We Used to Live Here: A Novel

Get Out meets Parasite in this eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit—soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively—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, uncanny and 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?

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 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. 

ISBN: 9781982198787
Format: Hardback
Pages: 320
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Published: June 18, 2024

"A simply riveting read from start to finish, WE USED TO LIVE HERE will prove to be a prized pick for community library collections.""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."*Most Anticipated Horror and Thriller Books Coming out in June 2024*"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."“Original and extremely scary . . . A frighteningly good debut.”"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."“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.”"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.""[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." “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.”