by Marcus Kliewer
SYNOPSIS
You let them back in.
You shouldn't have...
Young couple Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they got on an old house in a beautiful yet remote neighbourhood nestled deep in the mountains. One day, a man knocks on the door. He claims to have lived in the house years before and asks if he can show his family around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.
As soon as they enter, strange things start to happen, and Eve wants nothing more than for them to leave and never come back. But they can’t – or won’t – take the hint that they are no longer welcome.
Then Charlie suddenly vanishes, and Eve begins to lose her grip on reality. She’s convinced there’s something terribly wrong with the house and its past inhabitants . . . or is it all in her head?
The Turn of the Key meets Parasite in this gripping, eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit – soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively – that will keep you up into the early hours. Perfect for fans of Stephen King and Leave the World Behind.
REVIEW
I am officially obsessed with this book! When I was younger I was a huge horror fan but more recently I have tended to stick to the Crime / Thriller genre. I think it's because it is SO difficult to translate the same type of fear that you can achieve with a film or TV series into a novel. However, We Used To Live Here has completely blown me away and I am now no longer able to even look at the stained glass panel in the door of my hallway (IYKYK)! This is, without doubt, the creepiest book I have read for years and it was done in such a clever way. There was so much that was left open for interpretation, but no matter which way you look at it, it's always a terrifying prospect - are Eve and Charlie dealing with a home invasion type of situation, are they facing something paranormal or are they looking at some kind of parapsychosis or mental disorder. The thought of suffering some kind of mental breakdown but not having any idea that what you are going through isn't real is a haunting idea, but at the same time, knowing that something bizarre is happening and having nobody believe you is just as frustrating.
The format of the book worked perfectly. The way that the main story was broken up by the interview excerpts, articles and forum comments were really effective in building up the tension and then snapping you out of the horror to try and work out exactly what was going on, the balance was exactly right.
I honestly can't believe that this is a debut novel, and the fact that it started out as a serialised short story on Reddit makes it even more of a success. There was so much scope with this story that I just didn't want it to end. I hope that at some point we have the opportunity to return 'somewhere' in this terrifying world - the creepy hospital corridor alone surely contains enough material to become a full novel, and don't even get me started on the man in the shed!
Loved it, an easy 5 stars!
Thanks to Anne Cater - @RandomTTours, Marcus Kliewer - @Marcus_Kliewer and Bantam Books - @PenguinUKBooks for the opportunity to read and review.
Publisher: Bantam Genre: Horror / Horror Thriller
ISBN: 978-0857506689
Pages: 320pp
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