We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
We Used to Live Here
by Marcus Kliewer
Horror | Mystery | Thriller
312 Pages
Released June 2024
Rating: ★★★★ 1/2
Goodreads
Content Warnings
I was in the mood for something atmospheric and chilling and I’ve been seeing this book circle the block lately so I wanted to give it a try. And boy oh boy did it deliver!
This book follows Eve, who, alongside her partner Charlie, just recently acquired their latest house to flip - an old but charming house deep in the mountains. But shortly after their exciting acquisition, a mysterious family shows up on their doorstep. The husband claims to have grown up in their house, and requests just a few minutes so that he can show his family around. Hesitantly, Eve agrees but quickly comes to regret her decision as incident after incident turns a 15 minute visit into an unexpectedly long stay. Even more worrisome, the family is a lot stranger than they initially appeared.
Finally, finally. I’ve been waiting for this book. It’s been a long while since I’ve gotten the chills from a book and this story was chalk-full of them. From start to finish, this book gave me goosebumps, so much so that I found myself tightly packing myself into my blankets while reading this at night. (I also ended up staying up way later than I should have trying to finish because I needed to know how it ended). Needless to say, the creepy and tension-filled atmosphere is perfection in this book.
I also really enjoyed the characters. I found Eve to be relatable and I was completely enthralled as she slowly descended into fear (and maybe insanity). The visiting family is fantastically creepy and really leant itself to the anxiousness of the story. The plot is also quite fast paced and feels like a horror movie of a roller coaster. I flew through this book in less than two days.
I highly recommend going into this one knowing as little as possible and if you’re looking for an actually thriller, you really can’t go wrong with this one (especially if you’re reading it in the winter!).