Home Before Dark

Starred review from May 11, 2020
Interior designer Maggie Holt, the heroine of this outstanding supernatural thriller from bestseller Sager (Lock Every Door), is shocked to learn after the death of her father, Ewan, that he has left Baneberry Hall, near Bartleby, Vt., to her. She hadn’t realized that Ewan still owned the spooky mansion that Maggie, Ewan, and her mother moved into 25 years earlier. Maggie’s parents were able to buy the house cheaply, because of a recent tragedy there—the prior owner smothered his six-year-old daughter with a pillow before killing himself. The Holt family had their own traumatic episodes in Baneberry Hall, including Maggie’s visions of a ghostly figure, which led to their fleeing one night. Ewan later wrote a bestselling book about their experiences. Maggie, who still suffers from night terrors, decides to move into Baneberry Hall to get a better understanding of what happened to her and to determine how much of her father’s book was true. Sager, who makes the house a palpable, threatening presence, does a superb job of anticipating and undermining readers’ expectations. Haunted house fans will be in heaven. Agent: Michelle Brower, Aevitas Creative Management.

The best horror audiobooks hook listeners from the start and never loosen their grip. Riley Singer's latest novel is such a book, and it benefits from the excellent performances of Cady McClain and Jon Lindstrom. The central character is Maggie Holt, whose family fled their Vermont home after living there for three weeks. Maggie inherits the property 25 years later and returns to restore it so that it can be sold. Although Maggie does not believe in ghosts and evil spirits, she confronts multiple frightening and bizarre occurrences that challenge her disbelief. The dual reading of McClain and Lindstrom presents the audiobook in an appropriate style, mixing tones of skepticism with the horror that Maggie repeatedly encounters. The result is a story that listeners will long remember. D.J.S. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

December 1, 2020

When Maggie Holt was a child, she and her parents moved into a Victorian estate in rural Vermont. They lived there for only a few weeks before fleeing in the dead of night. Her father wrote a best-selling book about their time there called House of Horrors, detailing their experiences with evil spirits. Today, Maggie doesn't remember anything about their time at Baneberry Hall, but she also doesn't believe a word of her father's book. She's convinced he made up the whole thing. When Maggie inherits the manor after her father's death, she decides to renovate and sell it. But when she's back in Baneberry Hall, strange events start to make her wonder if there is more to the story. Cady McClain narrates Maggie's point of view, while Jon Lindstrom reads excerpts from House of Horrors. VERDICT A treat for anyone who loves haunted houses and deep-buried family secrets.--Stephanie Klose, Library Journal

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