mbmartin42 's review for:

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

4.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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“When things felt right, it only meant there was so much more that could go wrong.”

This novel is told through two parts.

The first follows Eve who along with her partner Charlie have just purchased a house in the Oregon backwoods that they hope to flip. One night when Charlie is out and Eve is home alone, there’s an unexpected knock on the door. On the doorstep is a family of five. The father claims that he used to live in the house and wants to show it to his family. Eve is reluctant to let strangers into her house, especially when Charlie isn’t there. But Thomas, his wife Paige, and their three children seem harmless, so she agrees, provided they keep their visit short.

But fifteen minutes turns into an hour, and suddenly Eve wonders if she’s made a huge mistake. As she walks through the house with the family, she notices weird nooks and crannies that (she swears) weren’t there before. Is the house changing? Or is Eve going mad?

“Funny… how memories can change like that.”

The second is made up of found footage that ranges from newspaper clippings, journal entries, message board conversations, and reports of missing persons. At first these pieces seem completely disconnected, but as the story progresses they slowly start to form into a weird stitched together whole that fill in some (but not all) of the blanks of what Eve and Charlie are going through.

This is subtle horror. One that creeps up on you slowly.

Kliewer takes your typical horror tropes and creates such an air of tension and dread that help build a completely unsettling atmosphere throughout. Especially as the mystery deepens and the whole thing keeps getting weirder and weirder. Parts of this book were pure nightmare fuel (the scene in the attic still gives me chills to think about). And because this is psychological horror, you’re never really sure what’s real and what isn’t.

This book is incredibly unique. I loved the puzzle box feel of the whole thing. Not only was the mystery fascinating, it was fun to find that there were also little clues, hidden messages and Morse code peppered throughout some of the sections (some of the websites and email addresses mentioned really do exist and are active too). Which, for me, made this the type of book where immediately after finishing I jumped online to scour the internet (mostly reddit as this started on r/nosleep) to see how others interpreted the pieces as well as the ending. Which brought me back to how I felt reading House of Leaves last year.

If you’re into puzzle solving and psychological horror with supernatural elements this one is definitely for you. But, as I’ve said above, don’t be expecting a straight forward ending.

I’ve also heard that this is in development as a Netflix film, which I will most definitely be watching. I’ll also 100% be picking up whatever Kliewer gives us next.