# Let the Right One In (novel)
**Let the Right One In** (Swedish: *Låt den rätte komma in*) is a vampire horror novel by the Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist, his debut novel, first published in Sweden in 2004 by Ordfront.[1](https://media.public.gr/Books-PDF/9781847248480-0419293.pdf) Set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in autumn 1981, it follows twelve-year-old Oskar, a bullied schoolboy, and Eli, the childlike vampire who moves in next door.[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) Translated into English by Ebba Segerberg, the novel became an international bestseller and has been adapted into a 2008 Swedish film, a 2010 American film titled *Let Me In*, stage plays, and a Showtime television series.[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) • [3](https://johnajvidelindqvist.com/english.php)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original publication | *Låt den rätte komma in*, Ordfront, Stockholm, 2004; Lindqvist's debut novel[1](https://media.public.gr/Books-PDF/9781847248480-0419293.pdf) • [4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/) |
| English edition | Translated by Ebba Segerberg; first published in Great Britain in 2007 by Quercus; US paperback from St. Martin's Griffin on October 28, 2008[1](https://media.public.gr/Books-PDF/9781847248480-0419293.pdf) • [5](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312355296/lettherightonein/) |
| Setting | Blackeberg, a suburb of Sweden, autumn 1981[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) |
| Main characters | Oskar, a bullied twelve-year-old boy, and Eli, his new neighbor, a vampire who only comes out at night[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) |
| Sales and translation | Almost half a million copies sold and more than 30 languages by the novel's 20th anniversary in 2024; over 150,000 copies sold in the UK by Quercus[4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/) • [6](https://www.justthedocs2245.com/78076830.pdf) |
| Adaptations | Swedish film (2008), US film *Let Me In* directed by Matt Reeves (2010), stage adaptations, and a Showtime TV series[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) • [7](https://suntup.press/let-the-right-one-in/) |
| Sequel fiction | The short story "Let The Old Dreams Die" continues the novel, with the spin-off story "What Kept You So Long?" as a third installment[7](https://suntup.press/let-the-right-one-in/) |
## Plot and setting
The story opens in autumn 1981 in Blackeberg, a suburb of Sweden, when the body of a teenager is found emptied of blood, with the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing.[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) Twelve-year-old Oskar, who endures bullying at school day after day, hopes the violence might bring him revenge.[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) A new girl then moves in next door: she has never seen a [Rubik's Cube](https://www.edgepedia.org/rubiks-cube) before but can solve it at once, something about her is odd, and she only comes out at night.[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/)
The title draws on the rule of vampire folklore that a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited in across the threshold.[8](https://oapub.org/lit/index.php/EJLS/article/download/258/288) In the novel, the character Håkan is described as a paedophile, a detail omitted from the 2008 film adaptation.[9](https://park.academies.aspirationsacademies.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2020/06/let-the-right-one-in.pdf) Eli's need for blood is served by a middle-aged man who murders people for her, a figure the story treats as a duty-bound guardian of a kind.[10](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-vampire-movies/) • [18](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/ajvide-lindqvist-john-1968)
## Origin and publication
John Ajvide Lindqvist (born 1968) grew up in Blackeberg, the suburb where the novel is set, after a career as a magician and twelve years as a stand-up comedian.[3](https://johnajvidelindqvist.com/english.php) • [4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/) In 2000 he wrote down the idea "A vampire story that takes place in Blackeberg" and completed his first novel seven months later.[3](https://johnajvidelindqvist.com/english.php) It took several years to find a publisher, but the book was a hit on release.[3](https://johnajvidelindqvist.com/english.php) At the time, little Swedish horror fiction was on the market, and Lindqvist became a pioneer of the genre in Sweden.[11](https://spraktidningen.se/okategoriserade/lat-skracken-komma/)
The English translation by Ebba Segerberg appeared in Great Britain in 2007 under the title *Let the Right One In*, published by Quercus.[1](https://media.public.gr/Books-PDF/9781847248480-0419293.pdf) The first US paperback followed from St. Martin's Griffin on October 28, 2008.[5](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312355296/lettherightonein/) Upon translation into English, the American edition was titled *Let Me In*, while the British edition kept the original title; the two titles refer to the same translation of the same novel, and a later US media tie-in edition also appeared as *Let Me In*.[8](https://oapub.org/lit/index.php/EJLS/article/download/258/288) • [12](https://www.goodreads.com/work/editions/928338-l-t-den-r-tte-komma-in) By the time of the Swedish film's release, rights had been sold to 12 countries.[13](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2Fbe%2Fbeb52dd8-f220-4554-9d6c-eee644d2a1ea.pdf)
