Are you fond of haunted houses?

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Publisher’s Summary

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 neighbourhood. 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?

 

The month of October needs to be started with a good fear-fest, doesn’t it? Marcus Kliewer’s We Used To Live Here, was the perfect beginning of October for me. Now… the people who know me, know that I’m not a horror fan. I don’t watch gory scary movies. In fact, the brand of scare that I enjoy is more The Shutter than The Ring. The slow buildup, psych thrillers that make you keep your lights on at bedtime, is more to my speed than the blood-dripping, head-twisting gore. And We Used To Live Here… is a perfect fit. The story opens up with us meeting Eve. She’s at the house they just bought. Waiting for Charlie to come back so they can have a cosy evening in the old house. Snuggle up by the fireplace with their dog. She doesn’t like the big house and its remote location. She’s not comfortable with the silence and the vast empty space that surrounds the house. Just when you are getting to know her unease, there’s a knock on the door. You expect that her partner is back but instead, you meet a strange family at the door who claims to have been previous occupants of the house. Eve’s unease flows through the words of the book and slowly takes a grip on your heart. The strange family, their interactions among themselves, the big old house, and a sense of … something wrong… 

The fear builds. Slowly, as if you are watching a bathtub fill… there’s no jump scares. No gruesome or gory imagery. But the absence of the obvious is sometimes more chilling. I didn’t even realise that I started to wish for Charlie to come back, just so Eve didn’t have to be with the strange family by herself. The palpable relief that I felt when she did come, was a surprise to myself.

Marcus builds a great big silent scary picture. Like falling snow on the outside, you don’t hear the fear build, but build it does. The strangeness of the family, the missing child, the figure on the stairs, the attic and the labyrinthine basement. One after the other, things keep happening. And the feeling of unease keeps building. The narration is so gracious that you don’t even realise how and when you start wishing for things to go Eve’s way… and when they don’t… you just wish to scream.

The pattern of feeling unsafe and then again safe and then again breaking that safety works brilliantly. The lull of safety you feel gets snatched away with such brilliant viciousness that you never feel fully settled. Just when you start thinking that … phew, ok.. now she’s safe… it all goes away. THIS I believe is the true success of this novel. A novel that makes you wonder and question and fear all that is known and unknown with equal ferocity.

We used to live here, is a perfect October read. It’s fast, it’s thrilling, brilliantly written and performed. It’s a BIG thumbs up from me… it’s time to get your fear on… Happy October everyone 😊