But thankfully Sager resists falling into the tropes of both grotesque sexualization of the main character, and an ending full of sunshine and rainbows, something that many authors with female protagonists seem to have trouble skirting. The story is solid and satisfying without these sexist burdens. If anything, the only thing we might be left wanting is a few more skeletons.
At the root of Riley Sager's newest thriller is the battle between one's logical sense-ridden response to an old house, and one's emotional
Show More
response to its spirit, oftentimes as suggested by popular culture. Logos and Pathos locked in mortal combat. When, for instance, Maggie Holt learns that her father has not only retained the deed to old Baneberry Hall, but has now left it to her in his will, she has a choice to make: she can either capitalize on the house's fame and sell it outright, or she can go there herself and pursue her demons. And in this case, pathos prevails. Logic and reason fly right out the window.
Much like Eleanor in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, from which Sager draws (in this reviewer's opinion) an overwhelming amount of inspiration, Maggie sees the keys to the house as an invitation - one that she had the opportunity to ignore, one that her mother encouraged her to ignore - that cannot be declined. Anyone operating with sense would just sell infamous manse for whatever they could get, but Maggie is determined to prove to herself that her parents have been lying to her for all these years, about what happened in the house when she was a child.
As a narrator, Maggie is hardly reliable. Her memories of the past have been at least partly manufactured by the creative falsehoods of her parents, the burden of which has left her with so much general mistrust and insecurity that it's no surprise that she's still coping so many years later. According to the book her father Ewan wrote (another motif borrowed from Jackson if not outright stolen from Jay Anson), the "House of Horrors" is well-haunted by at least a few of the previous tenants who had met tragic ends on the grounds. By his account, his family ran for their lives when the ghosts threatened young Maggie, something the now-adult Maggie believes has always been a lie. But the real truth, it turns out, is darker even than the secret Ewan lied to protect.
The ending leaves no secrets - as with most pop-thrillers, the shadows give way and the house's truth is laid bare in the light. But thankfully Sager resists falling into the tropes of both grotesque sexualization of the main character, and an ending full of sunshine and rainbows, something that many authors with female protagonists seem to have trouble skirting. The story is solid and satisfying without these sexist burdens. If anything, the only thing we might be left wanting is a few more skeletons.
Show Less
LibraryThing member twinkley
I have read all of this author's books and this might be the best one and the most fleshed out. It was slow-paced as his other books but got better half way through. The book within the book that talks about the past in the haunted house was really suspenseful, creepy and sometimes scary. Scary as
Show More
in you don’t want to read it alone in the dark. The current timeline also became more interesting with the increasing reveals. The ending was good! Now if the author could only write better and more likable heroines. But overall, this was a good mystery. Show Less
LibraryThing member Susan.Macura
There is nothing better than a good ghost story, and this is a great one! Maggie Holt moved into Baneberry Hall with her parents when she was a small child. Lots of things happened there, most she did not remember. However, her father put it all down on paper in a best-selling work of nonfiction.
Show More
Maggie's life became defined by the book, so after her dad died, and left the mansion to her, she decided to uncover the truth behind what happened there and why her family ran one night, leaving all their belongings behind. I loved the way the author alternated Maggie's story with the book as the story built its way toward an ending I did not anticipate. It was a fun, fun tale! Show Less
LibraryThing member fastforward
Another good one by Riley Sager! I've read all 4 of his books and once again he has come up with an interesting premise that hooks me from the very beginning. I wouldn't say this is a scary read but the creepy elements of the story are out in full force. And for what it is worth, I will never be
Twenty five years ago, a five year old Maggie Holt and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a big ol' estate in the Vermont woods. They last three weeks before they hightail it out of there. Ewan then writes a nonfiction book called House of Horrors which recounts the family's very brief but terrifying time living at Baneberry Hall. It became a bestseller and Maggie always suspected her father made up the whole thing to sell books. Given she was so young at the time she has no memories of what took place during the three weeks her family lived there.
Fast forward to the present day as Maggie is now an adult and has a career restoring old homes. Her father has recently passed away and she inherits Baneberry Hall. She is shocked because she assumed her dad got rid of the place years ago. She decides to fix up the home and will be staying there while she does so. Guess what? Creepy things start happening after Maggie moves in. The book basically goes back and forth between Maggie in the present day and chapters of the nonfiction book her father wrote about the house.