## Sales and reception
The novel became an international bestseller and is now described by its Swedish publisher as a modern classic.[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) • [4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/) By the 20th anniversary on May 1, 2024, it had sold almost half a million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.[4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/) Quercus sold over 150,000 copies in the UK.[6](https://www.justthedocs2245.com/78076830.pdf) Reviewers quoted by the US publisher compared Lindqvist to [Clive Barker](https://www.edgepedia.org/clive-barker) and [Neil Gaiman](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-gaiman), and called him "Sweden's Stephen King".[5](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312355296/lettherightonein/) The novelist [Kelley Armstrong](https://www.edgepedia.org/kelley-armstrong), a New York Times bestseller, described the book as "a brilliant take on the vampire myth, and a roaring good story".[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) Lindqvist is now counted among the leading horror writers of the Nordic countries, and among the novel's admirers is Stephen King.[4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/)
## Adaptations
**Film.** Lindqvist wrote the screenplay for the Swedish film *Låt den rätte komma in* (2008), directed by Tomas Alfredson, and received a Guldbagge, the Swedish Academy Award, for that script.[3](https://johnajvidelindqvist.com/english.php) The film was a multi-film-festival award-winning production and, according to its Swedish publisher, the third most seen Swedish film in the United States.[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/) • [4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/) The New York Times ranked it 70th in its list of the best films made since the turn of the millennium.[14](https://omni.se/a/Avapbj) The American adaptation *Let Me In* (2010) was directed by [Matt Reeves](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-reeves).[2](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/)
**Stage and television.** The novel has also been staged: after original performances in 2013, the play toured and played in London and New York.[9](https://park.academies.aspirationsacademies.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2020/06/let-the-right-one-in.pdf) A Showtime television series reimagined the story with new characters and a new setting in present-day New York City; showrunner Andrew Hinderaker called it "a new story that really is at the same time very much a love letter to the film".[15](https://www.metacritic.com/news/let-the-right-one-in-showtime-adaptation-film-differences/)
**Sequel fiction.** Lindqvist continued the story in the short story "Let The Old Dreams Die", which gives a concrete ending to the novel's plot, and in the spin-off story "What Kept You So Long?", the third installment of the saga; the Suntup signed limited edition of 2020/2021 collected the novel with both stories in a single volume for the first time.[7](https://suntup.press/let-the-right-one-in/)
## Legacy
Within twenty years of publication the novel had generated two feature films, two stage adaptations, and a television series, and it has become a frequent subject of academic work in adaptation studies and literary criticism.[4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/) • [7](https://suntup.press/let-the-right-one-in/) Scholars have read it through queer theory as a text of liminality and resistance, and it is regularly compared with other vampire fiction such as *Twilight*, with which it shares a human-vampire love story but little else.[16](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14791420.2011.566277) • [17](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13840hk) The Ordfront anniversary edition of 2024 added the two key short stories, the screenplay of Alfredson's film, and a new afterword by the author.[4](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/)
## References
1. [Copyright page, Let the Right One In (Quercus), first published in Sweden in 2004 by Ordfront](https://media.public.gr/Books-PDF/9781847248480-0419293.pdf)
2. [Let the Right One In: A Novel, St. Martin's Griffin / Macmillan](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250902962/lettherightonein/)
3. [John Ajvide Lindqvist, In English (official site)](https://johnajvidelindqvist.com/english.php)
4. [Låt den rätte komma in, jubileumsutgåva, Ordfront förlag](https://ordfrontforlag.se/bocker/lat-den-ratte-komma-in-jubileumsutgava-med-extramaterial/)
5. [Let the Right One In: A Novel, St. Martin's Griffin (October 28, 2008)](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312355296/lettherightonein/)
6. [Swedish Literature on the British Market (thesis)](https://www.justthedocs2245.com/78076830.pdf)
7. [Announcing: Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Suntup Editions](https://suntup.press/let-the-right-one-in/)
8. [European Journal of Literary Studies: adaptation analysis of Let the Right One In](https://oapub.org/lit/index.php/EJLS/article/download/258/288)
9. [GCSE Film Studies Focus Film Factsheet: Let the Right One In](https://park.academies.aspirationsacademies.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2020/06/let-the-right-one-in.pdf)
10. [The 25 best vampire movies to sink your teeth into in 2025, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-vampire-movies/)
11. [Låt skräcken komma in, Språktidningen](https://spraktidningen.se/okategoriserade/lat-skracken-komma/)
12. [Editions of Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/work/editions/928338-l-t-den-r-tte-komma-in)
13. [Magnolia Pictures press kit: Let The Right One In](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2Fbe%2Fbeb52dd8-f220-4554-9d6c-eee644d2a1ea.pdf)
14. [Svensk vampyrfilm en av århundradets bästa, Omni (New York Times 21st-century films list)](https://omni.se/a/Avapbj)
15. [How Showtime's 'Let The Right One In' Adaptation Differs From the Film, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/news/let-the-right-one-in-showtime-adaptation-film-differences/)
16. [Queer Imag(in)ing: Liminality as Resistance in Lindqvist's Let the Right One In, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14791420.2011.566277)
17. [Let the Right One In, JSTOR / Liverpool Scholarship Online](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13840hk)
18. [Ajvide Lindqvist, John 1968–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/ajvide-lindqvist-john-1968)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Genre fiction categories › Science fiction, fantasy, and horror › Horror fiction works*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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