What if a being of some odd sort…a demon maybe….comes out of your closet every night and asks “can I come inside your heart”? The easy answer is “No”, but suppose that thing is extraordinarily persistent and starts to follow you everywhere and then you discover that grown-ups see it, “Other Mommy” as you call it, too. When grown-ups see Other Mommy they scream and run away from Other Mommy’s hairy arms and upside down face.
Josh Malerman has succeeded in writing a tale of the stages before full-on demonic possess ion: Infestation, Oppression, Obsession and Possession. We’re not sure if Other Mommy is a demon or a dead person wanting to reincarnate in young Bella’s body, but either way the intention is to move in and live again in the body of a child….and to send that child’s soul off to eternal darkness.
This ranks high, very very high, in my list of outstanding fiction on the topic of possession (or pre-possession). Fantastic!!!
Mr. Malerman relies on creepy visualization, pictures of Other Mommy that you make in your head, imagining Other Mommy down the hall, in the closet, in the play park, in the water. For those, like me, that love to be creeped out without gore and guts….this book will fill that desire.
Thank you #netgalley for allowing me,to,read and review the creepy, wonderful #IncidentsAroundTheHouse

A bit hard to get into the writing style, and I usually find adult-stories-through-a-child's-voice to be tiresome, but this was absolutely gripping once the story was underway. I felt a delicious sense of dread until the end.

First off, Incidents Around the House is an incredible title. I think I’d probably read a book with that title regardless of who wrote it. But the fact that it’s the latest Josh Malerman novel just adds to the excitement.

Our narrator is Bela, an eight-year-old girl who lives with her Mommy and Daddo. AND a creepy entity that comes from her closet called Other Mommy, who frequently asks Bela, “Can I go inside your heart?” Yeesh. As other adults begin to see Other Mommy, and things become increasingly dangerous, Bela’s parents take desperate measures to save the family. But who can you turn to when you need to fight the unknown?

I haven’t read any of Josh Malerman’s work for a while, but Bird Box is one of my all-time favorites. Malerman is great at creating a terrifying atmosphere of inescapable terror, and this is displayed with aplomb in Incidents. This book is so unbelievably creepy that I was afraid to go to the bathroom during the night out of fear of what might be lurking in there. There are some images that will stay with me for a long time.

There’s also a beautiful story of a family here, and just how hard it can be to keep everything together, even when you’re not fighting literal demons.

It can be a challenge to tell a story from the POV of a child, and still maintain the attention of an adult audience (Room, by Emma Donohue, is a terrific example). Malerman tackles this issue well, including conversation and monologues directly from Bela’s family, as her parents often speak to Bela when they think she’s asleep. The structure of the writing made the book very easy to read, and I raced through it in a couple of days.

I really enjoyed this book, and can easily imagine this being adapted into a movie or TV show; it has a very cinematic quality. For fans of haunted house novels, demons, family drama, and being terrified beyond comprehension.

While I would recommend this book. I would NOT recommend reading it at night. 1) It's super creepy and 2) You'll stay up all night trying to finish it. I stayed up reading it for as long as I could and couldn't put it down the next day. The story jumps right in and doesn't stop. It centers around Bela, a young girl who keeps seeing an entity called Other Mommy. Other Mommy visits only at night....until she doesn't. This book starts off as a typical "child sees something that adults think is imaginary", but then quickly evolves from that. This book gave the chills multiple times and me loudly saying "NOPE!". I will easily recommend this to any horror fan looking for a fast paced read that will keep them up at night.

The concept was good, however poorly executed. There was only one part that was slightly scary. The ending was very predictable, and the characters were all unlikeable. The dialogue was poorly put together, and very unbelievable

I finished reading Incidents Around the House a week ago, and I’m still reeling from the reading experience. Josh Malerman is a favorite author of mine, but he’s outdone himself with this one. Incidents Around the House is one of the scariest books I’ve ever read. Ever.

