"A chilling horror novel about a haunting, told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls "Other Mommy," from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box.

To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There's Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: "Can I go inside your heart?"

When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the question over and over, Bela understands that unless she says yes, her family will soon pay.

Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe, but other incidents show cracks in her parents' marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel.

But Other Mommy needs an answer.

Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror about a family as haunted as their home."

Like Coraline but even scarier!

I think this is the creepiest Malerman book I’ve read yet…
This book is from the perspective of 8-year-old Bela who is being haunted by her “Other Mommy.” I really liked that this book was written from the perspective of the child but isn’t a book FOR children. It’s a unique perspective you don’t get often in adult books. Furthermore, the way he described Other Mommy gave me the heebie jeebies. All I could picture was the Other Mother from Coraline…but even worse.
AND THE ENDING! I won't say more...but I was a fan.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Holy Cannoli!!! If you are looking for a suspenseful, creepy, hair raising story- with no gore, this is the book for you. And even though there is no gore-this is one of the most haunting books that I have read.

The author uses the technique of telling the whole story through the POV of Bela, an eight year old. It is through her eyes and thoughts that the story unfolds. Although you might think this technique wouldn’t work- it is actually quite effective. We feel the uncertainty, fear, anxiety, love and confusion that Bela is experiencing. The scenes with “Other Mommy” are intensified through this technique, and I felt anxious for Bela. We see the struggle her parents are going through, and this adds another layer to Bela’s confusion about everything happening around and to her. We see that she loves her parents, and desperately wishes for them to be happy. I wanted to jump into this book and shake her parents, then take Bela away!

It is because of Bela’s love and loyalty to people she loves that Other Mommy can approach her. The story hinges on this aspect of Bela and, in the end you are wondering whether this aspect actually helped Bela or was it a hinder to her? After finishing this last night I am finding this book haunts me. So does Bela.

Thank you NetGalley, Josh Malerman, Random House/Del Rey Publishing for the ARC. This is my voluntary, honest review.

Torn between 3.5 and 4 on this one. It's an entertaining story, but it doesn't feel like it brought anything new to the genre. I enjoyed the fact that it was written from the child's perspective but I often had a hard time telling what exactly her age was supposed to be. The creepy descriptions and jump scares in this are very well written which I think is mainly why I had a hard time putting the book down. I did think it got a bit repetitive towards the end but that final chapter was worth the wait.

I love a good haunted house story and I had high expectations from this going in because of the rave reviews it's received on Goodreads but this was not for me.

The book is told through a child's lens and while thankfully the spelling is correct, the narrative is as disjointed as they come. While the blurb says Bela is 8, I thought she sounded 6 at times and 9 at others because she's written like she's both too wise and too young for her age.

The good thing about the monster is that while at first, people don't believe her, soon they start to see "Other Mommy" with their own eyes and most of the story is about how the family deals with the situation and the things they try to fight it/her.

Bela's parents are wild. They talk to a child about adult concepts when they think she's sleeping (before the haunting) because they don't want therapists and of course, the whole situation with "Other Mommy" with these people ends up as you'd expect it to.

I didn't like the parents, I couldn't sympathize with Bela much and sadly, I was never scared which is what you want from a horror book.

But again, it feels like I read a different book than everyone else so you may just end up liking this one. Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine for the e-ARC!

Another excellent novel from the creator of Bird Box, Josh Malerman. The writing style is reminiscent of the narrators at the beginning of his short story, “Half of the House”, from his book of short stories, “Spin a Black Yarn”, where it starts out being told from the perspectives of an eight year old sister and her six year old brother. In this novel, the same approach is taken as the narrator is a little girl that has contact with a paranormal entity. It may take time to adjust to this writing style, but it is an effective method used for this story. I highly recommend this novel, and look forward to more from Josh Malerman.

This was creepy. I read it alone in the dark and definitely found myself looking around whenever I heard a sound. This would make a terrifying movie!

Josh Malerman does it again. I say that as if I have read his work before. I actually haven’t, but this is the man who wrote Bird Box, so his reputation preceded him. This isn’t all that important. What is important is that his next novel, Incidents Around the House, releases on June 25th through Del Ray. This book actually scared me, so buckle up.

