“With his debut novel, Kliewer ramps up the tension with a haunting tale of mysterious guests who have long overstayed their welcome.”
Charlie and Eve are a young, queer couple who flip houses. After landing a killer deal on an old house in a delightful neighborhood, they get to work prepping the house to flip. While working on the house, there’s a knock on the door: It’s a man and his family. The man claims they lived in the house years before, and he would like to show his kids around. Eve is a people pleaser, and lets them inside.
But as soon as they enter the home, strange things start happening. The family’s youngest child goes missing. There’s a spectral presence in the basement. And the family just can’t seem to take a hint … their visit has gone on long enough. Then Charlie disappears, and Eve loses her hold on reality. There’s definitely something wrong with the house, and the previous family—or is Eve just imagining things?
Why we’re excited about this book:
Horror readers are about to become very familiar with the work of Marcus Kliewer. A stop-motion animator, Kliewer’s work first gained traction on Reddit, where We Used to Live Here won the Scariest Story of 2021 on the NoSleep forum. Soon after, Netflix snagged the film rights, with Blake Lively attached, before the book rights were even contracted. Sydney Sweeney is slated to appear in The Caretaker, an unpublished story by Kliewer. With his debut novel, Kliewer ramps up the tension with a haunting tale of mysterious guests who have long overstayed their welcome. Alma Katsu (The Fervor, Red Widow) says: “Inventive and genuinely scary, We Used to Live Here is the most impressive horror debut I’ve read in a long time. Marcus Kliewer is a talent to watch.”, and Nick Cutter (The Troop, The Deep) says: “There is a feeling that a small number of books conjure. It can be distilled to: Oh god, something ain’t right here. Their hallmark is a creeping, unaccountable, jangly dread that seeps into their pages until you almost wish you could stop reading—but of course, it’s too late. You’re in its grip. We Used to Live Here is one of those rare books.”
Releasing from Atria 18 June 2024, We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA
