Kliewer is a Vancouver-based writer and stop-motion animator. His first novel, We Used to Live Here originated on the “NoSleep” forum on Reddit and was then acquired by Simon & Schuster as a novel and sought after by Netflix for a film adaptation.
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?
We Used to Live Here is the psychological horror debut novel from writer and stop-motion animator Marcus Kliewer. The story is fast-paced and suspenseful from beginning to end and plays tricks with readers’ imaginations and senses. This novel is told solely through protagonist Eve’s perspective, with interlude chapters that provide snippets of information about the town and old house where the story takes place. These interludes are all extremely interesting and provide brief respites from the unnerving tension of the main story. Unfortunately, most of these snippets are not connected to each other, which may be confusing to readers, especially at the beginning. By the end of the book, readers will appreciate all the clues and additional information they provide for better understanding the overall mind-bending narrative.
This book centres on a young couple, Eve and Charlie, who have recently purchased an isolated, old home deep in the Oregon wilderness. Shortly after they move in, Eve, home alone, opens the door to a man who claims he grew up in the house and asks if he can bring his family inside to look around. Readers will be immediately invested in Eve’s decision-making as she tries to navigate between being accommodating and listening to her internal alarm system. Eve’s character is mostly likeable, but as she makes many poor and impulsive decisions, readers may be reeling. Despite the bizarre storyline, the relationship between Eve and Charlie is quite realistic. They have very differing opinions of the strange family in their home but are also quick to compromise with each other. Unfortunately, some of these compromises put them in much bigger danger than they could have ever anticipated!
Marcus Kliewer incorporates a lot of mystical phenomena into the plot, including the Mandela effect, doppelgängers, and parallel realities, making for a captivating story that is extremely unputdownable. The story escalates in drama and terror in the second half, with many unpredictable and shocking scenes that will keep readers on edge. The dramatic ending leaves more questions than answers, but after such a mind-bending storyline, it is somewhat expected. This is definitely a book where readers will want to go back and analyze certain segments of the story to better grasp what really transpired.
Narrators Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Corey Brill do a phenomenal job narrating this audiobook. Carlisle Parker masterfully uses her voice to fully embody Eve through an enormous myriad of emotions, from calm to sarcastic to hysterical, and maintains a constant tone of tension, sometimes on the edge of hysteria, for most of the story. She paces the story extremely well and increases her emotional intensity in the second half of the novel when the drama and terror climax. Carlisle Parker also provides distinct and authentic voices for the various characters, making for a very enjoyable listen. Corey Brill does a wonderful job narrating the interlude chapters using a strong commanding voice with an eerie undertone, perfectly suited to the disturbing information being narrated. Brill’s narration is a perfect complement to the high-tension performance by Carlisle Parker, and together they create for an extremely captivating listening experience. The audiobook also features some haunting music and creepy sound effects, which add further tension to the audiobook. This is the perfect audiobook to pair with a physical copy of the book, which includes a map of the house and additional clues that are linked to Brill’s narration and are especially nice to reference when listening.
Overall, this is a thrilling and mind-puzzling book that will lead to much discussion amongst readers afterwards. If you’re looking for a really unique take on the haunted house genre and enjoy stories that are multi-layered and open to interpretation, then this book is for you. This book has already garnered a lot of attention in the book community, and with a film adaptation in the works, it’s sure to become widely popular. With exceptional performances by the audiobook narrators, the audiobook is the perfect way to enjoy this one. Whatever format you choose, you likely won’t forget this one for a long time afterwards!
