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A Novel
by Marcus Kliewer
From an author "destined to become a titan of the macabre and unsettling" (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), a haunting debut—soon to be a Netflix original movie—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house's previous residents unexpectedly visit.
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can't believe the killer deal they've just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they're working in the house one day, there's a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.
As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family's youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can't seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?
This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel "is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it" (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).
"Kliewer's gripping debut is a twisted horror novel that blurs the boundary between reality and delusions. A terrifying tale for fans of Christopher Golden's The House of Last Resort. Listeners will be hooked from the beginning and may find themselves unable to hit pause." ―Library Journal
"Kliewer's debut is an atmospheric nightmare in all the best ways. This is recommended for fans of intricately plotted psychological novels, such as those by Stephen King, Ruth Ware, and Sarah Pinborough." —Booklist
"Original and extremely scary ... A frighteningly good debut." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] devilish debut...What begins as mildly uncomfortable grows full-tilt terrifying...Stringing the whole thing together is Kliewer's gift for atmosphere and wicked sense of humor. This is a winner." —Publishers Weekly
"This book is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it." —Agustina Bazterrica, bestselling author of Tender is the Flesh
"Full of unease and stomach-churning dread, We Used to Live Here creeps up to you like a sly shadow. I wanted to look away. I absolutely could not. Marcus Kliewer is destined to become a titan of the macabre and unsettling. Read this with every single light on." —Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows
This information about We Used to Live Here was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Marcus Kliewer is a writer and stop-motion animator. His debut novel We Used to Live Here began life as a serialized short story on Reddit. Film rights were snapped up by Netflix, and it was acquired by Simon & Schuster in the US for publication even before it had been extended into a full-length novel. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.
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