A lot of that is down to the way the story is told, which is nothing short of genius on Malerman’s part. The book is narrated by eight-year-old Bela, who lives with her Mommy and Daddo, and who has recently made another friend she calls Other Mommy. Other Mommy lives in her closet and comes out at night to play with her. But lately, Other Mommy is starting to come out at all hours of the day, and to follow Bela places, and to ask insistently if she can come into Bela’s heart. When Other Mommy is spotted by one of Mommy and Daddo’s friends, Bela’s parents are forced to confront that a malevolent entity has attached itself to their daughter. But it’s not just Bela that is haunted…

There’s something so viscerally horrifying about reading an innocent child’s perspective on terrifying events, relayed casually and matter-of-factly in straightforward, simplistic prose. I can’t imagine it’s easy to write from a child’s point of view, but Malerman completely nails Bela’s voice. Her observations are age-appropriate, and yet through her, Malerman also manages to convey the more complex, nuanced emotions of the adults around her. Through Bela’s eyes, we are witness not only to the way she is being manipulated by other Mommy – but also to the very grown-up struggles of her parents, whose marriage is on the verge of falling apart. Part of me wonders if the idea for this book came when Malerman was writing “Half the House is Haunted,” a novella from Spin a Black Yarn that is partially written from a child’s point of view. In any case, his portrayal of a complicated family dynamic and of a frightening, traumatic haunting are masterfully conveyed through Bela’s eyes.

Incidents Around the House is Malerman writing at the top of his game: a chilling, complex, wholly unique tale of terror that is also emotionally rich and heartbreaking. I would have binge-read it in one sitting, but I couldn’t bring myself to read it in bed at night. I have a closet, after all, and it was all too easy to imagine Other Mommy in there, wanting to play….wanting to come into my heart. Thank you to Del Ray for the early reading opportunity and for the nights of restless sleep since I read this book.

This is probably the creepiest horror book I've read in a long time. Mallerman is at the top of his game with this one. One of the elements that struck me most deeply about this book are the unnamed, undefinable thing haunting the family, and it's relationship to the daughter. This problem becomes more than just the daughter's unsettling imaginary friend; in the interest of avoiding spoilers I hesitate to say anything more.
This has a similar feel to the films It Follows and The Boogeyman, and the creep factor and uneasiness keeps going through to the end.

Wildly eerie and terrifying. The voice of a child always makes horror books go to the next level.
This is good. A bit long winded, but still pretty good and recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I rated this 4.75 stars, rounded up to 5.

Bela is a young girl who has an imaginary friend she calls "Other Mommy," but is she really a friend? She definitely isn't imaginary...

Bela's story starts in the thick of it all. Other Mommy has already been a menace harassing Bela, trying to convince her to let her into Bela's heart. Shortly afterwards, Other Mommy appears to the adults in Bela's life; from here, they flounder around, trying to find help and figure out how to get rid of this entity.

As someone who isn't easily scared, I found this book actually terrifying. There wasn't any backstory or closure to what Other Mommy really was, and why she was so fixated on Bela, which kept her mysterious and made her a lot more horrifying. A lot of the fears I had as a child were 100% revisted with Bela's haunting, particularly that scene in the bathroom at Grandma Ruth's friend's house.

It was interesting reading this from Bela's perspective; the way her thoughts bounced around were actually childlike, and it was more effective making the story feel more terrifying. I also liked her perspective of her parents, and how she would hear and interpret their conversations. I didn't care the parents in general, especially the mother. The way they reacted was only human, but it frustrated me for Bela's sake.

This felt like I was watching a movie and I couldn't look away. I was hooked from the start to the finish, and what a ride this was! I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this one.

From the first page I was immediately hooked! And thankfully, I stayed that way!!!

This book is so creepy in such a classic way and I just loved it. I read 60% of it in one sitting and I would’ve continued but I was getting scared and I needed to go to bed. Closets are gonna be scary for a moment. I swallowed up the last bit in an hour or so.

I’m happy to say it’s a five star read for me after a handful of mediocre threes.

Highly recommend if you love horror where the bumps and creaks in the night just might kill you. Thank you to NetGalley, Josh Malerman and Del Rey Books. I’ve written this voluntarily.

This is a deeply disturbing and unsettling novel with a first person narrator in 8 year old Bela. Bela has been keeping a terrible secret, Other Mommy, with her stretchy body and a face that moves all over her head, has been living in her closet. And every time Other Mommy comes out of the closet, she quietly asks Bela, “Can I go inside your heart?”

Bela always says no, but Other Mommy is getting bold. Other Mommy begins ahowing herself to Mommy and Daddo and others.

An achingly beautiful horror story, written from a child’s perspective, about families and loneliness, lies and betrayal, love and trust, anxiety and denial. Bela is sensitive yet perceptive and though, on many levels she does not understand her parents, she sees and hears more than they do.

Malerman is a wonderful writer and creates a claustrophobic tale of terror and tension.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and Josh Malerman for providing me with an ARC copy of Josh’s new novel.

