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About The Book

The Turn of the Key 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?

About The Author

Photo by Brian Van Wyk

Marcus Kliewer is a writer and stop-motion animator. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books (June 18, 2024)
  • Length: 320 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781982198800

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Raves and Reviews

"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."

– —Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows

“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.”

– —Nick Cutter, national bestselling author of The Troop

"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."

– — Matt and Harrison Query, authors of Wilderness Reform

"[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."

– — Publishers Weekly

“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.”

– —Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor

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