Number of times I put this book down because I was too scared and needed a break: 2
Number of nights I laid awake after reading this thinking holy fuck what if that thing is in here: 3
Number of stars I give Incidents Around the House: 5

If you've gotten this far and are reading this review just do yourself a favor and read this book. I think it's worth it.

Thanks NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thanks Josh Malerman for giving me nightmares.

Some of my favorite creepy books involve children and this one is a double whammy as the narrator is eight year old Bela. Watching the story unfold through her eyes really ups the creep factor. I adjusted to the style of narration quickly, but it may be difficult for some. Try to stick with it because it's worth it. I won't rehash the story; just get the book, clear off some time, read, and enjoy! It's a great horror story and you will be thinking of Bela for awhile.

3.25/5

It took me a bit to get into the writing style of this book (everything's written in the voice of a 5 year old little girl) but once I got used to it, I was hooked on this story

Unfortunately, the only thing that lost me was the very end. It kinda broke the suspense and knocked me out of the horror mood :(

thanks… netgalley….
thanks josh….
just over here traumatized
what in the holy hell
this was downright terrifying
the fact words on a page can give so much fear
even the parts about life and parenting and just being a person were scary
i felt so tense reading this
dread in looming form
reminded me of IT in a way
feeding off negative energy
jesus christ this was a heavy and sad book.
was bela only 4? my heart is heavy and no you can’t go in it
highly highly highly recommend

Bela has an invisible friend that she calls Other Mother. Gradually, Other Mother becomes meaner and more desperate, and less invisible. She becomes a problem for the whole family to solve.

I can’t tell if I find the odd formatting annoying or if I just feels that way because I read this as an eARC. I’m also not a fan of the ending. The references to Goblin were fun, though. I was really enjoying it all up until the last few chapters when it became clear that the story wasn’t going where I wanted it to

My first Josh Malerman book and not my last. And not only because I found out he was a fellow Michigander.

Thank you to Netgalley for choosing me to read this arc

Bela is an 8 year old child immersed in a troubled family and one of her only real friends is an entity named "other mother". We follow the family as they deal with their domestic issues as well as deal with the trouble Other Mother is bringing into their home.

"Can I go Into your heart ?"

So this book is great! It very much creeped me out a few times. It is written in Bela's perspective so that took a little getting used to. The book reads fast. I was a let down by the end. It was sort of anti climatic. It made the whole story be set up as a this or that will happen instead of taking the opportunity to put in a fun twist. It was almost like the middle of the story sort of dragged a bit and then the ending was too fast. But overall I will recommend my friends to read the book when it is released this summer

Well, I must be broken because this book did not creep me out at all. The writing style was an interesting choice, not one that I can say I was a fan of. It made me read a little faster but it did nothing to boost the story. I found some enjoyment in the beginning but half way through, I couldn't wait to be done. It was repetitive with almost nothing going on and the little that did happen ended up being a complete waste of time. The adults, specifically the parents, were so dumb and useless. All the mom and "daddo" (I seriously hated that nickname) did was trauma dump on their 8 year old daughter. And the ending? It left a lot to be desired. Perhaps this would be better as a movie than it was a book.

Josh Malerman’s ‘Incidents Around the House’ is genuinely spine-chilling! It stands out as one of the most terrifying haunted house novels I’ve encountered in quite some time.

The story starts with Bela, our narrator and an 8 year old girl, who is being visited by an entity that lives her in closet, who she calls “Other Mommy”. Initially a comforting presence, Bela’s fear escalates as “Other Mommy” becomes more persistent in something she wants from her. Soon both her parents, and other adults, begin to see this entity as well. Malerman’s vivid descriptions, from “Other Mommy’s” dreadful presence to its unsettling scent, left me so unnerved that I’ll forever ensure my closet remains firmly shut at night.

This is hands down one of the finest horror tales I’ve read. The choice of Bela as the narrator added an extra layer of tension and unease, making it exceptionally gripping. Beyond its chilling nature, the narrative also encompasses moving reflections on life, innocence, and parenthood, enriching the story with depth and emotion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey, and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story is told from the POV of Bela, an 8-year-old girl, and the author really leaned into that. The writing style is strange and choppy, the dialogue is stream-of-consciousness with immature grammar and no punctuation, and the adults are basically wallpaper. This made it very hard to focus on what was going on, let alone get scared by any of the horror elements. I only made it about 10% in when I realized I couldn’t finish.
I think this might be just a stylistic preference as most reviewers found this book exciting and scary. I’m bummed I didn’t make it far enough to enjoy it.
Thank you to Random House – Ballantine and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman is everything I want from a haunted house story. This story scared the shit out of me!! I had actual nightmares after reading this book!! Malerman has created an incredible book from start to finish.