I loved the format in which this story was told and was equally invested in both the father's book as well as Maggie's current storyline. Had I not had life stuff getting in the way, I easily could have and desperately wanted to finish this book in a day. A fun page turner for sure. I only wish I had liked the ending a tiny bit more. Don't get me wrong it wasn't horrible, but in my mind it wasn't spectacular either.
If you have enjoyed the author's other books, you will want to check this one out if you haven't already done so.
Show More
able to watch a scene from one of my favorite movies, without thinking about this book.Twenty five years ago, a five year old Maggie Holt and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a big ol' estate in the Vermont woods. They last three weeks before they hightail it out of there. Ewan then writes a nonfiction book called House of Horrors which recounts the family's very brief but terrifying time living at Baneberry Hall. It became a bestseller and Maggie always suspected her father made up the whole thing to sell books. Given she was so young at the time she has no memories of what took place during the three weeks her family lived there.
Fast forward to the present day as Maggie is now an adult and has a career restoring old homes. Her father has recently passed away and she inherits Baneberry Hall. She is shocked because she assumed her dad got rid of the place years ago. She decides to fix up the home and will be staying there while she does so. Guess what? Creepy things start happening after Maggie moves in. The book basically goes back and forth between Maggie in the present day and chapters of the nonfiction book her father wrote about the house.
I loved the format in which this story was told and was equally invested in both the father's book as well as Maggie's current storyline. Had I not had life stuff getting in the way, I easily could have and desperately wanted to finish this book in a day. A fun page turner for sure. I only wish I had liked the ending a tiny bit more. Don't get me wrong it wasn't horrible, but in my mind it wasn't spectacular either.
If you have enjoyed the author's other books, you will want to check this one out if you haven't already done so.
Show Less
LibraryThing member KateHonig
A twisty and chilling mystery. Maggie’s father recently died, leaving her the owner of a mysterious haunted house. While her father wrote a best-selling book about the house, Maggie herself can’t remember a thing. She heads to the house to refurbish it for resale & finally figure out what
Show More
happened to her. Show Less
LibraryThing member LiveLaughRead
Maggie has been living her life in Boston as an interior designer, desperately trying to outrun the reputation of Baneberry Manor, and her fathers book, where she is the main character. “The House of Horrors” was written by Maggie’s Dad, Ewan, who vividly describes haunting incidents from
I stayed up til 2am finishing this book. I loved it, even though I was scared lol. I enjoyed the suspense and creepiness of the whole book. The plot was great, the characters were written perfectly, it was nicely paced, and was a definite page turner. I like how Sager wrote almost 2 stories within the book, following the Ewans book, then in the present as Maggie. It kept you intrigued, and interested. I think this lived up to the typical Sager novels, with constant twists and turns, throwing in some creepy/scary details. I had high hopes and it did not disappoint. I highly recommend.
Show More
their brief encounter in Baneberry Manor when they moved in 25 years ago, for a mere 20 days, before fleeing for their life. Maggie never believing her fathers book, wants to know the truth of her past, and hasn’t gotten very far by asking her now divorced parents. But everything changes when her father dies and leaves her everything.... including Baneberry Manor, even though Maggie had no idea her father had kept it all these years. Maggie goes to Baneberry Manor in Vermont, where she is determined to find out the truth of what happened on the night her and her family just up and left the house, leaving all their things behind. Can Maggie figure out what’s going on, before anymore lives are lost? Or is it her life she should be scared for? This is a suspenseful and thrilling page turner that will keep you guessing. I stayed up til 2am finishing this book. I loved it, even though I was scared lol. I enjoyed the suspense and creepiness of the whole book. The plot was great, the characters were written perfectly, it was nicely paced, and was a definite page turner. I like how Sager wrote almost 2 stories within the book, following the Ewans book, then in the present as Maggie. It kept you intrigued, and interested. I think this lived up to the typical Sager novels, with constant twists and turns, throwing in some creepy/scary details. I had high hopes and it did not disappoint. I highly recommend.
Show Less
LibraryThing member suesche
I devoured this book. I loved the format and the twists. I don't think the title was a good one for this book. I can't wait to read another book by Riley Sager!
