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Emily May's Reviews > We Used to Live Here
We Used to Live Here
by
3 1/2 stars. There is a part of me that wants to give this book five stars for being one of the most terrifying horror stories I've ever read, and another part that wants to remove more stars for the thousand unanswered questions I have. Can we please get a sequel just to explain some shit?
I love a good scare and these days they're hard to come by. I've been reading/watching horror since I picked up the Goosebumps books when I was six, so I find I'm tough to really frighten. But, my god, THIS BOOK. Don't be fooled by that domestic thriller style cover-- this is pure horror.
It scared me in the middle of the day. And at night? I lay awake listening to every bump and creak in my house. It's certainly not conducive to a good night's sleep. That one scene in the attic was portrayed so vividly that I can still see it burned onto my eyelids every time I close my eyes.
The story is about young couple Eve and Charlie who flip houses. They've just bought a dilapidated old house (in the middle of nowhere, next to woods, with an attic AND a basement, because of course) with plans to renovate and sell. Then one night a family turn up at the front door. The father claims he lived in the house when he was a boy and asks if he might be able to look around. Just 15 minutes, then they'll be on their way.
Except, one thing after another keeps happening to extend their visit. And weird things start to happen around the house. Eve starts to see things, question reality. Is it her overactive imagination? Or do the family have no real intention of leaving?
Kliewer plays on many common thoughts that sit very close to reality. You misread something, misplace something, misremember. Nothing actually changed. Your phone didn't move; you just forgot you put it there... right?
The story also incorporates several very real phenomena that I can't think about for too long without feeling deeply unsettled. Sleep paralysis demons. Capgras syndrome (believing someone you know has been replaced by a doppelgänger.) Pareidolia (seeing meaningful things in abstract images - e.g. Rorschach tests.) The Mandela effect.
I think great horror writers do this-- weave their horror with truth, with the mundane, so it feels grounded in reality and therefore believable.
That being said, I cannot ignore the fact that I'm left with so many "What about...?" questions. The fact that I'm rounding up to 4 stars despite this should tell you just how gripping and scary I found the book.
Here are just a few of the questions I have (MAJOR SPOILERS):
(view spoiler)
It's actually really disappointing that so many loose threads were left hanging because I would genuinely like to rate this higher. I feel some of this could easily be taken care of with another quick edit. Though the book doesn't publish for another three months so perhaps changes will be made between now and then.
by
Once they’re in, they never leave . . .
3 1/2 stars. There is a part of me that wants to give this book five stars for being one of the most terrifying horror stories I've ever read, and another part that wants to remove more stars for the thousand unanswered questions I have. Can we please get a sequel just to explain some shit?
I love a good scare and these days they're hard to come by. I've been reading/watching horror since I picked up the Goosebumps books when I was six, so I find I'm tough to really frighten. But, my god, THIS BOOK. Don't be fooled by that domestic thriller style cover-- this is pure horror.
It scared me in the middle of the day. And at night? I lay awake listening to every bump and creak in my house. It's certainly not conducive to a good night's sleep. That one scene in the attic was portrayed so vividly that I can still see it burned onto my eyelids every time I close my eyes.
The story is about young couple Eve and Charlie who flip houses. They've just bought a dilapidated old house (in the middle of nowhere, next to woods, with an attic AND a basement, because of course) with plans to renovate and sell. Then one night a family turn up at the front door. The father claims he lived in the house when he was a boy and asks if he might be able to look around. Just 15 minutes, then they'll be on their way.
Except, one thing after another keeps happening to extend their visit. And weird things start to happen around the house. Eve starts to see things, question reality. Is it her overactive imagination? Or do the family have no real intention of leaving?
Kliewer plays on many common thoughts that sit very close to reality. You misread something, misplace something, misremember. Nothing actually changed. Your phone didn't move; you just forgot you put it there... right?
The story also incorporates several very real phenomena that I can't think about for too long without feeling deeply unsettled. Sleep paralysis demons. Capgras syndrome (believing someone you know has been replaced by a doppelgänger.) Pareidolia (seeing meaningful things in abstract images - e.g. Rorschach tests.) The Mandela effect.
I think great horror writers do this-- weave their horror with truth, with the mundane, so it feels grounded in reality and therefore believable.
