gilda_elise

From an author “destined to become a titan of the macabre and unsettling” (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), a haunting debut—soon to be a Netflix original movie—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit.

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 neighborhood. 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, 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?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it” (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).

Such an eerie, terrifying book. It’s been a long time since a horror story was able to creep me out so much that I was hesitant to turn off the lights. What was real and what wasn’t was so intertwined with things that do happen to people that you could easily start to wonder about your own reality.

The story becomes unsettling almost from the start, but slowly turns to horror for Eve. Because of her past, she does things that most people wouldn’t, and soon she’s caught in a maelstrom of terrifying proportions. I guess the main takeaway is never let strangers into your house.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to the book. A lot of what’s going on is never explained. Maybe the author wanted the reader to decide, but without that missing explanations it’s impossible to do so. And just when you decide that, yes, this is what’s going on, the author throws in another red herring.

I’m not counting on it, but a sequel would really help.