[1] Sager references the 1977 Jay Anson book The Amityville Horror during the novel, which also served as part of Home Before Dark's inspiration.

The Holts experience several strange events that appear to reference both the Carver murder-suicide as well as the house's original owner, William Garson, and his daughter Indigo.

Approximately twenty-five years later, Maggie revisits Baneberry Hall with the intention to sell it and hires Dane, the son of the prior caretaker, as her assistant.

Dane informs Maggie that, though most of the people mentioned in House of Horrors still live in the area, including the Ditmers and Marta Carver, they resent the notoriety they have gained from the book.

When Petra's bones are discovered in the kitchen ceiling, Police Chief Tess Alcott informs Maggie that locals believe Ewan to have murdered her.

Feeling duty-bound to clear her father's name, Maggie investigates the truth behind the story, only to discover that, contrary to what she believed, most events in the book unfolded as written.

Sager began planning the novel after listening to a podcast about The Amityville Horror, as the hosts stated that "most people agree it was a hoax, but no one knows why the Lutz family did it".

He felt that this "could be an interesting story to explore" and chose to use the book-within-a-book structure in order to alternate between the fictional novel House of Horrors and Maggie's own first person narrative.

[7][8] Judith Reveal of the New York Journal of Books also noted the structure in her review, stating that "Although the multiple first-person points of view (written in different print fonts) can at times be distracting, Sager has laid out an exciting story that is hard to put down.

"[9] Tina Jordan of the New York Times criticized some of the book's dialogue and supporting characters while also praising the multiple points of view.