I really enjoyed this novel and thought it was definitely very creepy. I read it in a 36 hour period because I wanted to see what was going to happen to the family being affected by the evil entity.

Things that I really liked in the novel:
-The character development and the fact that they were consistent throughout.
-The vivid description of the entity and the way it appeared differently was really creepy. Especially, the whole eyes situation.
-The ending really worked for me. I was curious how the story would be wrapped up and I really liked the choices the author made.

Things that weren’t so great:
-initially, the format really bothered me but once I just got into the story, I was able to get beyond that.
-While the characters are speaking with the little girl, they are using words that are way over the head of any child that age. That dialogue should really be “dumbed down” so that it’s age appropriate.
-I can’t imagine any parent sitting next to a supposedly sleeping child and talking about the things that these parents discussed. I appreciate the information from the monologues but they really should be from a different source like a journal or letters to someone else or even internal dialogue.

I will definitely recommend this book to fellow horror enthusiasts. I thought it was well paced and kept my interest throughout. I’ve read other novels by this author and, once again, he’s done a great job.

This was so deeply disturbing. I was actually scared and that’s really hard to do with a book. Super dark, super engaging, super good. I hated everyone except Bela and I really felt her sense of not being heard. Of being a fixture in the background of her parents lives. Loved this.

I loved this book! It was atmospheric and thought provoking. The parents were such unlikable characters. It reminded me a lot of Coraline but with grown up themes

💫📚 ARC Book Review 📚💫

Title: Incidents Around The House
Author: Josh Malernan @joshmalerman
Pages: 218 (e book)
Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: Horror
Pub date: June 25, 2024 📚

Thank you so much to @netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book and give my honest review

This book kept me on the edge of my seat! Every little creak or sound would creep me out! It doesn't help that I mostly read this at night!

I think what was more scary was reading this from the little girls perspective. I could feel her fear and it reminded me of when I was scared of monsters or things in my own home.

I got chills reading this at certain scenes! The writing was great, and the story was interesting! I needed to know what "Other Mommy" wanted! It was driving me crazy.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I will forever be traumatized by other mommy asking, "Can I come into your heart?" Uhmmn nooo!! Get away from me you creeper was always my thoughts and what I would say everytime 😂 but for real that is super creepy man. 😳

I highly recommend if you like:

💫 Paranormal
💫 Horror
💫 Suspense
💫 Thriller

Be sure to check this out when it comes out! 😊

This was such a compulsively readable horror book! I flew through this in a day and just could not wait to find out what was happening. Filled with creepy moments, I really loved learning about this family and the aspect of the Other Mommy. Told from the point of view of a child as she is telling us about what is happening with the Other Mommy and her family. I do think that some people will be turned off by the POV character, as it does feel like authentic but I found I liked this perspective.

While I did life the creepy moments, I did wish for more especially at the beginning. There could have been a bit more of a build up with all of horror elements for me. I was hooked by this, wanting to know how and why this Other Mommy was interested in Bela. I can't say that I loved where the story went overall but it was just such a fun read that I couldn't put it down.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I’m going to have to start checking my closets and under my bed before I go to sleep…

A short book, but it packs a punch. I finished in one sitting. This book gave me the chills and Malerman sets up really effective scares - I felt like a little kid again.

The story is told from the POV of a lonely, young girl Bela who encounters an entity she calls “Other Mommy”. The structure of the novel is almost like a stage play as we the readers observe the drama unfold for both Bela and her family.

For fans of the Insidious franchise, Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House, and Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts.

“Can I go into your heart?”
I think this is a story that will stay with me for a while.

⭐️4.5 stars⭐️

A big thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

***A big time thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an ARC of this book!***
Incidents Around The House is the story of a young girl named Bela. On what seems like a nightly basis, Bela is visited by at first what seems to be an imaginary friend that she refers to as “Other Mommy.” Other Mommy slinks from Bela’s closet and pleads with Bela to “let her into her heart” and switch places with her. Bela knows that she should say no to this, but her Mommy and Daddo seem to be having a lot of relationship issues that Other Mommy says that she can make better…

What a truly discomforting tale this was! This is the second book of Josh Malerman’s that I have read, the first being Birdbox. What makes this book truly unique is that it is mainly told from Bela’s perspective, and Malerman does a great job putting you in the headspace of a little girl who is being terrorized by a creature/ghost that she initially thought was her friend. The tension and creepiness slowly builds higher and higher and had me tearing through this book to see what happens next.

