Thank you to Random House for my copy of INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE. This one is out June 25!

This book was soooooo creepy. I loved it, it was so entertaining until the conclusion. It felt rushed at the end and just needed an ending but honestly, up until then it was a slam dunk for me. I still recommend going on this ride with Josh Malerman.

This book was definitely creepy! I read a lot before bed, and almost didn't want to read this in the dark. I like how Josh Malerman's books all tie in together, a little bit. I was definitely on the edge of my seat wanting to figure out what is going on and if they can get rid of Other Mommy. The narration is done but Bela, who is 8, so it definitely has a childlike aspect to it. Overall, it was enjoyable and creepy!

This is a chilling and fast-paced story from the perspective of 8-year-old Bela as she grapples with the reality that there is someone (or something) living in her closet and no one believes her.
Bela calls her “Other Mommy” and Other Mommy has only one question for Bela: “Can I go into your heart?” Bela is certain she knows the answer but as incidents around the house start becoming more and more frequent, she is questioning the grounds on which her answer is formed.

I’ve never read a horror story from the perspective of a child (R L Stine doesn’t count) and it was really interesting to see Josh Malerman’s use of dramatic irony to convey what was happening as we, the audience, knew what was going on before Bela could.
While the blip describes Bela as an 8-year-old it was never truly stated anywhere in the novel and while reading this I thought Bela must have been around 6 or 7 years old.
I liked Malerman’s stylistic choice of not using proper punctuation for dialogue as it gave the reading a more child-like feel but it did become confusing at certain points to decipher who was speaking and what was internal dialogue.
I found Bela’s dad to be a very likable character but the grandma was my favorite, I think. I would love the opportunity to have a sit-down with Bela’s parents because who do they think they are? No spoilers, but Bela’s mom can especially catch these hands!
I read this book in 2 days which is the fastest I’ve read anything, ever, I think. Partly because it was so good I couldn’t put it down and because it was so scary I needed to know how it was resolved before being able to sleep.
Safe to say I did not sleep well and I needed to call my boyfriend to sleep on the phone with me so I “wouldn’t be alone”…
There are images that will stick with me forever and I don’t know if I should ask for financial compensation or give the author a high-five..

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I received an ARC in return for an unbiased review of Incidents Around the House.

The writing style, in reference to how Malerman does dialogue, took some getting used to. This is my first book by Malerman so I'm unsure if this is just his style or specific to this book. But I eventually got used to it and everything flowed a bit better as I was reading. As did my feelings toward Bela, she was a bit annoying at first, as are most 8 year olds I suppose but still, she got a bit better as things ramped up.

I really loved the entirety of the book once it was all said and done! And I absolutely want more of the story because it feels like there was more. 😂

The characters were all...fine. Daddo and Grandma Ruth were great, Bela got better, Mommy was...well I know we aren't supposed to truly enjoy her. Brian, WTF? I want to know for sure what Other Mommy so I can fully understand why Brian is so excited about seeing and touching "one of them". Was is ever stated that she was for sure a demon and I missed it?

Reading from the lake scene and on late at night and all of a sudden my kid is in the door way....dear god, I yelled at him. 😂 don't worry, he's a teen.

Josh Malerman is doing his best to make himself the best horror writer working today. Since releasing Birdbox, he has had a new release almost every single year, and each one of his books is fantastic. His new novel, Incidents Around the House, might be the novel that cements him as not only a household name in horror but in all reading communities.

Narrated by Bela, the eight year old child of Ursula and Russ, there is something in their house, an entity that wants Bela to call her “Other Mommy” and allow her to “enter her heart.” When Other Mommy starts to show herself to other people besides Bela, like her mother and father, people at a party, and everywhere Bela tries to go, the novel becomes a novel of a mother and father trying to protect their child, fighting for survival, while working through the problems that they have in their marriage. They think that being a team will be the only thing that will drive Other Mommy away.

This story moves fast, and this creates a tension that rises and rises. The reader is about to break along with Bela and her family. Malerman makes us feel like we are part of the team, trying to come up with the plan to fight this threat by creating an empathy toward Bela’s mother and father. Bela's parents are deeply flawed, making mistakes in their marriage and in their lives. The fear and threat of Other Mommy makes them reevaluate themselves and their worry feels genuine and palpable. Anyone who is a parent of a child that sees a poltergeist coming out of their closet would have the same reaction, not only of fear and anger but also of protection, You would do exactly what Bela's parents do, try to keep yourself between the entity and your child. Malerman makes the problem they have a human one. Unlike many horror novels, the parents in Incidents Around the House look for answers, for an expert on the internet, for some sort of help, and there is none. The feeling that this is how the situation would play out in real life, that there were no real experts to get rid of a spirit haunting your house is well explored. 