LibraryThing member Maydacat
When Maggie was five, her parents bought an old manor house. Twenty days after moving in, they ran away and left everything behind, fearful for their lives, never to return. Maggie’s father wrote a best-selling memoir, detailing the horrors they endured for those twenty days. Maggie, now grown,
Show More
has inherited the house at her father's death. It's a house she didn't know he still possessed, and a place she has no actual memories of, because her only knowledge of what happened there comes from what she has read in her father's book, which she knows is all lies. And to find the truth, she must go back to the house, even though her parents warned her to stay away. But to separate truth from fiction, she must uncover the real horrors of that house, horrors that will put Maggie in danger - again. This thrilling horror story will grab your attention from the very beginning, sustaining its suspense until the very end. Watch out for false clues and red herrings, don't jump to conclusions, and beware of malicious ghosts! Quite well written, this is one of the better ghost stories I have read. Show Less
LibraryThing member nellbailey
This is my first Riley Sager novel, but it won't be my last. I'm just venturing into the thriller/mystery genres and I spent all of this book trying to guess the twists... I didn't even come close!
The format of Maggie's POV alternating with chapters of her father's book gives the reader so many
Overall this was a fun read, and I'm very much looking forward to exploring Riley Sager's other novels!
The format of Maggie's POV alternating with chapters of her father's book gives the reader so many
Show More
opportunities to speculate about what really happened at Baneberry Hall. Though I wouldn't say that this book delves deep into any specific topic, I appreciated the few moments that touch on grief and how to deal with some difficult things in the wake of a loved one's death. Overall this was a fun read, and I'm very much looking forward to exploring Riley Sager's other novels!
Show Less
LibraryThing member dcoward
Maggie Holt's father wrote a famous horror memoir about the "Haunted House" that Maggie grew up in, featuring Maggie as a main character. She has always been sure the story was a lie, but her parents would never tell her why, poisoning their relationship. After her father's death, Maggie inherits
Despite a glaring plot hole and some outlandish twists and turns, this was an entertaining novel.
Show More
the house and moves in.Despite a glaring plot hole and some outlandish twists and turns, this was an entertaining novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Lightfantastic
Too stupid for words
LibraryThing member cathyskye
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
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.
Show More
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.
Show Less
LibraryThing member snickel63
I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about this book, but I personally enjoyed it. It liked the way it was written going back and forth between the present time and the past through the use of the father’s published novel. It was well executed and planned and I did not see the ending coming.
LibraryThing member NykiK
READ … THIS … BOOK!!! I can't begin to explain how well this book really kept me guessing, as well as brought the element of fear and general shock while reading! The twists and turns continue well until the last pages, and I feel that the author did an amazing job of using her words to bring
Show More
to life the haunted and supernatural factor, which isn't an easy feat to accomplish. Ideally I would like to give this book 4.5 stars, simply because there are a few unanswered questions that I still have. However, the main premise of the book was completely worked through, allowing the reader to have a sense of wholeness at the end! Show Less
LibraryThing member CandyH
This is a really good read. I’ve devoured every book this author has written. This is the story of Maggie, her parents, friends and acquaintances. It’s the story of her young years in a seemingly haunted house and the things her parents did to protect her. There are twists and turns to keep the
Show More
reader glued to devouring each page. If you love a mystery, this book is for you. Show Less
LibraryThing member Beamis12
Baneberry Hall in the Vermont woods, a place from which, when she was five, her family fled in terror. Or so that's what the book he father wrote about the experience maintained. Maggie remembers none of it, really doesn't believe it, but the book haunted her life. Now, upon her father's death,
Are houses haunted, or is it the people that are haunted? Maybe both, at the same time, are true? Can a house maintain impressions of past tragedies? This is a twisty book, a mystery within a mystery, and a search for what is true and what is not. Creepy and intriguing. Things are not always what they appear to be, but more and less, than what we imagine. My first Sager but this was a good Halloween read and it does make me want to again read this author.