My only gripes with the book is that all of that tension doesn’t always pay off like you’d want it to and the ending leaves us with more questions than answers. I still highly recommend this book and know that “Other Mommy” will be sticking with me for a long time.

Josh Malerman's Incidents Around the House

Let's delve into this, shall we? I have been a big fan of Josh Malerman since I initially watched the now-famous Bird Box on Netflix. Since I'm an avid reader I wanted to read the book after watching the movie and so began my journey into Malerman's world, delving deeper into Goblin and Samhattan. I've since read A House at the Bottom of a Lake (absolutely loved it), Goblin: A Novel in Six Novellas (loved most of the stories), Daphne (OMG what a wild ride there), and Spin a Black Yarn. While I love short stories, novellas, and full-feature novels, I must say I tend to enjoy the short story collections more because I can feel satisfied at finishing each story in a short amount of time, whereas novels take me longer, what with my work schedule and personal life rudely interfering with my introverted (some may say antisocial/loner/hermitage) life. But I digress, onto my review.

I was given an ARC of Incidents Around the House, by Josh Malerman from NetGalley because I've reviewed every Josh Malerman book, I've read so needless to say I was excited to get my hands on this book and visit Malerman's world once again. We get to meet a very innocent eight-year-old girl named Bela who lives with her Mommy and Daddo and her Grandma Ruth, who visits often and we immediately find out that Bela also has another family member, Other Mommy. Other Mommy is not seen or heard by any of Bela's family or friends, only Bela has the pleasure of talking to her and seeing her. Other Mommy is her friend, you might say she is Bela's bestest friend ever, but she is always asking Bela a question that makes Bela feel anxious and scared: "Can I go into your heart?" What does that mean? Bela thinks she knows because she's heard Daddo and some of his friends talk about carnation, but she isn't really sure what carnation means. Other Mommy is getting really tired of asking Bela if she can go into her heart so little by little, she begins making herself known, she is getting stronger, bolder, and demanding that Bela answer her question.

Incidents Around the House is a slow-burn adventure following Bela around in her daily life with Mommy, Daddo, and Other Mommy as well as all of the additional characters involved as the story progresses. I did have a hard time keeping myself tuned into the story so while the total page count is only a mere 256 pages, I often found myself stopping for weeks at a time to listen to my audiobooks and read other shorter stories, but I always found myself coming back to Bela to find out if she ever answered Other Mommy's question. I will say, you won't regret reading this one, but I suggest trying to read it in a shorter period to get the biggest bang at the end of that slow-burn fuse.

The characters were well thought out and meshed together well, including the true-to-life family issues such as lying, loving, and cheating, but their world revolves around Bela and they refuse to let anything bad happen to her. I would have liked to see more engagement with Grandma Ruth and Lois, but overall, the story is well-rounded and a delight to read. I did figure out the end before I was halfway through the book but I'm pretty good at guessing that 50/50 ending.

So go ahead and grab a cup of coffee, get comfy in that overstuffed and threadbare chair, and soak up the story, or shall we say haunting, of Bela and her parents, you won't regret it.

My favorite quotes:
"…if you ask enough times for a favor, people 'eventually say yes'."
"…you can only 'tempt' someone for so long before they give in."
"…sometimes it's nice to just vent. Sometimes when you complain, it's not because you want to be told how to fix it. You just wanna say it sucks. Because sometimes it just sucks."
"…sometimes I wonder if you're supposed to marry someone with a similar floor plan."

I received an advance review copy for free courtesy of NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4.5 ⭐️'s. I received this ARC months ago, and I am mad at myself for letting it sit unread on my Kindle for so long. Incidents Around the House is phenomenal. It touches on so many heavy themes told through the lens of a child. It would make an excellent book club read. There is so much to discuss and interpret - especially the ending!

What I loved 💕📚
Malerman's writing is eerie and unsettling from cover to cover. Most horror books take a little while to build up the terror, but this gets your heart racing immediately. I also enjoyed the weird format. It took a second to adjust to the writing style, but once I did, it made the story more engaging and addictive.

What I could have done without 🚫📚
Some daunting monologues are sprinkled throughout the fast-paced plot. Thankfully, these scenes were few and far between, but they shifted the book from a creepy thrill ride to a patronizing lecture. To be fair, the context was usually a parent attempting a life lesson speech to their young daughter, but once you learn about the mom and dad, you'll see they are the last people on the planet to be offering any advice 😬. The weird rants are the only reason I shorted the book half a star, and it is because those moments pulled me out of an otherwise captivating story.

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Incidents Around the House. It's a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it!