Marcus Kliewer has a new horror novel on the way — and it’s already slated for a screen adaptation featuring Sydney Sweeney.
Set in the same universe as Kliewer’s debut hit We Used to Live Here, the author’s new standalone novel The Caretaker follows a young woman who accepts a caretaking position through an ad on Craigslist, “only do discover the position has consequences far greater — and more dangerous — than she ever could have imagined,” according to the official description.
The novel is the inaugural release from 12:01 Books, an Imprint of Atria Books at Simon and Schuster, and is set to hit shelves on April 21, 2026.
Brian Van Wyk
Kliewer, once called a “titan of the macabre and unsettling” by No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig, tells PEOPLE he’s tried to resist the adage, “write what you know,” but ultimately opted for subject matter close to home for The Caretaker.
“The Caretaker is a story about grief, mental health and the struggle to find self-worth and belonging in the midst of crisis,” Kliewer tells PEOPLE. “Exploring these topics through the genre of supernatural horror has been a strangely cathartic and therapeutic process for me. I hope the story resonates with readers as much as it frightens them.”
Although The Caretaker is set in the same universe as Kliewer’s first novel, the author assures readers his upcoming novel won’t make the end of We Used to Live Here any less confusing. Still, he’s added in “one or two or three easter eggs for the extra attentive reader,” and offered up a string of morse code: (.-. -..-. — .-.. -.. …. — ..- … . .- .-. -.-. …. .. …- .)
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In addition to the print edition, The Caretaker is also soon to become a major motion picture with Universal Studios. Sydney Sweeney is set to star and produce alongside Platinum Dunes and 1201 Films, according to Atria Books.
The Caretaker comes out April 21, 2026 and is available now for preorder, wherever books are sold.