Incidents Around the House is, surprise, a haunted house novel. But it’s not like one I’ve ever read before. Malerman chose to tell this tale from the point of view of a young girl: Bela. The writing is so simplistic due to this narrative choice that there are not even quotation marks used. Combined with often short chapters, this makes the book a breeze to read. I read it in just over 24 hours, and that was with quite a few, extended, breaks. I’ll touch back on this in a moment.

Bela, like many young children, believes there is something living in her closet. A friend, a monster, she’s not too sure right now. She calls this entity Other Mommy. Other Mommy has been around for a while, but the book begins when she starts getting “closer”. She can leave the closet. She can leave Bela’s room. She can leave the house. Just typing these escalating incidents is making my heart start to race again.

Mommy and Daddo, Bela’s parents, are split on how to handle Other Mommy. Mommy is a little more unnerved, particularly by the name her daughter uses for this imaginary friend. Daddo, though, takes it a little more seriously. In his way, anyway—Daddo is pretty cool. He thinks Bela may be sensitive, that she’s seeing a ghost, and makes sure she can meet with one of his friends to test that theory. Unsurprisingly, Mommy is not too happy about that.

That’s all I want to tell you about the plot, though. It’s time to go back to discussing the narrative choices Malerman made here. They are effective. I have mentioned reading this book quickly, and my heart racing while recounting events. That’s because this book was stressful. Have you ever experienced a jump scare while reading? I have, now, multiple times. The way the prose is structured, the way Bela sees things, made for an incredibly unique reading experience.

Oftentimes, it didn’t seem like the actual tone was scary. The opposite, in fact. The tone was observational. This is what Bela is doing, what Bela is seeing. And due to her age, she doesn’t often understand what is going on. Not to the level the reader does. There were so many times where Bela would almost casually say something spine-chillingly terrifying. There was no build-up, there was no wind-down. Because to Bela this was normal. To me? Not so much. I jumped, okay? Like in a horror movie. It was awesome.

More to that point, Other Mommy wasn’t always scary to Bela. She was her friend. She could still be her friend. That is what Bela is grappling with. What can she, as a child, do? The adults around her are all terrified. Anyone who sees Other Mommy is terrified. But Other Mommy was there for her when she was lonely. Where should her loyalty be? Does she have a responsibility to help? And if so–-which side? These are the questions of an innocent child. One who rarely worries for her own safety. Which means the reader has to.

This book blew me away. I had heard rave reviews going in, in fact a few of my friends even said they had to read with the lights on. And I’ll admit, even knowing what they read, I was skeptical. I’m always skeptical when people say a book genuinely scared them. I’m not sure why, I’m just not frightened like that easily. But this one? This proves it can happen. I’ll be haunted by this one for a while I’m sure. If that excites you, join me this summer.

Incidents Around the House took some getting used because it’s told by the small child, but once I got over that this was a great, creepy read. The Other Mommy was scary and the more the family noticed, the worse things got. It managed to make me scared for the family and for poor Bela.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book disturbed my sleep. A young child, Bela, is forced to ponder a scary question by Other Mommy, the creature that lives in her closet. Will Bela give her carnations by letting Other Mommy enter her heart? Mommy and Daddo(and the reader) get increasingly worried and scared as Other Mommy begins to make her monstrous presence known. Told in first person, we empathize with Bela as she struggles to stay hopeful despite her parents' rocky marriage and the pressure to answer Other Mommy's request. So scary!

Genre: Horror, Paranormal

I don’t often read HORROR, and I didn’t even read BIRD BOX, but every once in a while, a book from this genre appeals to me-and this was one of them.

It was told ENTIRELY from the UNIQUE first person perspective of eight-year-old Bela, a girl who is being targeted by a ENTITY who calls itself her “OTHER MOMMY”.

YOU CAN RUN-BUT YOU CANNOT HIDE

“Other Mommy” is looking for carnation (reincarnation) as she wants to LIVE again…

“CAN I GO INSIDE YOUR HEART?”

She pretends to be friends with the vulnerable Bela, as she tries to manipulate her way in.

I felt the DESPERATION of Daddo, Mommy and Grandma Ruth, as they try to save Bela.

