I love the concept, but this was incredibly difficult to read. I understand why it was written in the style that it was, but I wasn't a fan. There were quite a few unnecessary scenes, and it could've been a short story and much more enjoyable. I'd recommend to those who like weird spooky tales about boogeymen written in a child's perspective.

Disturbing, creepy, and heartbreaking. I'm normally not phased by horror novels, especially those in the paranormal genre, but this book was legitimately scary. The story being told through the eyes of 8-year old Bela was unique. I wasn't really satisfied with the ending but overall I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I’ve become somewhat of a Josh Malerman fanatic ever since getting an ARC of Goblin (which yes I read well before I ever picked up Bird Box). I was so incredibly thankful to get my hands on this one early and couldn’t stop myself from devouring it. Incidents Around the House is a quick read in part to the narrative style, written from the point of view of a young child. I loved the texture and nuance it gave the story, presenting it in a drastically different light than the same plot could have been presented. The themes of home and innocence and secrets and “room” were beautiful. And I’m loving Malerman’s tying together all of his worlds in his various books (Goblin makes a very obvious appearance here but no you do not need to have read it to understand). I loved this one and I’m excited to pressure all of my friends into reading it as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This is my first Malerman novel and I am hooked. I definitely want to go back to his older novels and short story collection to consume more of his writing. Since this book is narrated from the perspective of an eight year old girl, it did take me a minute to adjust to the way the story was being told. However, after a few short chapters, I was sucked into the story and into Bela’s brain. She always felt like a little girl which is an extremely hard thing to do and I give Malerman a lot of props for executing this flawlessly. The plot isn’t very complex but it didn’t need to be to keep me engaged in the story. This is a brilliant example of how simple a story can be and still invoke a terrifying feeling in the reader. If I read this in the dark I would’ve been terrified. The ending may disappoint some people, but I loved how it ended and I love that I am going to be thinking about this story in the coming weeks and months. If you are looking for a fast paced, spooky story, pick this one up!

Incidents Around the House is a horror novel about an eight-year-old girl named Bela who lives with her mother, father, and a malevolent spirit she calls Other Mommy who lives in her closet. Bela used to believe that Other Mommy was her friend, but lately Other Mommy has started to put more pressure on Bela to let her “into her heart”. Bela has started to think that Other Mommy might hurt Bela or her parents if Bela does not agree, but she is frightened of what it might mean to let Other Mommy into her heart, and what will happen to Bela if she does.

Despite the subject material being profoundly dark and disturbing, the entire story is told about and from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl. This was a fantastic choice by the author – Bela’s perspective and innocence contrasted with the violence and the parents’ own sense of horror ultimately helped raise the stakes. It’s one thing to know that a little girl is in danger, but by forcing the reader to see through her eyes, the reader can feel the danger up close, and better understand why Bela heself is conflicted on what to do. The last time I read a book with such a perfect sense of perspective was when I read Room. There are definitely echoes of that work in this one – Bela’s parents often come to sit with her while they think that she is sleeping, and monologue about their own struggles. Bela doesn’t always understand what they’re saying to her, but the reader does, and unlike Bela, the reader is able to understand how badly Bela’s family is beginning to break apart.

These days, I have a really hard time binging a book if I’m not listening to it on audiobook. The pacing on this one was so well done, though, that I read the entire thing in about 48 hours. I definitely think that the perspective played a part in how invested I was, but the book’s stellar pace had a lot to do with this as well. This is undoubtedly a quick-moving book, with very few moments of quiet, and even those quiet moments are often interrupted by Other Mommy’s plotting. It was almost impossible to put this book down – there was always something new about to threaten Bela and her parents, and every chapter ended with a cliffhanger. In some books, this might be overwhelming and hard to follow. The plot in this one though is succinct enough that I was able to follow it all the way through, and I think it worked well here.

In all, I’ll give Incidents Around the House a 9 out of 10. This is a compelling, fast-paced horror, and I think any reader who likes a good story about a haunting will enjoy it.

