“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 in a beautiful yet remote neighbourhood nestled deep in the mountains. One day, there’s a knock at 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 family enters their home, strange things start to happen, and Eve wants nothing more than 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 suddenly 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.”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. We Used To Live Here will be published by Bantam on 20th June 2024 in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow next year. I chose to read a free ARC of We Used To Live Here but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to join the blog tour and to the publisher for sending me a proof copy.

Eve and Charlie are the new owners of 3709 Heritage Lane. Once a grand home in a remote and much admired neighbourhood, the house needs a lot of care and attention to return it to its former glory. The couple plan to live in the house whilst work is ongoing, and then sell the property on to the highest bidder pocketing a large profit in the process. One evening when Eve is home alone there is a knock at the door. On the doorstep stand a family of five. The father claims to have lived in the house as a boy and asks if he could show his family his childhood home. They’ll be fifteen minutes tops. Not a second more. Eve’s gut tells her to slam the door in their faces without a second thought but politeness and good manners overrule her instincts, and she lets the family in. Upon entering the property Eve knows there is something strange about her guests. She has an uneasy feeling about the family, particularly when peculiar things start to happen. No matter how hard Eve tries, no matter how many heavy hints she drops, the family just won’t leave. Trapped in the house with these odd people, unsure where Charlie is and with a blizzard imminent, Eve knows that something is terribly wrong. Or is it all in her head…?

We Used To Live Here is a captivating psychological horror debut with an unnerving, ever-present sense of building unease. As soon as the family arrive on the doorstep the reader knows this is not going to end well. It can’t end well. The family seem stilted, somewhat unnatural and Eve can’t quite get the measure of her unexpected guests. As time marches on and the promised fifteen minutes becomes an hour, then two, you can’t help but feel for Eve. Her uncomfortableness radiates from the page. She doesn’t want these people in her house. She can’t understand why they don’t leave and her frustrations build and build and build.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. We Used To Live Here is getting a lot of attention at the moment and deservedly so. I found the writing captivating and completely engaging. I thought the characters were well defined and provoked a plethora of emotions within me (why the hell won’t they leave???). The setting is vivid and is as much a part of the plot as Eve, the main character, is. The storyline is seriously dark and twisted and will mess with your mind in the best way possible. Other reviewers have described this book as a mindf**k. They’re not wrong. A brilliantly written debut from an author to watch. Completely unnerving, totally unsettling and with a building sense of inescapable, impending doom. Truly terrifying. We Used To Live Here is THE book all horror fans need on their shelves this year. You ain’t read a book like this one before! Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of We Used To Live Here. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer was published in the UK by Bantam on 20th June 2024 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

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, where it won the Scariest Story of 2021 award on the NoSleep forum (eighteen million members). Film rights were snapped up by Netflix, and it acquired by Simon & Schuster for publication even before it had been extended into a full-length novel. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.