This is the fifth Josh Malerman book I have reviewed, and this is high on the list of his best work. I like the characters, the story moves swiftly, and in the end, all we want is for Bela to be able to go back to being an eight year old again.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book makes me think of creepy porcelain dolls coming to light and coming for me at night. It's imaginary friends taken to an entirely different level. It's the perfect read for those who love a great horror show, like the Amityville Horror. However, it's NOT the book to read at bedtime if you plan to sleep. It definitely kept me looking around my room. Ooops.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman in exchange for an honest review. I have read a few Josh Malerman books and thought I knew what to expect from this book, I was delightfully surprised. This book scared the bejebers out of me. I found myself trying to speed read just so I could find out how it ended. I kept guessing what would happen next and each time I was wrong. I got to the end and I was left speechless. What an amazing and frightening book.

Oh my gosh this was the perfect level of terrifyingly creepy and unsettling!!!! I read this at night after the family went to bed, which is the PERFECT time to read a book like this.

8 year old Bela lives with her Mommy and her Daddy. And then, there’s “Other Mommy.” What her parents initially assume to be a fun imaginary friend is a presence in Bela’s life whom she herself loved and looked forward to visits from. Until Other Mommy started asking her the same question every night: Can I go inside your heart?” Uncertain of what this means, afraid of what would happen to her, Bela always says no. But as more time passes, Other Mommy is losing her patience, her demeanor becoming less warm and friendly, her visits more frequent, and her behavior more bold. Soon, even Bela’s parents begin to notice strange sounds, smells, and an odd presence.
Other Mommy is starting to get angry and is making threats, showing Bela that her continued resistance could have devastating consequences.

Chilling, super creepy, and unsettling, this was a page turner for sure and one I cannot stop thinking about. Horror and thrillers involving children are always doubly creepy, but this one achieves that goal without being too disturbing in the wrong way. Perfectly balanced, smart, adrenaline-pumping!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Del Rey, and Josh Malerman for this fantastic horror/psychological thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC!

I’m a big fan of Josh’s books and I was so excited to read Incidents Around The House. Like Malerman’s other books, Incidents is creepy as hell. I enjoyed reading from the perspective of a child and it really feels you are a fly on the wall in Bela’s home.

I loved the short chapters and I flew through this book so quickly. At this point I’ll read anything Josh writes!

This book is about a disturbed little girl named Bela who says a figure in her closet that she calls other mommy. Her parents are beside themselves trying to help her but other mommy might be more of a problem than what they believe that Bela has made her up.

Thanks netgalley and publisher for a chance to read this book for free in return for my honest opinion.

I was super excited about this book but it took me a long time to finish. I don’t know if it was the style of writing or what threw me off but I didn’t love this book as much as other people did. It’s a decent read, I just wasn’t “wowed” by the ending like I had seen reviews mention.

I wish we could do half stars or more because technically this was a 3.5 or 3.75 but not a 4 or 5 in my opinion but I’m glad others loved it.

I will always eat my words, when I started this book I told everyone I hated it was told from an 8 year old's POV and I hoped we get others, but that is what made this book one of the few that scared me. Time after time Malerman blows me away with how well he can write a horror scene.

The part of this book that had me on edge is that you only get information from this kids POV, and in that there is a simplicity to most the story telling. When something happens there are no deep diving questions, or research that you would normally get in a book like this. There are no decisions made, as the reader you are pulled along like the child is. Even when the horror started bleeding to other people we still only see it from this ones kids eyes. Normally the lack of information would ruin it for me, but I was so just lulled by this kids world view that I didn't need. I felt terror a child would, and not just the supernatural, but from being a kid and having parents stuff going on,

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and the author for an arc of this book. It is filled with absolutely everything that I like about the horror genre - hauntings, creepy ghost, characters that I am rooting for and characters who actually do something about the ghosts instead of ignoring them till halfway and making stupid decisions later on! This book spooked me out so much so, I jumped and checked my surroundings multiple times while reading some of the scenes and did not even realize when a seemingly normal scene turned creepy af. The only thing I had to get used to was the child-like way this book is written, it was tiring to read repetitive mentions of 'Mommy says' and 'Daddy says' and it took me some time to adapt to it. This book was so refreshing in its concept, I felt it was so much more than just horror, but I would not like to give out any spoilers 🤫 Definitely recommended to all horror fans and read this if you don't like gore in your books but love a good plot.

Eight-year-old Bela loves her family - Mommy, Daddy, Grandma Ruth... Other Mommy. Every day Other Mommy asks if she can go inside Bela's heart, and she is starting to lose patience.
I loved how this book was a horror told from the perspective of a child. Children, of course, think, behave, and speak differently to an adult, so I found this change to be refreshing.
However, I found the story to be too disturbing for me, so unfortunately I did not finish.

This was disturbing, in a good way.

The story is told from the perspective of 8-year-old Bela, who is being haunted by an entity she calls Other Mommy. Other Mommy wants Bela to let her go into her heart so that she can be reincarnated, a process that would have Other Mommy taking over Bela’s life and sending Bela to wherever Other Mommy exists.

It took a minute to get comfortable with the format of the narration, which is a little choppy, but once I got into the flow of the story it moved quickly. Telling the story from Bela’s perspective gave us a front row seat experiencing Bela’s fear and confusion, not knowing what to believe or what to do in the face of this sinister presence in her life.

