Welcome, friend! As a fan of horror, I gave Marcus Kliewer’s debut novel, We Used to Live Here a read. You may remember it from my anticipated releases this month. Today, I am excited to share this interview with Marcus. 🙂 Here’s a little bit about the book.
We Used to Live Here
Get Out meets Parasite in this eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit—soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively—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, uncanny and 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?
Get to know the author:Â Marcus Kliewer
Hi Marcus! It is a pleasure to have you on Armed with A Book. Please tell me and my readers a bit about yourself.
Hello, my name is Marcus Kliewer, pronounced ‘cleaver’ like the knife. I’ve been storytelling through different art forms (animation, stick figure comics, etc) since I could hold a pen. These days, I write novels and short stories.
We Used to Live Here began life as a serialized short story on Reddit, where it won the Scariest Story of 2021 award. What kind of research did you do for this story, and the eventual full-length novel?
Most of the research was done for the found document subchapters, e.g., how to write an Oregon police report, where does a specific type of fern grow, etc.
Taking a page from Stephen King’s ‘Derry,’ I tend to invent places and towns inspired by real locations, rather than 1:1 recreations. This way, I have more creative freedom and less chance of making research errors.
If you could be in the shoes of any of the characters, who would it be? Which one felt the most like you as you were writing?
I’d like to be in the shoes of Charlie – she seems like the most relaxed and self-assured character. But in reality, I’m most like Eve, slightly paranoid, easily distracted, and chronically on edge.
Have there been scenes in We Used to Live Here that have been too spooky or scary as you wrote them?
Most of the scares I’ve plotted out beforehand, so by the time I get to actually writing, I’m desensitized. But there is a scene involving ants that still makes me a little uncomfortable. And some of the more grounded/internal scares draw on my own trauma and experiences so those sections definitely dredged up unpleasant memories.
What makes for a compelling horror narrative in your mind? I want to know some of your favorite horror stories.
Fear of the unknown always gets to me. Explaining where the “monster” came from might make a more satisfying story, but it will never make a scarier one.
Off the top of my head, here are some horror/thriller stories that have heavily influenced me:
The Road (Cormac McCarthy): There are sequences in this book that have been permanently etched into my brain.
Signs (M. Night Shyamalan): One of the first thriller movies I ever saw. The way it slowly built dread, revealing the threat bit by bit has influenced every single thing I’ve ever written.
House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski): A mind-bending collection of “found” documents. Take the weirdness of ‘We Used to Live Here’ and amplify it by a thousand.
The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez): A masterclass in the fear of the unknown, and still one of the most effective found footage horror films ever made. There’s a reason that final shot has been etched into pop culture.
What is something you would like the readers of this book to take away or ponder?
“Empathy without boundaries is self-destruction.” – Silvy Khoucasian
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in We Used to Live Here that you find yourself going back to?
I’m proud of the secret messages woven throughout the book. Some might take people years to crack.
I also accidentally invented a new word:
“timberous”
It means to fall over slowly like a tree that has just been chopped down, e.g., “They fell with a timberous lurch.” I honestly thought it was already a word until the copy editor flagged it. They were gracious enough to let me sneak it into the final cut. Maybe one day, “timberous” will be good enough for Scrabble (13 points).
For readers who enjoyed your book, what should they pick up next? Can you share 1-3 Recommendations?
Off the top of my head:
- ‘HEX’ by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. A small town has long accepted that an undead witch roams its streets. So long as the residents follow procedure, consequences are minimal. But this tenuous sense of normalcy comes crashing down when a local boy unlawfully begins documenting the phenomenon for his YouTube page.
- ‘Your Shadow Half Remains’ by Sunny Moraine. I just finished this one. It’s about a world where eye contact spurs people into violent frenzies. Moraine’s writing is on another level – they’ve inspired me to up my game.
- ‘A Short Stay in Hell’ by Steven L. Peck. Imagine being trapped in a near-infinite library. Doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Just wait. This quick read unearthed levels of existential dread I never thought possible.
Are you currently working on any new projects or ideas?
I am in the middle of writing my next two novels. Big announcements coming soon!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
A huge thanks to you and the whole online book community. Getting so much support and feedback before the book is even released has been deeply encouraging.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me and share with my readers.
HEX is one of my favorite horror novels and you can find it’s review here.
Thanks for joining us! Connect with Marcus on Instagram and Goodreads.
I hope you will check out We Used to Live Here on Goodreads.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for connecting me with the authors and a review copy of the book for an honest review. Thank you for reading the interview! 🙂
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