Every spooky season, I challenge myself to read some extra-suspenseful thrillers or try to get through a few horror novels. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the few I read last year, even though they scared me a bit, so I decided to try Riley Sager this fall. He did not disappoint!
The Unknown by Riley Sager
Pages: 368
Genre: Adult Fiction/Horror
Pub. Date: August 4, 2026
Publisher: Dutton
Source: Personal Copy
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads says, "In 1926, five women disappeared from a remote island in Vermont. Now, one hundred years later, it’s happening again. Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She’s even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a weeklong research trip to that very spot. Because New Avalon isn’t your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums—until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman. Some locals say they simply left. Others think they were murdered. But the prevailing opinion, thanks to a diary left behind by one of the vanished, a young woman named Daisy Rue, is that a séance gone wrong conjured something supernatural that took them all one by one. Not long after arriving, Marin and her castmates, including legendary actress Violet Wright and white-hot director Ronan Peters, begin to realize all is not right with New Avalon. They hear strange noises in the night and notice mysterious symbols left behind by the island's previous occupants. And after a sudden health emergency leaves Marin, Ronan, and the other actors stranded on the island, the disappearances begin again. Is it the work of someone trying to derail the movie? Or is the island’s alleged supernatural past catching up with the present? As fear and suspicion mount, Marin turns to Daisy’s diary, hoping it holds the key to figuring out what really happened to the women of New Avalon—and how to keep the island’s terrible history from repeating itself."
100 years ago, a group of women went missing from Vermont's isolated island on Lake Faraday. It's still a mystery, but that doesn't stop the movie industry from seeing this as prime entertainment. Marin, a struggling actress, gets the job opportunity of her life when another actress backs out of a movie. She is offered a role in this movie about the women who disappeared, except there is a catch. She has to get acclimated to the time period and the setting, so the producer wants her, along with the other actresses, to live as they did 100 years ago on this island for a week. No cell phones, no electricity, no modern clothing, etc. Despite the warning not to take this job from the actress who previously had her role, Marin goes, albeit hesitantly, because there are so many big names attached to this movie. She couldn't possibly turn it down as this could be her big break! But while there, strange things start happening. Some of the things happening are similar to the crazy events that happened 100 years ago. There's also noises in the night, strange symbols throughout the island, and before they know it, there's a life-threatening accident that takes one of the producers to the mainland, and with her, all their cell phones. So, technically they are stranded. Riley Sager's The Unknown is an atmospheric and eerie read that kept me flipping the pages.
What I liked about The Unknown was how it blended mystery and suspense. I kept wondering what had happened 100 years ago, and combining that mystery with Marin’s questions about what was currently happening on the island made this a real page-turner. There are séances, secrets, a 100-year-old journal, and more. However, at times, I felt there were a few plot holes, and I wished Sager had fleshed out certain aspects more. Nonetheless, I was entertained.
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Genre: Audiobook/Adult Fiction/Horror
Pub. Date: June 30, 2020
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Source: Personal Copy
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads says, "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."
25 years ago, Maggie Holt and her family moved into a historic Victorian estate in Vermont named Baneberry Hall. Coming from the city, this was a nice change, and the estate offered so much room. It does have a complicated past, but the Holts have chosen to take a chance on Baneberry Hall and put everything behind them. However, that proves impossible because three weeks later they flee Baneberry and never return. In fact, it was such a horrific experience that Maggie's father. Ewan, writes a memoir entitled House of Horrors after they move out, and it becomes an instant bestseller. That's all Maggie and her family are known for going forward, but Maggie really resents this as she barely remembers all the details in her father's book and questions whether they actually happened. But after he dies, she is shocked to find out that not only did he still own Baneberry Hall, he left it to her in his will. So reluctantly, Maggie agrees to go back to Baneberry to renovate it and sell it. But once she gets there, strange things start happening again, and she starts questioning whether what her father wrote in his memoir might actually be true. Home Before Dark is an edge-of-your-seat audiobook that was well-written, scary, and with some memorable twists. It's perfect spooky season reading!
I decided to listen to Home Before Dark, which actually worked out nicely for me, as I don't think I would have been able to finish it if I were reading it, as there were so many spooky parts! Sager did such a great job developing this story and letting it unfold; I did not see the twists coming at all. Part of the narration jumps back to Ewan's point of view when they first moved to Baneberry, which was a nice touch to fill in some blanks regarding the Holts. Home Before Dark reminded me of a mix between The Amityville Horror and The Haunting of Hill House. This is the ultimate book to read in October, filled with traditional horror and some elements of psychological suspense.
Are you a fan of Riley Sager? Which of his novels is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below.
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