79. Fright Night

Let’s face it: you’re either someone who likes reading books that make you want to nervously look over your shoulder while reading, or you’re not. But, judging by the popularity of these titles, there are many millions of us who love a good scare. We speak with two authors who have some of the creepiest, smartest books on the market. Nick Cutter’s The Queen is a terrifying heart-pounder of a novel in which a young woman searches for her missing friend only to discover a shocking truth. Marcus Kliewer’s eerily haunting debut, We Used to Live Here, features two homeowners whose lives turn upside down in a novel so compelling it’s now on its way to becoming a major Netflix movie. Find yourself leaving the light on? Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Moderated by Robert J. Wiersema.

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Event Participants:

Nick Cutter

NICK CUTTER is the author of the critically acclaimed national bestseller The Troop (which is currently being developed for film with producer James Wan), The Deep, Little Heaven, and The Handyman Method, cowritten with Andrew F. Sullivan. Nick Cutter is the pseudonym for Craig Davidson, whose much-lauded literary fiction includes Rust and Bone, The Saturday Night Ghost Club, and, most recently, the short story collection Cascade. His story “Medium Tough” was selected by author Jennifer Egan for The Best American Short Stories 2014. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

Marcus Kliewer

MARCUS KLIEWER is a writer and stop-motion animator. His debut novel We Used to Live Here began life as a serialized short story on Reddit, where it won the Scariest Story of 2021 award on the NoSleep forum (eighteen million members). Film rights were snapped up by Netflix, and it was acquired by Simon & Schuster in the US for publication even before it had been extended into a full-length novel. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Robert J. Wiersema

ROBERT J. WIERSEMA is the author of three novels, a novella, a collection of short stories, and a book of nonfiction. He is one of Canada’s most recognized and respected book reviewers, with his work appearing regularly in The Toronto Star, Quill & Quire, The Globe and Mail, National Post, and numerous other publications. Wiersema lives in Victoria where he is a professor of creative writing at Vancouver Island University. (BRITISH COLUMBIA)