We Used To Live Hear: Who Are We, Really?

This story starts out like a ghost story before it descends into a disjointed paranoia...in the best way possible.

This book is the first one that has really spooked me in a long time. I am a fan of Paranoia horror - think The Stepford Wives, Karyn Kusama's The Invitation, Rosemary's Baby, etc., and this book completely delivers on this. I had to stop reading, go to bed, and finish in the daytime. I live alone and I have a creepy basement - this was a definite "must read int he daytime" book!

Eve and her partner Charlie have just bought this old house with the intent to flip it and make a profit. As the book opens, Charlie has gone to town when there is a knock on the door. Thomas and his family have stopped by because Thomas claims to have grown up in the house and wants to show his family around. What's supposed to be a simple tour for a nostalgic stranger turns into a mind-bending terror for Eve as she tries to maintain her grip on reality.

This is another one that I don't want to give too much away about, because the build is so good. I still think that The Stepford Wives is still the most perfectly plotted example of a story about growing paranoia, but this is definitely a close second. Just like in The Troop and Carrie, as I mentioned in a previous review, there are little "documents" scattered between the chapters that attempt to give more context to the unfolding mystery, but they really keep you guessing about what is real and what is imagined as you try to figure out what has happened to Eve (Emma?), Charlie (Charlotte?), Allison (Alina?), and all of the others who have crossed the threshold of 3709 (3710?) Heritage Lane.