For this month’s Writer’s Book Club, I’m tackling the spooky thriller We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook (expertly read by Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Corey Brill).

In We Used to Live Here, Eve and her girlfriend Charlie buy an old Victorian mansion to remodel and resell or tear down. After living there for three months, a family appears at their doorstep. The father grew up in the house, which was built by his father, and he wants to show it to his family. Charlie is away, so Eve must decide whether to let them in. She’s perpetually anxious and always wanting to please, so she opens the door.

What I liked about the novel

I enjoy being scared, and this novel had some of the scariest scenes I’ve ever read/listened to. One revelation in particular gave me creepy chills—I didn’t see it coming. There’s no gore or monsters, just a strange family who won’t leave and a shift in reality that has the reader questioning Eve’s sanity.

Indecisive, insecure Eve and decisive, self-confident Charlie make a believable and likeable couple. I worried with Eve and was relieved when Charlie came on the scene and formed a plan of action. However, when Charlie goes missing, and Eve has to take matters into her own hands, some of her actions were frustratingly inept.

I liked the twists throughout the book. Knowing the premise and that this is a horror novel, I expected the father to be a serial killer who planned on holding Eve hostage—or something like that. The first twist, one of many, proved me wrong.

What I didn’t like about We Used to Live There

I wanted Eve to grow as a character and become more self-assured. I wanted her to be smart and resilient. To some extent she was, but not enough for me.

I found the novel confusing. It was as if Marcus Kliewer had multiple story ideas and instead of choosing one or two; he threw them all in. That didn’t work for me. Not only was it hard to keep things straight, it was also hard to follow all the different threads. I’d get used to one and then the storyline would switch, making me question what the book really was. A time travel? Paranormal? Conspiracy? If a conspiracy, to what end?

Side note: Kliewer originally serialized this story on Reddit, and to some extent, that shows.

I wanted more (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing)

I connected with the characters and wanted to know what was to become of them. This pulled me through the confusing sections. And Kliewer finished the book with potential for a sequel. Despite the problems I had with this book, I’ll read (listen) to that one as well.

Blake Lively will produce and star in the Netflix adaptation of We Used to Live Here. I’ll probably watch it, even though Lively will star as Eve, which is a miscasting. Lively is too perfect—in looks and in confidence—to play meek, mousy Eve.

How this has affected my writing

I’ve thought about writing a horror story and now think I might tackle one that has some remarkable twists. But I’ll stick to one to two genre-specific ideas rather than throw every idea I have at it. And I’ll make sure my protagonist is smart, capable, and so scared.

We Used to Live Here gets 👍🏻  👍🏻 👍🏻  for some truly scary scenes.

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