One hundred percent, THIS was the book I should have been reading back in October instead of Unholy Child. This book is SPOOKY! Part haunted-house book, part . . . psychological thriller? We Used to Live Here is subtle in its genre definition, and even more subtle in its genre subversions.

Really its subtle in everything it does. You think you know what is going on, and even when you pick up on inconsistencies, you never really know what they mean. Part of me wants to spend the time reading this book over and over again trying to understand Kliewer’s methods a writer, but the bigger part of me doesn’t want to ruin the effect.

I did copy down a few sentences from We Used to Live Here as examples of interesting and novel descriptions. A creepy ghost does not simply move across the living room too quickly, it does so with “arachnid speed”. As someone who has had to kill a lot of spiders since moving into my house (I probably need to get that looked at), this really resonated with me. Now imagine how much trouble you’d be in if something human sized moved that quickly (feels like cheating honestly lol).

I’m just gonna drop the full line, cause I feel it really shows the level of craftsmanship that Kliewer brings to his writing:

“It sat there, pin-straight frozen, for one, two, three seconds, and then, with arachnid speed, it darted rightward, vanishing into the distant shadows.” – pg 241.

Yup, time to GTFO!

Other readers who are more experienced with the horror genre might think differently, but I didn’t find much in the way of cliche or common tropes in Kliewer’s work. Most of the situations the main character — Eve — finds herself in felt fresh and genuinely creepy in their own unique way. I’ve never really had a problem with ants . . . I might now. I never really think much about reading or watching scary stories right before bed. This book made me reconsider that position (ultimately I probably still will).

My only gripe with the book, was unfortunately how it ended. Without spoiling it, I’ll just say I think I wanted something with a little more catharsis. But ultimately, the ending that was written is still a “good” ending, well written and because of everything we’ve read before, not wholly unexpected though I might still say it’s a twist. However, I think I just wanted something different.

Give We Used to Live Here a Read?

Absolutely. This is probably one of the scariest books I’ve read, period. I loved the kind of creeping dread prevalent throughout the entirety. And I especially appreciated Kliewer’s mastery of craft on the sentence level, as well his ability to keep the reader hooked chapter after chapter.

I may have written a different ending myself, but ultimately I think the ending that we get is what is right for the book.

That’s all I have for this week. Has anyone read this book yet? What was the scariest part? Please leave your thoughts in the comments! Looking forward to talking about this one!

Until next time . . .