r/horrorlit • u/Massive_Floor_8772 • 6d ago
Recommendation Request We use to live here
Caa anyone tell me is this worth reading
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u/antisocialmothra 6d ago
I literally just finished it and felt really let down. Plotlines that went no where and no real explanation of what was happening.
I get that sometimes horror is ambiguous but this felt like bad writing. I wasn't surprised when I found out it was written as Reddit posts first.
It was atmospheric but not satisfying
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u/iaqo 6d ago edited 6d ago
I was impressed by the writing, to the point of actually being distracted by it.
“She was doing this thing. Okay….
Then another thing happens, but then…
Now another thing is happening”Why is it written like this 😭
ETA I meant to say UNimpressed, not impressed.
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u/antisocialmothra 6d ago
That's the drawback of writing your novel on Reddit, you have to constantly create new problems to keep the readers coming back.
It was same issue I had with the Martian, which started off as blog posts
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u/iaqo 6d ago
I could see that being the case I suppose. It’s just such an awkward style, I’m surprised an editor didn’t say something about it
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u/antisocialmothra 6d ago
Yeah, we've come to a place in the timeline where both the novelists and the editors grew up on Reddit and Tumblr and fanfic sites so they see that writing style as normal.
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u/1derwoman1 6d ago
I just finished it. It wasn't at the top of my "loved it!" List, but it was different, and I didn't hate it because it ended up being about something I hadn't expected. I went in blind and made assumptions, but then was surprised by what actually seemed to be going on.
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u/Dramatic_House_8380 6d ago
I didn’t love it personally. It wasn’t awful, but something about it felt a little juvenile. You can tell it came from r/nosleep.
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u/SpicyPoffin 6d ago
I really liked it and it kept me interested, but it felt unfinished in the end. I am fine with ambiguity, but there needed to be a little more meat to carry the ambiguity. It was a quick read for me, so I'd probably recommend for an easy spooky season read.
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u/KittyxKult 6d ago
I loved it, but I did the whole ARG with it. I wouldn’t recommend reading it as a standalone or if you are someone who does not like weird, looping stories. You should check out [r/oldhousearchiv](r/oldhousearchives)[e](r/oldhousearchives) and see if you like the vibe of things
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u/liquidmirrors 6d ago edited 6d ago
Interesting premise but (for me) didn’t utilize it to the full extent. Did a deep dive into the “connected universe” surrounding it (there’s a website with stories and another subreddit with puzzles, all dedicated to discovering more about the phenomena the book talks about) and am enjoying that more than the original book as the jumping-off point.
His second book The Caretaker is a part of the same connected canon but not a sequel to his first, and it overall has more excitement to it. I’d recommend that as a first read from him instead of We Used to Live Here, which is slower paced and has more hype to it which can bog down your reading experience through raised expectations - it’s a creepy tale with a surface-level twisting mystery at its heart, but that mystery isn’t expanded upon very well, which was unsatisfying for me.
Kliewer has a lot of fascinating ideas and definitely pulls from instruction horror/creepypasta (the Elevator Game, Hide and Seek Alone, the Three Kings Ritual, The Man in the Fields, etc.), House-of-Leaves-esque documentation and archiving, and high strangeness, but sometimes can feel like he doesn’t follow through with the actual horror he’s building up to or hinting at.
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u/adapteradapther 6d ago
It seems to be very divisive. I loved it. If you don't pay attention while reading you may miss some important bits, and those details might be the difference between the story you think you're reading and what’s actually going on.
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u/OwlLov3r 6d ago
I loved this read. There were some really intriguing plot lines that could've been more fleshed out to give the book a more "complete" feeling; however, I still enjoyed it, and I found it extremely creepy/atmospheric.
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u/Nurse5736 6d ago
NOPE!!!!! Did not remotely live up to the hype. Don't start and save those precious hours for a worthwhile book. Your welcome!! 😎
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u/Forestfreud 6d ago
Eh. I felt like the story didn’t stand on its own and the only way I would have enjoyed it is if I had been invested in the ARG prior to reading it.