Proof that not everything has been written about haunted houses yet

Sager likes elements that can be described as "threadbare", favorite thriller themes that we have seen many times, because his books contain serial killers, mysterious deaths, voyeurism in the neighborhood, obsessions, and ... mysteries of a closed room and buildings hiding secrets . Including haunted houses. However, when Sager does what is known and liked, he does it to disassemble the diagram and find a new way to tell a well-known story.

"Come Back Before Dark" is, at first glance, a classic story about a haunted house and a family that falls victim to supernatural forces. Strange murmurs, knocks, fading lights, footsteps on the floor above are only an introduction to the dramatic events that are later described in the book, arousing the imagination of the audience. Are the violence and tragedy the fruit of demonic activity, or is the evil done the result of human behavior? Or maybe nothing really happened and the whole story is an attempt to gain publicity and earn money? The emerging questions are water to the mill for Sager, who decides not so much to create a story and embed his heroes in it, but to listen to the story of his heroes and try to understand it from every angle. Do the heroes color them and make them up, or are they telling the truth? Which answer turns out to be true?

There is something in "Come Back Before Dark" that makes the novel feel like the series "Haunted House on the Hill" you can watch on Netflix. Sager created a similar atmosphere, he used a color that made it easy for the imagination to see the decorations and scenery used by Flanagan. Following a similar path (confrontation with the difficult past of the family at home, which is the source of its secrets), the writer decided to use the convention of stories about a haunted house to present a story that is fully faithful to it, but also tries to deny it. The author blurs the line between what is real and what is supernatural. The reader does not really know until the end what is happening at the Baneberry Hall and what is the reason for it. Is he holding a thriller or is it a full-blooded horror movie? At this level, reading "Come back before dark" is a great entertainment, because the author introduces situations that can be read in two ways, opting for the interference of spirits (or maybe even demons), or human interference. The characters also make their own assumptions about strange phenomena that take place at home, but go wrong the same way as the reader. This hesitation and understatement related to paranormal phenomena can bring to mind stories such as the Amityville massacre, the rich catalog of Ed and Lorraine Warren stories, or, on the other hand, the movie The Boy. Sager weaves a rather firmly embedded question in the fictional story, whether among the various dramas, especially those turned into pop-culture money-making machines, one should seek a supernatural basis and confirmation that ghosts and demons exist, or can it be rationally explained ? And what would be left for us if we decided to cleanse these stories of accumulated rumors and sensation? Would they still be just as terrible?

Involuntarily, Maggie, the main character of "Come Back Before Dark," who, after the death of her father, decides to return to the family estate and renovate it before putting it on the market. The woman does it quite reluctantly, because she has only difficult experiences with her home - one night the whole family fled the property, convinced that they were haunted there. The dramatic story was later described in the book by Maggie's father, turning their lives into a pop-culture creation for horror fans. For Maggie, the Book (as she calls her father's work) is a taboo subject, as is the Baneberry estate. However, her return and subsequent peculiar events force her to unravel the mystery of that traumatic night.

"Come Back Before Dark" has been divided into two narrative levels - one belongs to Maggie, and the other is excerpts from the Book. The past and present are intertwined to create the property's complete history. Maggie and I wonder how much truth is contained in "House of Horror" as a woman discovers the secrets of the house and the secrets of her own family. The chapters from the Book deepen our anxiety and color the story, giving it an additional dimension, one could even say - realism. Sager interestingly mixes various elements that we know from pop culture - on the one hand, fictional horror films based on facts / inspired by real events, and on the other hand, books that are referred to as non-fiction, but are very closely related to the horror films that were created thanks to them. The writer builds up the tension slowly at first, only to escalate in the end. Comparing the pace of the events leading up to the finale and the ending itself, it can be concluded that the author pressed the gas too hard, trying to connect and close all threads at once. The climatic events are crowned with a rush of explanations, as if the hectic escape from the property described in the Book had to correspond with the equally hectic explanations at present, which in my eyes is the only shortcoming. In such a situation, discovering the truth, whatever it may be, takes a while to digest the revelations received.

"Come Back Before Dark" is a rarity for people who love all sorts of stories about haunted houses, books signed with the names of the Warrens and spooky non-fiction in general, and the movie universe of "Presence", but not only - this novel can also be a door to the genre for people, who so far have been afraid of crossing the threshold. This thematic and genre hybrid tries to capture what most attracts and fascinates us in such stories, making our hearts beating faster.

After such a story, all you have to do is wait for the next novel by Sager - this time "Close all the doors". Because in the House of Horror, you never know ...

Natalia Karolak