That being said, I cannot ignore the fact that I'm left with so many "What about...?" questions. The fact that I'm rounding up to 4 stars despite this should tell you just how gripping and scary I found the book.
Here are just a few of the questions I have (MAJOR SPOILERS):
(view spoiler)
It's actually really disappointing that so many loose threads were left hanging because I would genuinely like to rate this higher. I feel some of this could easily be taken care of with another quick edit. Though the book doesn't publish for another three months so perhaps changes will be made between now and then.
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We Used to Live Here.
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Reading Progress
March 15, 2024
– Shelved
March 16, 2024
–
Started Reading
March 19, 2024
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 86 (86 new)
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Leanne
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rated it 4 stars
Mar 19, 2024 06:17AM
Ok, you convinced me, I'm going to buy it!
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Great review! Added to my TBR!
Katy wrote: "Great review! Added to my TBR!"Thank you! :)
Minus the dangling threads, this sounds so good. Great review!
Anne wrote: "Minus the dangling threads, this sounds so good. Great review!"Thank you!
s.penkevich wrote: "Wonderful review!"Thank you :)
I gotta know- is the 2 year old okay in the end?
Kiah wrote: "I gotta know- is the 2 year old okay in the end?"Hi Kiah, there wasn't a 2 year old in the book.
Did you got an ARC for this? It's not out yet
Mika wrote: "Did you got an ARC for this? It's not out yet"Yes, I got it from edelweiss.
Did you notice the Morse code at the end of some of the chapters?
Angelina wrote: "Did you notice the Morse code at the end of some of the chapters?"Oh gosh, you are right... I'm used to formatting issues with arcs so didn't even register that it was morse code. Now I'm curious about the random uppercase letters you mentioned!
I agree, so many unanswered questions!!!!!!! A sequel is a must, and maybe even a prequel!?!??! I want to know more about Alison/Alina, is this person real? The last thread threw me, like, is this a governmental conspiracy!??! It also scared me so bad I couldn't read it at night!
This is a great review! I have so many of the same questions! I have to write my review once I can wrap my head around what to rate it and why. So so scary!
Sheri wrote: "I agree, so many unanswered questions!!!!!!! A sequel is a must, and maybe even a prequel!?!??! I want to know more about Alison/Alina, is this person real? The last thread threw me, like, is this ..."Exactly!! I know this is horror, but even so I need more explanation than we got! Are we just supposed to accept it?? I NEED TO KNOW 😅
Allison wrote: "This is a great review! I have so many of the same questions! I have to write my review once I can wrap my head around what to rate it and why. So so scary!"Thank you! It made me feel really conflicted. It was so scary and gripping, but... that's it?!
Is this the same book that Daniel Hurst wrote with the same exact title? I’m so confused? The Goodreads summary sounds exactly the same.
Dr CG wrote: "Is this the same book that Daniel Hurst wrote with the same exact title? I’m so confused? The Goodreads summary sounds exactly the same."The Goodreads summaries do sound comically similar, but I think they're probably very different. I don't want to spoil the story, but this book is definitely horror, whereas Hurst's book appears to be a regular mystery/thriller(?) If you read this one, let me know how they compare... I'm curious now :)
Totally agree. Great world building, but then it was like the author didn’t know how to bring it all together.
I just finished this arc and it was great but I had the same questions as you by the end! I noticed the morse code after some of the chapters and they translate to “The old man with the scar has lived in the cabin for centuries and goes by many different names.”
Omg just from your review I think I’ll skip this, sounds too scary, my mind is too active at night
I can relate to your questions in review so much! Numerous unanswered questions. I was SO SURE that the tunnel in the basement led to an underground hallway that was connected to the town psych ward! Also, I thought the authorities were in on everything and that there was some sort of poison planted in the house to aid in mental effects all as a conspiracy to fund the city, asylum, and research purposes. The book was gripping, but had potential to be so much more.
I have a lot of the same questions! I’m also wondering if anyone has figured out the Morse code-like dashes/dots at the end of each article/interview/etc.??