Our young narrator, Bela, has a friend who lives in her closet. "Other Mommy" is a terrifying entity attempting to take over the family bit by bit. The grown ups in Bela's life don't believe in her imaginary friend, until they start seeing Other Mommy too. When I tell you the description of this monster had me leaving a light on at night, I'm not joking in the slightest...

Truly, Incidents Around the House reminded me of what I love about reading horror. Not only were there insane scary plot points, but there are hear felt discussions that make you reflect on your own life. I cannot wait to buy a physical copy so I can tab every beautifully written moment in this novel.

Do yourself a favor, and add this to your TBR!!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How can a book be so horrific and yet tragically beautiful at the same time? Genuinely creepy. I will never have my closet door cracked again! I loved the visuals in this book. This was such a fantastic read and a terrifying ride to go on. Best read after dark with maybe a storm as ambience. 5 Stars!!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the arc copy in exchange for my honest review

Incidents Around The House by Josh Malerman. This is my 6th book by him and probably my most anticipated. I liked it okay but it was not what I was hoping.

It’s not creeping me out as much as I was told it would. I like how it’s told from 8 year old Bela’s perspective and how things happening aren’t always what they may seem…. Sometimes they’re worse.
BUT the entire book was just two adults trauma dumping on an innocent child. It just didn’t work for me.

Incidents Around the House is a creepy, chilling, and scary horror novel. Once you start reading it, you won't want to put it town. It keeps you guessing right up until the end. The story is intriguing and the characters are complex. I highly recommend this book to all horror fans!

First things first -- I did not care for the formatting of this book. I'm sure for many it added something to the storytelling, but for me, I found it difficult to acclimate to. However.... this is a fantastic story and I will be recommending it to everyone. Malerman is skilled storyteller and it shows here. I loved the barely-there descriptions of Other Mommy, leaving plenty of room for our imaginations to flesh her out in the most terrifying of ways. I enjoyed the way he captured Bela's innocence and then the destruction of it. I even enjoyed watching how to family slowly crumbled under the weight of what they were facing. It was all masterfully told.

Thank you to Del Rey Publishers & Net Galley for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy of Incidents Around The House by Josh Malerman.

Incidents Around The House is a novel with pervading dread. It creeps and crawls, it goes bump in the night. It’s the shadow you see in the dark and a reason to sleep with the lights on. Josh Malerman has crafted a truly devious villain in Other Mommy and a valiant protagonist in Bela.

8 year old Bela has been seeing Other Mommy for years. She used to hide in Bela’s closest and only come out at night. But then Other Mommy came closer and closer, asking Bela if she could “go into her heart.” When Other Mommy’s presence becomes too much for Bela to handle on her own, her family goes on the run to escape the entity, only to realize that Other Mommy will follow Bela wherever she goes.

This is a novel about an entity, but it’s also about a family on the verge of implosion. Bela’s parents have secrets - they reveal them in long confessions when they think she’s sleeping. Their burdens become Bela’s and prove to be more relentless than Other Mommy. Bela’s parents are incredibly flawed, but also unable to recognize that it’s not Bela’s job to absolve them of the ways in which they’ve wronged both her and each other. Other Mommy is the terrifying monster in the closet, but she’s also a reflection of the insidiousness present in the house long before her arrival.

The novel is narrated by Bela, which gave the novel much depth and heart. Bela is a child and not fully capable of processing the mental and emotional weight she must carry. She narrates in thoughts, bits of overheard conversations and chilling interactions with Other Mommy. I really enjoyed how realistically Malerman portrayed Bela - she is not an overly precocious child, she’s just trying to make sense of her life in the ways she can, with the little life experience she’s had.

I couldn’t put this novel down. When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it. It taps into our childhood fears and begs your imagination to run wild. I came away feeling like even though I’m grown, there might still be a monster in my closet. For a seasoned horror reader, it’s truly something special to be scared - Incidents Around The House scared me.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC! Malerman has been an auto-buy author for me since reading Bird Box and he does not disappoint!

Incidents Around the House is written entirely in the perspective of Bela, and eight-year-old that has frequent nightly visits from the Other Mommy in her closet. Unsettling, creepy, and often nauseating, the prose is somehow simplistic—as a child’s writing demands—yet surprisingly elegant and powerful. I was so impressed by the balance the author struck between the two, and it heightened my enjoyment throughout. I really found it hard to put this down (while sadly training at the new job).

