Friends, this being the month of October, The Halloween month. I thought of reviewing few of the horror or spine-chilling books for you.

Today I present a review of a clever, twisty and spine chilling story, “Home Before Dark” by the New York Times bestseller Riley Sager.

The author begins his book with a dedication…

”For those who tell ghost stories…and those who believe them…”

The story is about a woman who returns to the house, made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. As the story unfolds we come to know whether the place is really haunted by evil forces or has dangerous secrets hidden within its walls.

If you love a good ghost story or a deliciously terrifying story I am sure you will adore this book.

So to summerize the story ..

Upon the death of her father, Maggie Holt, is shocked to discover she has just inherited Baneberry Hall, the allegedly haunted mansion her family abandoned some 25-years earlier.

Quite literally fleeing in the middle of the night, her parents refused to ever return to the property. Her father then published a best-selling, purportedly nonfiction account of their time there.

Maggie remembers nothing about their time at Baneberry and assumed the property had been sold off years ago.

Returning to the house all these years later, Maggie, now a professional home renovator, hopes to piece together a bit of the truth while also working on prepping the property for sale.

But as she arrives at Baneberry, however, she’s knows it is not going to be as easy as she had hoped.

Riley Sager is no doubt the master of creating an atmospheric feel so that you can imagine yourself right there with the characters. And it just keeps getting Real and REAL!!

“Home Before Dark”, is a little spooky with a lot of twisty-twists. It reads more like a mystery-thriller.

As you read, you come accross ghosts, murder/suicide, sinister, a backyard cemetery, terrible tea, a missing girl, shadowy figures starring at the house from a distance, a teddy bear that moves on its own, bags of bones, creaking pipes and many more.

I just can’t imagine Maggie, staying there alone!!

If you are the one who loves reading terrifying stories go ahead…”HOME BEFORE DARK” is a masterfully-plotted and relentlessly readable thriller.

©️Sheetal Pradhan Deshpande