Show More
Maggie returns to Baneberry.Are houses haunted, or is it the people that are haunted? Maybe both, at the same time, are true? Can a house maintain impressions of past tragedies? This is a twisty book, a mystery within a mystery, and a search for what is true and what is not. Creepy and intriguing. Things are not always what they appear to be, but more and less, than what we imagine. My first Sager but this was a good Halloween read and it does make me want to again read this author.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
Maggie has been away from the house she lived in for only about 3 weeks when she was 5-years old for 25 years. She remembers nothing about the house, but her father wrote a book about the ghosts and hauntings that happened in the house that drove them from it. Maggie believes it’s all lies. Her
I really liked this. I listened to the audio. I thought it was appropriately creepy! It went back and forth between Maggie’s current day viewpoint and her father’s viewpoint from the time to weave the story together.
Show More
father has just died and her mother would never talk to her about the house. They only ever said she should never go back, as it’s dangerous for her. But on her father’s death, Maggie learns that her parents never sold the house and it’s now Maggie’s! As an interior designer, she decides to go back to the house to renovate to sell. And, of course, to try to find out what really happened at that house… I really liked this. I listened to the audio. I thought it was appropriately creepy! It went back and forth between Maggie’s current day viewpoint and her father’s viewpoint from the time to weave the story together.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Cherylk
I must admit that this is the first book from Mr. Sager where I did not devour it in a couple of days. Which surprised me as I was really in the mood for a good old fashion ghost story. Yet, there was nothing "scary" about this book. It did not give me goose bumps or nightmares.
In addition, I
If felt like there was not enough build up to those moments of "evil" surrounding the house that I missed the most. The ending left me feeling like Switzerland. I was neutral on whether I liked or did not like the ending. Here is hoping that the next book strikes a home run with me.
In addition, I
Show More
found the main protagonist not that interesting. The snippets from the past were lite gold nuggets. It was these small passages of what the family endured while living in the house as well as what the house was all about that I found intriguing. While, the present was dull. If felt like there was not enough build up to those moments of "evil" surrounding the house that I missed the most. The ending left me feeling like Switzerland. I was neutral on whether I liked or did not like the ending. Here is hoping that the next book strikes a home run with me.
Show Less
LibraryThing member sensitivemuse
Finally! a creepy book that actually gave me the chills and thrills! (I may have been desensitized to this due to watching horror movies at a young age) I loved the mood and atmosphere this book gave. It had all the elements of a good horror thriller and the plot was so engrossing it was hard to
The plot itself bounces back from Ewan and Maggie. Their point of views keep you guessing on the origins of the house and the haunting. Naturally, Ewan's point of view is so good and the most creepiest. The mystery surrounding the house is good and the climax of the plot is well done.
Character wise, none really stand out and they're there to keep the plot moving. The ending does give off a bit of a feeling of frustration as it could all have been avoided (trying to keep it spoiler free here!) but because it's so well written with the mood, the setting, and the creep factor it's forgivable.
Definitely pick this up for a good haunted house read. It'll keep you turning the pages and maybe jump at things that go bump in the night.
Show More
put down.The plot itself bounces back from Ewan and Maggie. Their point of views keep you guessing on the origins of the house and the haunting. Naturally, Ewan's point of view is so good and the most creepiest. The mystery surrounding the house is good and the climax of the plot is well done.
Character wise, none really stand out and they're there to keep the plot moving. The ending does give off a bit of a feeling of frustration as it could all have been avoided (trying to keep it spoiler free here!) but because it's so well written with the mood, the setting, and the creep factor it's forgivable.
Definitely pick this up for a good haunted house read. It'll keep you turning the pages and maybe jump at things that go bump in the night.
Show Less
LibraryThing member amyghilton
I have mixed emotions about this book. After his other three books, I had high expectations. Spooky suspense is one of my favorite genres and I was a little disappointed with this one. It just felt like he borrowed too much from other popular movies and books. For example, the armoire scenes were
Show More
highly similar to The Conjuring and the plot as a whole was too similar to The Haunting of Hill House series, based on the Shirley Jackson novel. It was written very well and I liked the flashbacks from the novel to current day. It just felt too similar to other works and the ending was totally disappointing as well. Show Less
Awards
LibraryReads (Monthly Pick — Hall of Fame — June 2020)
Original language
English
Original publication date
2020
Physical description
9.27 inches
ISBN
1524745170 / 9781524745172