Focusing heavily on what goes bump in the night, Malerman takes childhood fears and turns them into adulthood traumas. There was a single line about how Other Mommy was hiding in the dark corner, but her eyes were up near the ceiling that truly gave me chills. And that’s where this story excels, within its endless possibilities, within what it leaves unsaid. It’s childhood stories, it’s Goosebumps and Fear Street and Are You Afraid of the Dark, yet it’s deconstructed, enhanced, and rewound into an entirely unique and adult novel.

Bela’s Mommy and Daddo are great characters in their own right, but they’re also great characterizations of polar opposites in parenting. One feels trapped, ungrateful, and the bearer of bad news. The other is the optimistic, uplifting one, and Bela’s best friend. The light and the dark to their daughter. But what I enjoyed about this dynamic the most, was Malerman’s ability to showcase them so well that I stopped believing that I knew which parent was the “good” one. The rock-bottom feel of their desperation and disparity is something I would say is wholly unique and integral to the experience. And Bela is constantly drawn to the two for different reasons. And to Other Mommy too.

I also really enjoyed that the author gives us a mixture of modern things thrown in. A modern “hippie” exorcism that goes a bit wonky, a slew of cameras and alarms that could make my crew in BestGhost’s heads spin, two well behaved guard dogs that never seem to take a break, running away from home, both short and long trips, and of course, an occult specialist that’s absolutely not a sham. It kind of felt like taking absolutely everything you could do to save yourself, and finding out that all of it wasn’t the right thing.

I happened to be reading this at the same time as Baptiste Pinson Wu’s historical fantasy, Undead Samurai. The juxtaposition of zombies, swords, and action against Malerman’s slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Malerman’s ability to sell an incredible story with a slower burn.

Can Other Mommy be trusted? Can she be let into Bela’s heart? Why is she named that? The absolutely unhinged act of twisting the dynamic of mother and daughter into something OTHER is truly brilliant. And gross, so gross.

Malerman is at his best, delivering readers with something to think about for years to come, especially before we turn out the lights. I genuinely feel for any reader that has a young daughter.

This, my friends, this is a great psychological horror and it truly freaked me out.

Told from 8-year-old Bela's perspective that gave this an eerie edge to it with an innocent worldview. Which you'd think would soften the plot elements but if anything it amplified it. The pages read quickly and kept the same pace the entire time. At times it felt wrong somehow, like the unseen was writing this through a whisper and a laugh AS I turned each page. It was giving malevolent and darker Coraline vibes. It was very unique in how the story was told but also how it unfolded as it felt rooted in reality from page one and carefully wrapped in terrifying components. This will sit with me for a long time to come.

I have a 10 year old and so it was all too easy for me to place myself in the shoes of the parents and realize just how hopeless it would feel and yet they charged ahead. In no way was I prepared for that final scene, it was just insanity and had my jaw dropping because what the . . .

Probably hugged my daughter for a solid five minutes after finishing.

Although I had a strong feeling what was going to somewhat happen in the end, the book gutted me. It's very well written, the scenes are descriptive and creepy, the characters are well developed. It's going to live in my head for a while.

What a whirlwind of emotion this was. There was terror, apprehension, but there was also trauma and love. Malerman lays out the family dynamic, and talks about the secrets we build our lives on, how they direct every step we take after. Bela is stalked by a terrifying entity, one who keeps asking an impossible question. One she refuses to answer. It starts with Bela, and slowly shows itself again and again, dragging others into the horrific realization that there is so much worse in this world than they ever guessed.
Loved this story, burned through it as quickly as my eyes could take it in. 12/10, highly recommend.

Josh Malerman has a knack for showing the reader horrors from a different viewpoint. With Incidents Around the House, he shows us a haunted house — someplace we’ve all been before — from the viewpoint of eight-year-old Bela.

There is something living inside Bela’s closet, something she calls Other Mommy which comes out at night and asks to be let in to Bela’s heart. Bela, Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth must face this ever more dangerous entity as it grows stronger, as its appearances become more terrifying, and as its desire for Bela becomes more insistent.

Malerman gives us family which is haunted not only by Other Mommy, but by their own histories, secrets, desires. The child’s POV provides another layer of emotional trauma as there are things which Bela struggles to understand. Incidents Around the House is heart-wrenching and terrifying and a damn good read.