We Used to Live Here

By: Marcus Kliewer

Narrated by: Corey Brill, Jeremy Carlisle Parker

Brought to you by Penguin.

You let them back in.
You shouldn't have...

Young couple Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they got on an old house deep in the mountains. One day, a man knocks on the door. He says he lived there years before and asks if he can show his family around.

As soon as they enter, strange things start to happen, and Eve is desperate for them to leave and never come back. But they can’t – or won’t – take the hint that they are no longer welcome.

Then, Charlie vanishes, and Eve begins to lose her grip on reality. She’s convinced there’s something terribly wrong with the house and its past inhabitants . . . or is it all in her head?

The Turn of the Key meets Parasite in this gripping, eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit – soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively – that will keep you up into the early hours. Perfect for fans of Stephen King and Leave the World Behind.


© Marcus Kliewer 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

Critic reviews

One of the creepiest stories I've ever read! This twisted tale will haunt my nightmares for a long time to come!

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.

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.

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.

This book is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by the spiral of terror that takes over you when you know nothing seems what it is... Is a family really a family? Can a house be something else? We Used to Live Here is going to haunt you even after you have finished it. This is what I call a great book.

Chilling and filled with a permeating sense of dread from the very first chapter... This is the kind of story that leaves your head spinning for days.

We Used to Live Here is a gem of contemporary horror that explores the places we call home with deft and terrifying command that will leave you shaken long after turning the final page.

Kliewer’s debut is an atmospheric nightmare in all the best ways. The pace is pulse-pounding, but the horror aspects are deliciously dragged out. This is recommended for fans of intricately plotted psychological novels, such as those by Stephen King, Ruth Ware and Sarah Pinborough.

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.

Mysterious guests overstay their welcome in this fresh take on the haunted house trope. Fans of the surging horror genre will think twice about opening the door when somebody knocks. Original and extremely scary… A frighteningly good debut.

So many unanswered questions

Book did not live up to the hype. So many questions unanswered. I don’t really even understand the point of the book.

Interesting

Excellent narrator, interesting read. Finished the book in one day. Kept me engaged and unable to predict what would happen next or how it would end.