You Should Have Left (novella)

You Should Have Left is a psychological horror novella written by Austrian author Daniel Kehlmann, originally published in German as Du hättest gehen sollen in 2016 and translated into English in 2017 by Ross Benjamin. The story follows a screenwriter seeking solitude in a remote house in the Alps with his wife and young daughter. As the screenwriter attempts to work on a screenplay, he becomes increasingly unsettled by the strange occurrences within the house, leading him to question his sanity and the true nature of reality.

The novella is narrated in the first person through the screenwriter's journal entries, which detail his anxieties, marital tensions, and growing sense of unease within the house. The house itself becomes a character, exhibiting unsettling and potentially supernatural properties that blur the lines between the protagonist's perception and objective reality. The themes explored include the disintegration of the self, the fragility of relationships, the nature of reality, and the creative process. The novella is notable for its short length and its ability to create a suspenseful and unsettling atmosphere through suggestion and psychological manipulation, rather than explicit horror. It relies heavily on building dread through subtle inconsistencies and the protagonist's increasingly unreliable narration.

A film adaptation, also titled You Should Have Left, starring Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried, was released in 2020. The film, while based on the core premise of the novella, deviates from the source material in certain plot points and characterizations.