Genre: Horror Published: Atria Books, June 2024 My Rating: 5/5 stars
"Once they're in, they never leave..."
It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for the haunted house trope and always on the lookout for a new favourite to add to the list. Ironically, that list has probably more misses than hits, but whén a hit comes along, it’s a good one. That was We Used to Live Here for me. Psychologically unsettling, sinister and truly the stuff of my nightmares; I loved every second of this horror debut.
The Story:
Young couple Eve and Charlie have just moved into their new fixer-upper; a timeless Victorian home on Heritage Lane. Although the house’s creepy vibes and history of strange occurrences raised some red flags in cautious Eve’s mind, her optimistic and rational partner Charlie isn’t petered. Afterall; how can they pass up a deal like this?
During one of her first nights alone at the house, in the middle of a snowstorm, Eve is met with a family ringing her doorbell. The father explains how this used to be his childhood home, and how he’d love to show them around. Eve, ever the people-pleaser, agrees... Snowed in and isolated, events soon take a turn from the uncomfortable, to the unsettling, and eventually into the terrifying...
What I loved:
Based on the synopsis you might be expecting a home invasion story, but We Used to Live Here, has so much more strangeness up its sleeve. Granted; it’s eerie enough having a strange family roam your house, especially when (view spoiler). Yet when the house, reality and even the people and things you’re most familiar with begin to warp into a new slightly-off-version of themselves; thát’s when the real terror starts.
Without going into spoilers; the story combines the supernatural with real-life psychological phenomena such as the Mandela-effect, Capgras Delusion and images I can only link to sleep-paralysis-visions, to great effect. It makes the horror feel grounded and places you right in the shoes of our protagonist questioning her entire reality.
Speaking of protagonists: Eve was amazing. Kliewer gave her an amazing narrative voice; relatable, sympathetic and with a hint of dry-humor at appropriate times. I truly cared for her, Charlie and Shylo and kept hoping they’d make it out okay.
With its fast pacing, tense and claustrophobic atmosphere and one eerie occurrence upon another, the story completely engrossed me and had me hooked from start to finish.
What I didn’t love:
From the long list of mysteries the novel presents, quite a few will remain unanswered or ambiguous upon finishing it. I can see how this would bother some readers. Personally, I love me an ambiguous ending that leaves room for my imagination to further freak me out, yet it’s worth a mention if this is something you tend to dislike.
Overall, this was a fantastic read for me. A little bit of The Shining, a little House of Leaves and an opening reminiscent of Leave the World Behind, yet wholly its own thing. Highly recommended, and I can’t wait to see what this author does next.
You can find this book here on Goodreads.
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