The Caretaker, hardcover cover

The Caretaker - Hardcover

$26.49
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The Caretaker, hardcover cover

The Caretaker

$26.49

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Is this book for you?

Feels
Eerie, Tense, Terrifying
Kind of story
Supernatural horror, Haunted house
About
Isolation, Family, Survival
Pace
Fast
How dark
3 of 5. Dark, with real menace
Romance
None to speak of

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Featured in our reading guide: New Horror Books of 2026: 10 to Read This October

Instant New York Times Bestseller

Follow the Rites...

 

Nothing less than the survival of humanity is at stake.

 

From Marcus Kliewer, a new "titan of the macabre and unsettling" (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), comes an eerie supernatural horror about a young woman who accepts a caretaking job from Craigslist, only to discover the position has consequences far greater - and more dangerous - than she ever could have imagined.

 

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY:
Caretaker urgently needed. Three days of work. Competitive pay. Serious applicants ONLY.

 

Macy Mullins can't say why the job posting grabbed her attention - it had the pull of a fisherman's lure, barbed hook and all - vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she's not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.

 

Besides, it's only three days' work...

 

Three days, cooped up in a stranger's house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.

 

What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property - and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.

 

Follow the Rites...

 

Follow the Rites...

 

Follow the Rites...

 

.. - - / ..... / - -..

Author Biography

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. 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.

Details

  • Author: Marcus Kliewer
  • Format: Hardcover
  • Pages: 320
  • Published: April 21, 2026
  • Size: 6.24 x 9.26 x 1.23 in
  • ISBN: 9781982198817

Praise

  • Disturbing and propulsive, The Caretaker is a gem of visually inspired Gothic storytelling. Marcus Kliewer takes a familiar horror premise and makes it his own, drawing you into a lucid nightmare of a novel. Keep the light on!

    Scott Carson, nationally bestselling author of Departure 37

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