The Morse Code states “ the old man with the scar has lived in the cabin for centuries and goes by many different names”
I agree with Emily May about the unanswered questions being present, but then there was Charlie’s last entry in Doc_E25_HELP, which is even more creepy. Where is she? Still in the basement, trapped? Then the weird glyphs in Doc_A04_Hoax seemed to add to the unfinished nature of the series. I love that the book Docs seemed to relate to Eve’s research online. It added to the disquieting feeling, especially since we all rely on the internet and it changes all the time.
Great review!!! I was left with many of the same questions!! I want answers!
Totally agree about the unanswered questions. I assumed the answers to a couple of them:The symbol around the house was Alison trying to keep her memory intact, since her dad didn’t have a band in the reality she was shifted to (?)
My guess is the house number goes up each time another person gets trapped
The man in the cabin seemed to be someone trying to figure out the workings of the house, probably someone who has been trapped. But I would be interested to learn more about him.
But seriously, what was the deal with the neighbor’s house?? Was the neighbor’s husband trapped by the house perhaps? Also, why a hospital specifically in the basement? Why was Alison looking normal at the end when Eve got arrested? Sooooo many questions, would love to see another book.
After reading Liz’s comment about Alison looking normal at the end, was she somehow “freed” when Charlie was trapped and Eve “became” Emma?
Wyllow wrote: "After reading Liz’s comment about Alison looking normal at the end, was she somehow “freed” when Charlie was trapped and Eve “became” Emma?"I was thinking something along those lines too, but it definitely wasn't clear.
So so good. I love the unanswered questions.
I finished this book mere hours ago and here are the answers I came to for some of your questions:because they can, because fear energy feeds them, because immortals get bored - take your pick
my guess is the family are constructs of a bored old god who saw humans have families and decided to give it a try and/or lesser spiritual-type entities
screaming in the snow - I thought I had an idea but I'm not so sure in the wake of the climax
the circle thing was Alison trying to ground herself in HER reality - she picked it because it reminded her of her real parents
same thing that happened to Eve - she landed in a different reality
neighbor's house and 3708 are part of the same thing - they're hallmarks of something being rotten in the state of Denmark. I mean Oregon
cabin guy was an oha, one more obsessive than most, who probably also isn't in his original reality
I have another question/observation that I haven’t seen mentioned. Jenny. They kept correcting her at dinner, and seemed to be testing her to see if she would bend to their reality. But she’s so young and she was definitely confused/kept getting their answers ‘wrong’. Was she the next ‘victim’ for them? Since they seemed to be planning to send ‘Emma’ away soon.
Kelle wrote: "I agree with Emily May about the unanswered questions being present, but then there was Charlie’s last entry in Doc_E25_HELP, which is even more creepy. Where is she? Still in the basement, trapped..."My take is that Eve was pulled into some kind of alternate reality before Charlie ever got home at the beginning of the book. Every Charlie we actually see in the book is an alternate Charlie, except for the one posting in the last chapter.
A couple things to add that I'm questioning: 1. The random capital letters in that one OHA entry spell out "The old gods see all." Eve mentions Cthulu somewhere, too. I'm thinking we're supposed to get a very Lovecraftian feel? Leading me to think one of the commenters above is correct: they do this because they can/ to let humans know they mean nothing.
2. I have no idea when Charlie became fake Charlie, but I did notice that the missing letters of the Kettle Creek Hotel were different when they checked in vs when Eve originally observed them. Makes me wonder how many different realities she cycled through.
3. Was Thomas really the supreme bad guy? Is it possible that he was experiencing the same thing as Eve? Could that be why he was in the basement at the beginning (when Jenny is playing hide-and-seek) stock still and doesn't respond to his name? Are all the characters puppets at different times? Like, if "a hero can be anyone", can a devil also be anyone?
4. When Jenny hides, after she finally comes upstairs, she keeps repeating "I'm sorry" over and over. Alison does the same thing when she's chasing/following Eve through the house at the end. Are they connected?
5. Why does the monkey disappear from Eve's car when she's a kid?
6. Thomas's last name is Faust? Does this reference a Faustain bargain made by the family?
7. I think we're supposed to think that the man from the cabin is Thomas. Eve remembers that he has a scar across his face "just like --" and then it cuts off. But I think it's a similar scar to the one he would have had after Eve attacked him with the hammer.
8. Alison in the woods at the end, looking way better, is the loose end that's killing me the most. I can't make that track with anything.