And, I felt TERRIFIED for Bela.

Like the movie, “A Quiet Place” by John Krasinski and Michael Sarnoski (which I loved) the EVIL is lurking just out of view, but you can always FEEL its presence.

This story is accurately described as “a chilling horror novel about a haunting” and I think it would also translate well to the BIG SCREEN.

I finished this last night and I woke up, STILL THINKING about the ending!!

AVAILABLE June 25, 2024

Thank You to Del Rey for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

Whoa, buckle up, folks! This book has it all: creepy kids, haunted happenings, family drama, spine-chilling scenes, and jaw-dropping moments. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started this book, but what a pleasant surprise! I've been on the hunt for another creepy kid/haunting story after finishing a few similar ones, and this book totally delivered. Josh's imagination is off the charts!

Meet eight-year-old Bela. Her family means everything to her—there’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But then there's also Other Mommy, a sinister entity who asks her every day, "Can I go inside your heart?" When terrifying events around the house start to suggest that Other Mommy is getting tired of asking the same question over and over, Bela realizes that if she doesn’t say yes soon, her family might be in serious danger.

I picked this book up and simply couldn't put it down. Kudos to Josh for creating such a masterpiece! Huge thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for giving me the chance to read and review this ARC.

First, thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Second, I’m going to be real here. This was not an enjoyable read whatsoever. I don’t know if my imagination sucks or what but I was not scared in the slightest. The point of view is from a young girl, so the writing is just like if you were talking to a 10 year old, which was absolutely miserable. The people in this have an emotional intelligence of a fruit fly in practice but then pretend to drop this dense knowledge on their young daughter like they aren’t a problem to themselves. ANYWAYS the ending sucks and is pointless and writing like a 10 year old is not impressive writing, it’s shit.

I was so excited to read this book, and it definitely did not disappoint. A malevolent being that is asking the main character, a child named Bela "Can I go inside your heart?". This book was unique, spooky, horrifying, and absolutely fabulous! I felt for the parents as they go through this madness. Malerman nailed this story, and I am happy to be here to read it!!!

This concept is a creepy one. It is told from the perspective of a little girl named Bela from a disfunctional family who is haunted by a terrifying entity who she calls "Other Mommy." The story had some scary aspects, but overall didn't quite do it for me.

While I loved the potential of this book, the writing was choppy and did not flow very well. I think this was a stylistic choice, as I've read other books by this author that didn't feel clunky. I think maybe it was his way of trying to create a child-like voice to the narrative? I didn't find it to be effective and did not enjoy the long winded speeches of the parents, who were annoying characters.

Another hang up I had was that the book does not have quotation marks. I didn't like when Cormac MacCarthy did this style choice, and I didn't like it now either, so it was distracting for my reading enjoyment. It was also a very repetitive story. The scare factor of Other Mommy was impactful at the start, but eventually overplayed itself and became stagnant as far as scariness went. I almost felt this was more silly than scary at times? Idk maybe I just have too high a tolerance these days.

I really think this novel would make a great horror movie though, since the concept itself is spooky and it may translate better for me in film. While this wasn't a hit for me, I have heard some readers say it was truly scary for them and recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray for providing a review copy.

This book is quite an achievement. Josh Malerman has a way of using so few words, just enough description, to conjure things in your mind that is absolutely unique among the authors I've read. To throw even more of a wrench in things, the story is told from the perspective of an 8 year old child experiencing a variety of horrors, both supernatural and domestic. This book is creepy and distressing in a myriad of ways, but also deeply philosophical in a way. The ending hit me in a way I wasn't quite expecting. I'll be thinking about this one for a very long time. 5 stars

Incidents around the house was so much more than I was expecting when I requested it from NetGalley. This book hooks you from the first page and from there you don't know what's happening and are on the edge of your seat. This is one of the scariest books I think I've ever read.
In short, this book is a haunting told from a child's point of view. This is both why it reads quickly and is terrifying. How does a young child know if it's ok to let something into your heart? Other Mommy will haunt you too.

Review posted 6/7/2024 Goodreads/Instagram/StoryGraph
Thank you to NetGalley for an early release of this highly anticipated horror read of 2024!

