We Used To Live Here
by Marcus Kliewer
June 2024
Simon & Schuster
320 pages
Horror / Slipstream
Finished reading the wonderful We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. I have these characters sketched so vividly in my mind that it will be strange once the film comes out. Expertly wrought slipstream horror with video game logic that gets under your skin, between the floorboards, and sends chills deep underground. For those that felt they didn’t ‘get it’, that’s good, you are safe and sane. I dream of these rooms and halls too often already. Excellent stuff.
From the back jacket:
“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, 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?”
Notice I’ve printed out a morse code in the photo attached? It was useful as many chapter separators use morse code at the ends of them.
I kept picturing David Dastmalchian as the lead in this – likely because of his work in The Boogeyman and darker fare. This is a very good choice if you wanted a light fun read out of House of Leaves but, well, got House of Leaves instead. A Canadian author to keep your eyes on.