Jennifer, I hadn't thought about that re: Charlie, but it really makes a lot of sense.
And Amanda, I wondered about Jenny, too. Even Newton. That felt super ambiguous to me.
I had the same thoughts. I really liked it so much, well-written, creepy, but so many loose ends that it weakened it for me.
Jenny your observations make a lot of sense and make me understand the book more. I do wish as the reader we got some official conclusions to these answers instead of having to theorize. I agree it was well written, well paced and had some awesomely creepy visuals.
Did you decode the clues at the end of the “between” chapters???? I loved that part! I also have so many questions and wish this book was 100 pages longer. I hope he releases a sequel with a new “Emma” or “Alina” who actually succeed with their pen or hammer!
The man in the cabin was an older version of Thomas; that’s why he had the scar - from Eve’s later attack on the younger version of him.
My question is, was anyone able to figure out what the Morse code at the end of each of the documents/clues spelled out?
Also, we never find out what happened to the real Shylo. A small detail really, but I'm an animal lover, so it nagged at me.
@Lizzymo the Morse code clues: THE OLD MAN WITH THE SCAR HAS LIVED IN THE CABIN FOR CENTURIES AND GOES BY MANY DIFFERENT NAMES.
I think I have a few ideas to your questions:- I agree that the old man in the cabin is an older Thomas. That also makes the Morse code clue make more sense, that Thomas is an immortal being that is repeating this pattern
- I also agree with the house number increasing being a sign of how many victims there have been to Thomas’ plot
- I took the final image of Alison looking healthier and the entry of her father’s obituary (Elijah Faust) which cites Alison as his daughter to show that Alison’s reality was reset when Eve became trapped in Thomas’ plot. Now Alison is able to return to being her parent’s only child which also explains why she kept saying sorry to Eve
- @Desiree I think Shylo never entered the time warp and the Shylos we met were fake. Shylo and Charlie got out as shown by the final entry of Charlie and her dog returning to the home to find it abandoned and Eve disappeared from that reality
I think the myriad unanswered questions is intentional. The story is a novel-length version of the same author's short story from Reddit's r/NoSleep, and I get the feeling that the author meant to leave readers with questions for them to get together and talk about. Maybe on the internet. Maybe on Reddit.There's clearly also a lot more clues (not necessarily answers) hidden throughout the novel. People have mentioned the morse code, and the capitalized letters from DOC_A04_HOAX. Yeah, so I went went ahead and sent the answer to the latter to the mentioned email, and wouldn't you know, I got this reply:
"SHe wakEs at the sAme time every day noT always knowing wHere she is. ShE waits for the drifters to show and wonders if she is being punished foR something terrible she did in a past life.
.. ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / ... . . / .- / .-. .- -... -... .. - / .. -. ... .. -.. . / -.-. .- - -.-. .... / .- -. -.. / .-. . .-.. . .- ... . / .. - / .-- .. - .... .. -. / ..-. .. ...- . / -- .. -. ..- - . ... .-.-.-"
Same puzzle formats. The capital letters spell out HEATHER (the neighbor) and the morse code says IF YOU SEE A RABBIT INSIDE CATCH AND RELEASE IT WITHIN FIVE MINUTES.
Like I said, not really answers, just more clues. Maybe other people have found and decoded other stuff from the novel? The cabin in the woods is filled with references that seem to indicate a universe (multiverse?) of weirdness, straight out of The Twilight Zone.
feelings exactly. So much potential that went nowhere
I really hope there's a sequel. I'm ok with an open ending sometimes, but this felt like it just straight up ended like 50 pages early hah. I still loved it, though.
No kidding about that attic scene! So uncanny. I found it really scary in the way that analog horror works inside the horror genre; Mandela Catalogue, Vita Carnis (similar to the cool categories of evil describes on page 153), and the Backrooms, which draws heavy comparisons to House of Leaves. I’m totally fine with not understanding it all right away. Also, a girl can dream, but I’m looking forward to Wendigoon covering it in a Youtube video essay. I know for a fact many people on Reddit are already theorizing and working out the kinks in the story. Eeek!
The one note that stood out to me was “don’t forget what house you’re in” - so there are more realities happening at once? Eve was trapped, and how many others??
