This book is the literary equivalent of passing an open doorway into a dark room and out of the corner of your eye thinking that something is standing in the corner, watching.

I completely loved this!!! It’s so rewarding as a reader when you hype up a read in your head and it delivers. I absolutely adored We Used To Live Here and The Caretaker was my most anticipated read of 2026.

Have absolutely no idea what happened but I had a really great time!!!

I am truly grateful for Random House/Transworld for the opportunity to receive an arc copy of this fantastic book, thank you so much!

r/OldHouseArchive… I am sure you’re going to love this. I am so excited for this book to release so I can delve into theories once again!!!

I'll automatically read anything Marcus Kliewer writes, he just has a way of hooking you on the story and not letting you drop your book (or kindle as the case may be). The thriller elements are so well done and really make so much sense, they all add up.

An excellent take on the creepy haunted house trope

I haven’t read Marcus Kliewer’s début We Used to Live Here , but I remember seeing buzz about it online and admiring the cover art (by Snowy Campbell, I think) and when my wife pointed me to The Caretaker, the description grabbed me straightaway.

The Caretaker is an interesting setting, for sure, with a protagonist struggling to handle both the emotional and the practical consequences of her single-father’s death a couple of years previously. She recognises that the titular job offering sounds both weird and that the pay is too good to be true, but circumstances mean she can’t turn it down. Anyway, obviously these ridiculous “rites” must be bollocks, right? And, as the description points out, “Besides, it’s only three days’ work…”

Kliewer does an excellent job of ratcheting up the tension and the creepy, so much so that I had to pause my reading at 62% when it was obvious that what was almost certainly coming next was not gonna be something I wanted to read immediately before going to sleep. Several developments made me literally gasp and cover my mouth. I can’t wait to see the upcoming film adaptation, as well as seeing people’s reactions to consuming both versions.

A strong recommend for anyone who enjoys creepy psychological horror. Content notes for grief (death of a parent, death of a child), suicidal ideation (and reference to others’ suicides), body horror and murder, animal death, reference to animal cruelty, and maybe the end of the world…

I received an advance copy from NetGalley in the expectation of an honest review.