Incidents Around The House has a unique and refreshing approach for readers to enjoy the horror genera. The story is narrated by an eight year old, Bella, who shares with you her experience of an entity involved in her life. She meets this entity one evening in her bedroom through the closet doors. It sounds like her mother, so it suggests to Bella, call her Other Mommy. The relationship develops from there. In some instances when Bella reflects on this, she sees it as a happy relationship with laughs and comfort, while other times she's not so sure if that was true. Bella's parents are okay, her mom is a real piece of work, and often allow her to attend parties they throw in the house. A credit is given to the mom for hiring someone to babysit her while they drink to make sure she is safe regardless. A follow up reference to this later may leave you feeling pretty upset regarding the mom.
Chapter 11: It's real lit downstairs, Kelvin says. I'm sure we'll become someone's confession booth tonight.
During one of the parties, the entity shows itself and the secret of Other Mommy can no longer be hidden. The Story escalates pretty fast from here as more people see Other mommy their "brain breaks" and reality is shattered.
This is my preferred subgenera, possession, and I absolutely loved Other Mommy. She is clever and so patient. Other mommy preys on sweet Bella by offering her friendship, but will evidently ask the question of invite. She gradually gets impatient ultimately changing her approach to trickery and fear. While often her parents divulge their secrets to Bella during her sleep, Other Mommy uses this and changes her appearance to become others and whispers lies in the same manner and although Bella isn't fooled and the truth reveals itself. Although she can discern her real people from Other Mommy, she will ruminate on the new information which breaks her down and creates weakness in her armor.
Other Mommy creates scenes in the book that made my hair stand and send goosebumps down my spine. Made me think about my own kids and hope if such things were real, they would have the strength and mind to not succumb. Other Mommy shows her true nature to the family when they reach their whits end after failed attempts with an occult group, the local priests and a mega upgrade to the home. Eventually they hire Brian. Brian has been doing this job for a while now and he arrives demanding proof, not on a video or a plea from the family, he wants to encounter this thing himself...and he does. I absolutely got a kick out of this self proclaimed guy coming in, demanding his measures and after seeing Other Mommy and touching her, he leaves absolutely elated that he finally encountered the real deal. That's it, all he wanted! It really set a grounding for the story, a left field essence of human nature you don't often get in stories like this, especially involving a child! Eventually the family is on the verge of madness willing to go knives out when the occult leader returns to suggest, what she feels is, the ultimate key and sacrifice to save Bella. You'll have to read it of course to see what it is and how it ends, and the ending is another mega risk the author took and I applauded his bravery for doing so.


So all of that being said, I will break down my grading for the read.
1) The format of the story is different, but very easy to read. The narration is from an eight year old.
2) The milestones for the eight year old are not accurate and drove me a bit nuts and I tried to ease myself through some of the cognitive development misses.
3) Alcohol was a major player in this novel and Bella saw it as normal and even something mommy and daddo needed to be themselves. Yes this is a character flaw for the story and I get it, it just rubbed me the wrong way, My own feelings, right?
4) I felt the ultimate sacrifice was not doable due to a few factors that happen throughout the story prior. Again, my own opinion.
5) The entity was wonderfully created for it's target and how she interacted with the environment and with others in the story was amazing!

Because this book was told through a child’s eyes, the book was so much more terrifying. I could not put this book down because I was that invested. This author sure knows how to write a story in such a way that the reader ‘feels’ a part of the story. This story is about a haunted house on steroids. The only description the reader gets of the ‘Other Mommy’ is her eyes move around her face and she has hair on the back of her arms. Such a simple description yet all the adults become hysterical in their fear when they get a glimpse of the ‘Other Mommy’. The family really did try everything to help Bela with no luck. I cannot imagine going through what this family went through. This is a must read.

Thanks to the publisher, author, and to NetGalley for a readers copy of this title. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
Wow! Josh Malerman has done it again. Incidents Around the House is the story of a young girl being haunted by an entity she calls the Other Mother. At first the encounters seem friendly and restricted to the family home, but things quickly progress. The family, relatives, and friends are soon searching for a way to rid them of the Other Mother. Creepy and scary. Excellent read.