I will preface this review by saying that I have been reading quite a bit of horror lately, so I may be a little numb to what I’m finding scary or even creepy. I picked this book up because I thought it would be unique in that it was written from a child’s POV. I don’t think that I’ve read a book quite like this in that regard before, but it felt off in some way. Maybe because I have a child roughly this age and I kept comparing how my daughter speaks to how Bella spoke. It didn’t really match up. However, I really didn’t find this book that unsettling or even very creepy. Yeah, Bella saw Other Mommy, but then the rest of her family did too. That was strange to me and seemed like an odd choice. I think that I would have got into it more if only Bella would have been able to see Other Mommy the entire time.


Despite not really finding this book scary the entire time, the ending was on point and totally worked! It was a little rushed but matched up to the style of the book. Because of the writing style, I think that this makes for a quick read.

Despite my drawbacks, I think that this book would be amazing on audio or even adapted to a movie.

Thank you to @delreybooks and @netgalley for this e-arc. All thoughts are my own.

Wow!! What a very differently written creepy story!!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the creeps while reading and this definitely delivered!

Writing style is shorter sentences, no quotation marks for who is speaking, has big spaces on pages separating paragraphs.

Bela is being visited by “other mommy” how creepy this creature is starts off with a bang then develops in layers. Her parents are a bit space cadet but finally figure some things out. The ending was definitely lacking for me and probably my biggest complaint with the story.

Definitely worth reading and recommend!!

Thanks to netgalley and Random house books for my advanced electronic reader copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I don't read a ton of horror books, but after reading this one, I'm thinking I need to start! This is also my first Malerman read (who's most well-known for his book, 'Bird Box'), and I was not disappointed. The overall creepiness factor was major, and I do confess to being freaked out pretty much the whole time I was reading this.

Bela is an 8-year-old little girl who has a malevolent spirit living in her closet. She's named this figure Other Mommy, who constantly asks her, "Can I go inside your heart?" She speaks to her about reincarnation, and it's obvious that this spirt has some seriously dangerous motives. What ensues is a supernatural horror story that had plenty of twists and turns. And that ending - perfection!

I might need to sleep with a nightlight for a few nights, but I'll be thinking about this book (and a lot of its symbolism) for a long time!

One of the most effective horror novels I've ever read. If you are looking for a well written scare, this is for you.

I really enjoyed this book! I have enjoyed all of this author’s books. I would love to see this book adapted to film like another of his books.

I love reading horror books in the summer, so I was excited to try out Josh Malerman, a new author for me. It certainly had its creepy moments and I kept turning the pages to see what happened. But it definitely follows the "new school" horror formula of having family issues couched in malevolent forces. This was kind of a sad book. I like violent horror mixed with humor where peoples' arms are getting ripped off but they're making jokes. This is not that. I think you'll enjoy it if you liked Hidden Pictures.

Reading a story from the perspective of a child, who is supposed to be 8 years old but with the vocabulary and thought process of a 4 year old, ruined the whole reading experience for me.

Not my cup of tea!

Such a creepy story it had me on the edge of my seat. Quick chapters and I was loving it. I felt it was so much creepier since the POV was an 8 year old named Bella.! She loved her family and didn’t like seeing “other mommy” in her room.
Such an intense read and I loved the horror factor.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Weird writing style. The short, unstructured sentences felt like it was written by a five year old. Nothing really exciting happened throughout the whole book. I kept waiting for something to happen, but it never did. Disappointed. Predictable ending.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Josh Malerman for an ARC of "Incidents Around the House".

I had heard so much hype for this book and it did not succeed for me. It was ultimately a huge disappointment. The narrative style was interesting with the story being told from the point of view of a child but the pitfalls of that meant it was incredibly repetitive and, at times, just absurd. The idea that parents would, on the regular, drunkenly trauma dump on their child while they thought their kid was sleeping just didn't make sense to me. Add in that the young kid would completely understand everything the parent was saying seemed far fetched.

There were definitely some creepy elements with Other Mommy in the story that gave me the heebie jeebies but it honestly could have gone even farther. I think that Josh Malerman could have pushed the envelope with the horror even more but it felt like playing it a little safe.

I understand that under all the horror and creepiness that this was a story about familial drama and trauma but it felt like that fell flat too. It felt like the author didn't want to push too hard with anything or deep dive too intensely into any topics. We only really started exploring the parents' traumas and secrets towards the very end. And the ending?? That felt so anticlimactic and much more sad than scary..

I honestly don’t know how I feel about this book. On one hand I think I loved it and on the other, what did I just read?!

When Bela refuses to let her imaginary friend ‘Other Mommy’ into her heart and the entity in her closet starts to follow her out of the house, Bela’s family starts to crumble. As ‘Other Mommy’ gets stronger, Bela’s parents will do anything to get her to stay away from their daughter and out of their lives.

Without giving anything away, this is definitely a horror book and while it didn’t scare me as much as We Used to Live Here, it definitely delivered on the ‘creep’ factor. Some people might be turned off by the unique story telling (which is very much told from the POV of an 8-year-old) and the lack of quotations for dialogue, but the choice was ideal for this story. I normally prefer quotations and loathe chunky blocks of dialogue, but it just works in this book. If you’re looking for something quick and creepy, highly recommend Incidents Around the House.

