Marcus Kliewer is a Canadian writer of horror fiction,Bridget Raymundo, "How writing horror fiction helps Marcus Kliewer quell his own anxiety". The Next Chapter, September 20, 2024. who won the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in 2026 for his debut novel We Used to Live Here.Attila Berki, "Lyse Doucet, Marc Bendavid, Marcus Kliewer win Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prizes". Quill & Quire, June 25, 2026.
Originally from Kelowna, British Columbia,Ron Seymour, "Kelowna man inks deal with Netflix for new Blake Lively film". Kelowna Courier, June 4, 2021. with family roots in Steinbach, Manitoba,Afton Berg, "Author Marcus Kliewer reconnects with Steinbach roots". Steinbach Online, June 16, 2026. he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia after high school and worked in the film industry in crew jobs and as a stop-motion animator. His most noted jobs as an animator were as an editor on Amanda Strong's 2018 short film Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes), and as director of the 2020 animated short film lot.
When film production was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kliewer received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, and began to devote his free time to writing short horror fiction for the r/nosleep community on Reddit.
His original Reddit version of We Used to Live Here began to attract interest from Netflix in 2021,Gabrielle Sanchez, "Reddit scary story We Used To Live Here gets a home on Netflix with Blake Lively". The AV Club, June 4, 2021. and was the winner of r/nosleep's Scariest Story of the Year award. He also scored a three-book deal, as well as a film development deal for his short story "The Caretaker".Robert Wiersema, "How Marcus Kliewer Got a Film and Book Deal from a Horror-filled Reddit Post". Zoomer, June 20, 2024.
We Used to Live Here was published in June 2024, and The Caretaker was published in April 2026.Robert Wiersema, "The Caretaker, by Marcus Kliewer". Quill & Quire, March 2026.
Please Remain Seated, an audiobook version of three of his short stories, released in September 2026.
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