A Dissatisfying Haunted House

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What would you do if you inherited a haunted house?

Maggie Holt has been haunted by experiences in her childhood that she struggles to remember. Twenty-five years ago, her parents moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. Three weeks later, the family fled in the dead of night, and Maggie’s father wrote a best-selling book called House of Horrors. Maggie learns upon her father’s death that he never actually sold the house, and she now owns Baneberry Hall. Not long after arriving at its gates does she begin to wonder just how much of what her father wrote is true.

As compelling as the premise was, I finished the novel disappointed. Don’t get me wrong: the spooky atmosphere was fantastic and I loved how the narrative progressed with a dual-timeline narration, juggling Maggie’s present-day POV with her father’s POV from twenty-five years earlier. As the puzzle pieces were coming together, and Maggie clearly became more and more in danger, I was heavily invested. I was even ready to forgive some odd, unrealistic behaviors from Maggie et al. One of many includes how Maggie is upset when she learns that another character has been to prison and hadn’t informed her of this. Yet these two characters also didn’t know each other for very long…we’re talking a couple weeks? And I feel like that sets a discriminatory precedent that reformed individuals are required to list their prior offenses immediately after giving their name to a stranger. Maggie then proceeds to compare this person’s “lie” to the lies told to her by her father, and she says she doesn’t need any more liars in her life…okay, Maggie, sounds good.

My biggest issue with this book is the solution that Riley Sager settled on, out of the many offered. In the last third of the story, we are provided with a ridiculous number of “reveals” or answers. Each time one was properly laid out, tying up all loose ends, it was then replaced with another. I swear every person, ghost, and the like was at one point or another blamed for the various events going on. And, then, when Sager settled on the final one, I found that to be the most disappointing and dissatisfying option. I even saw it coming at one point. In one particular scene, Maggie felt to me as if she were over-acting, so my brain told me to pay more attention to the importance of what she was saying and doing. 

As an introduction into Riley Sager’s work, this certainly wasn’t a great start. However, because I did enjoy the atmosphere and the paranormal elements, I wouldn’t be against trying another novel by him in the hopes that I get a more satisfying ending. I’m not in a hurry to put those hopes to the test any time soon though.