Incidents Around the House is out now. Thank you to Del Rey for my advanced copy in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

Incidents Around the House was an intense and claustrophobic book that I could not put down.

In it, we follow young, innocent Bela, who has a strange friend, Other Mommy. Other Mommy lives in Bela’s closet and keeps her company when she feels left out as the only child in her household. Lately though, Other Mommy has been making Bela feel a little uncomfortable. She’s not as fun as she used to be, she makes a mean face, and she keeps asking Bela if Other Mommy can go into Bela’s heart.

The synopsis for this sounded so simple that I was worried if it would be enough for a solid book, but again, Malerman has far exceeded all of my expectations. I was genuinely creeped out staying up late reading this in bed, and had to look over my shoulder and turn the lights on to check the dark corners of my room one more time before going to sleep. I think this book has freaked me out more than anything else I’ve read this year. Unnerving!

I read a lot of horror. Aside from historical non-fiction and horror-adjacent works (sci-fi, fantasy), it’s pretty much all I listen to/read.

I didn’t see that you gave me the opportunity to read this through NetGalley, and purchased it on Audible. It was well worth the money. I stayed up til 3AM two nights in a row to finish it, and listened to it at work in between meetings. The audiobook narrator was PHENOMENAL, and Malerman’s ability to fill me with absolute dread while simultaneously making me feel like I got punched in the gut is something that has been very rare for me. This is easily one of my two favorite books of 2024. The other is Our Share of Night. I’ve recommended it to friends and family, and gifted a hardback copy to my sister.

I’m the father of an 8 year old girl - and every single situation, or incident, made me consider how she must see things through her eyes - or how she would react in situations like the 8-yr old in the book did.

This is the second Josh Malerman book I’ve read - and I will definitely be checking out his other works. I read Bird Box while deployed, but this novel really hit me a lot harder, in a lot of ways.

I’ve honestly never had a book creep me out - and this book succeeded multiple times. Creeping dread. The twists were unpredictable until right before they happened, and that is an accomplishment in and of itself.

Thank you for the opportunity, and I would love to review more novels in the future.

The audiobook narrator was outstanding, as well. It sounded like a kid, and it was very well done. Terrific job to all involved.

Josh Malerman does it again! I love his unique writing style and he really makes you care about these characters. He wrote from a childs perspective perfectly and though I guessed the ending it still got to me. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

"Can I go inside your heart?" asks an evil entity known as "Other Mommy." 8-year-old Bela tells her story in her own voice, making this a riveting horror story, skillfully told from the pen of a very talented author. He writes in a unique style from Bela's perspective, making this story scary, creepy, fun, and terrific! Highly recommended! Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine, and Del Rey for providing an ARC.

Wow. That was unique, horrifying, and suspenseful. I haven’t read a book this fast in a long time. This book is perfect for horror fans!

At eight-years-old, Bela is a pretty typical kid. She loves to dress up and dance for Mommy and Daddo's guests. She enjoys the park. What she doesn't enjoy is the constant requests of Other Mommy to "go inside her heart."  While Bela manages to keep the mysterious Other Mommy at arm's length for some time, it becomes clear that the entity no longer wishes to wait for her attempts to take over the child and begins to unleash strange occurrences around the house. While Mommy, Daddo and Grandma Ruth think that Bela must be imagining things. After a guest to the house says she'll never come back about what she's seen, Bela's stories seem more plausible. Slowly but surely each family member sees the mysterious entity. The family goes on a mission to try and escape Other Mommy, exposing the major faults in Mommy and Daddo's marriage and a family secret that was never intended to be shared

Incidents Around the House is one of those books that causes the reader to leave all the lights on at night. I'm no stranger to a good horror novel, and even I felt the need to make sure the closet door was shut tight, and the lights were on when reading this one. Author Josh Malerman makes the reader really question what could be under the bed or in the closet.

Incidents Around the House is available July 25, 2024, from Random House.

A chilling account of a young girl named Bela who has an imaginary friend she calls "Other Mommy." Is Other Mommy an imaginary friend filling a void in Bela's life, or is it something more? The book is told from the perspective of 8 year old Bela who is constantly being asked by Other Mommy to be invited into Bela's heart. Strange things start happening around the house and there is the sense that wherever Bela goes, Other Mommy goes too.

for me, the chill factor was that the book is told from Bela's perspective. Beyond that, it wasn't particularly scary or horror-filled. Still, it was another enjoyable;e read from Josh Malerman.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.

I had to dnf this one for now, I just found Bela’s pov to be very grating. I thought at one point it would be revealed she wasn’t a kid at all just because I couldn’t make sense of her age.

Thank you for the publisher for this arc! I really enjoyed this read! This was a quick, eerie read for me. I see why this one was picked up by BOTM. I love the horror genre less any gore, so I really appreciated this. In my opinion, this book has everything I look for in a horror/thriller read. I only struggled a bit with the dialogue/lack of quotation mark usage. 4 ⭐️!