Another theme that was woven throughout the main storyline and that contributed to Bela’s confusion and anxiety was the marital trouble between her parents, Ursula and Russ. Russ was a bit too passive and optimistic considering the situation the family was in, but was otherwise fairly innocuous. Ursula was just unlikable. She made a lot of questionable decisions throughout the book, most of them driven by selfishness and self-interest. Yes, she was traumatized and overwhelmed by everything that was happening with Other Mommy, but her 8-year-old child handled it better than she did. At no point did it ever feel like Bela was her priority.

This story was more creepy than scary for me. We could feel how sinister Other Mommy’s presence was in the beginning of the story, but that kind of got lost in some places when the focus switched to Ursula and Russ and their relationship dysfunction. It would have been nice to get more of that creepiness and fear that we get from the Other Mommy early on in the story throughout the whole book.

I also spent a good amount of time thinking about potential endings and how Malerman would resolve everything for Bela. Although it wasn’t the ending I was hoping for I don’t think he could have ended it any differently. This one kept me engaged and entertained and it left me wanting more of Bela and Other Mommy. I would have loved to see what happens next in their story.

Thanks NetGally and Random House Publishing/Ballentine/Del Rey for the advanced copy.

This was a decent book, the writing style was a little weird to me and I feel like the thoughts this small child were having was a bit unrealistic. I did enjoy the book though and couldn't wait to read it all to see what happened. Over all I enjoyed the book.

Incidents Around the House was my 4th book by Josh Malerman. All of them have left me thinking about them long after they have ended. Incidents around the house was primarily told from the perspective of a very young girl who is being haunted, while also dealing with her parent's extremely troubled marriage. About half of the book I would give 5 stars just for the PERFECTLY creepy atmosphere. The character of the mother brought the score down to a 3 star occasionally as she was just awful in my opinion. I loved Dado and the grandmother and some of the secondary characters. Basically, this book was nearly a one sitting read for me, so I have to settle on 4 stars, but I also need to find a spoiler somewhere that can explain what the heck was really going on in the book as I feel there is a lot of metaphor happening that I might need to ponder on to figure it all out. Either way, definitely gonna recommend all around.

As a big Bird Box lover and fan, I wasn't quite sure if Josh Malerman would ever create a book that could top that one for me.. until this book came out. Holy smokes.. what an absolute nightmare this was, but in the best way! This book TERRIFIED me, and sometimes when reading books, that doesn't do the job for me. While reading about Other Mommy, I could not help but over analyze every little noise in my house, and listen out for noises in my closet or shadows in the corner of my bedroom. I was so immersed in this book and the terror that Bela's family was going through, that I could not stop reading and over thinking everything! This one was phenomenally scary and I highly recommend!

It took me way too long to read this book after being given an advanced copy by NetGalley due to a leak in my house causing my kitchen floor to collapse and months of chaos. I can say with so much certainty this is NOT the book to read if you live in an older house that is giving you grief. I couldn't have chosen a spookier book for this chapter of my life, but my life being a mess also really heightened the fear in this one because I could relate to the sounds of the house creaking at night, the bumps in the dark you tell yourself is settling... did I mention I'm also a mother, so add the times your children are speaking to someone you can't see and you tell yourself it is just their imagination over and over and really hope it's true.
I won't ruin this book. I refuse to ever ruin a Malerman book because you need to go on the ride and half the fun is the fact that you find yourself desperate for the answers chapter after chapter. The tension really is part of the reason I love Malerman and this book did NOT let me down. Bela, an adorable eight year old, is a main character you can root for and believe in. So many books have kids you are annoyed with or ones who are written way too grown up for their age, but Bela was handled well. Bela's family is filled with interesting characters and they were my only issue with this book... I wanted more of their thoughts and motives and feelings. It's not like the family were paper people just shoved into the novel without being fleshed out, but I found I cared about knowing them and it was a unique feeling for most of my horror reads.
My honest opinion: Read this book. If you can read it in the evening hours in an older house or one with creaks and bumps and sounds you can't fully explain, all the better. I know the summary sounds like this is just a remake of Coraline, but don't let that shape your opinion or your feelings because this really isn't that. (I love Coraline, but I also love this and for completely different reasons.) If you've read anything else by Malerman, you'll know you should read this... but I would also suggest this to fans of early King, fans of Nick Cutter, or really any fan who loves the real anxiety that comes from falling into a world built for horror.

Oof. Ooooooof. This is a spectacular book. Haven’t read a horror tale as intense and affecting since Adam Nevill’s The Ritual. Loved it. Also hated it so much, but in the very best way!

thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and to josh malerman for the advanced reader copy of "incidents around the house". as someone who works with children, i have come to learn that kids say all kinds of stuff. crazy things, silly things, nonsensical things, creepy things.... and on top of that, they conjure up a plethora of stories, imaginary friends, and the like that us adults cannot visibly see. what i LOOOOOVED about "incidents around the house" is that malerman decided to make it through the child's perspective, eight year old bela. it honestly made the atmosphere and everything happening around bela so much more frightening, because as a child, you don't have as much wisdom to make sense of what's happening around you, and adults may not always take you seriously, chalking it up to an overactive imagination.