A solid horror story featuring an evil entity that is referred to as "other mommy". It wants to use the family's daughter for reincarnation. The author includes a twist that allows the entity to travel to wherever the child goes. Seriously creepy.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC of Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman.

This story is told almost entirely from the first person/present tense perspective of a young child named Bela. Bela's limited perspective feeds us some information in smaller glimpses, for example, some adult problems her parents are having. Bela just wants for them to be happy, but she picks up on little details she isn't supposed to see and can recognize things seem different from before. Initially, I thought the writing style would hurt the reading experience, but it works in the story's favor. In my opinion, the creep factor works extremely well due to the limited perspective we're given. Bela's innocence makes the reader responsible for filling in certain gaps, and I personally feel like it elevated the reading experience, although it might not work for some. Regardless of how you feel, it's certainly unique. 

Some first impressions I took away from the opening chapters was that it felt like Coraline meets The Babadook (especially with the source of the haunting coming from something called "Other Mother" the Coraline comparisons are almost inevitable). But the further into the story we go, this book becomes much more than the creepy happenings Bela and her family are experiencing. 

One of the things that I feel will stick with me the most, more so than any of the horror or creepy vibes, is the way the book dives into coming of age and the different challenges we might face as we mature. There is a secondary thread related to family drama which felt very real. Those elements were well done, and made sense in how it was weaved into the story.

First off, thank you very much for this eARC that was generously provided by the publisher and author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I couldn’t finish this one. I hate DNFing a Netgalley book, but I just can't continue with this one. In the beginning it is intriguing, but midway it turns SO repetitive. I feel like they keep having the same conversations and thoughts over and over. The formatting is odd. And it’s hard to relate to because it’s told in a very young girls perspective. Pure childish thoughts. Also, the characters were very flat and didn’t have any depth. The plot was also very shallow and I wasn’t scared once. I've read 55% and not much has happened.

Disappointed because I read a bunch of great reviews. And I wanted to love it!

Incidents Around the House by Malerman

This was a tough one, not to read but to digest and review. Despite the elusive title, the word “Incidents” defined as events or occurrences, seems in retrospect to be part and parcel of this slippery read. Scary story or cautionary tale – hauntings, philosophy, secrets of the universe revealed – all presented here in flawless Malerman style. Incidents Around the House relates a young girl’s coming of age and struggling with the demons of growing up and growing old – seeing the truth behind and beyond the faces visible to us at different stages of life. Gaining knowledge, losing innocence, living, dying, being born again. Great scenes of suspense such as the doglike creature creeping up the beach, interspersed with poetic wise old words to live by, Other Mommy, be she in the closet or in the mirror has much to say. As the wise old grandmother figure instructs, it’s all a matter of who and what you let into your life – your house and heart that will ultimately determine your story.

This haunted house/possession hybrid, told from the viewpoint of a young girl named Bela, may just possibly be the scariest horror novel so far this millennium … and I say this as a fan of horror fiction since 1976.

Bela lives in a two story home with her parents (Mommy and Daddo, as she refers to him), and has a secret friend living in her closet who she calls “Other Mommy.” What begins as a friendly relationship eventually becomes sinister to the point her family goes on the run, but realize they need to face this thing head on in the hopes of ever having a normal life again.

Filled with great takes on every childhood fear and worry, Malerman delivers images that won’t be leaving your psyche anytime soon, and one scene dealing with an amateur paranormal investigator delivers a wicked twist that’ll have you punching a hole in the nearest wall.

There are secrets, surprises, and scares at nearly every turn, and the overall creepiness factor here has just upped the genre big time.

This is the epitome of an instant classic.

When I got approved to read the new Josh Malerman I was on cloud nine! I’m a big Maler-fan (sorry corny), and I don’t think that there have been any of his backlist that I haven’t enjoyed. But y’all this one was an absolute highlight, and dare I say my favorite one yet!! Finally a book that is SCARY. Like I haven’t felt genuinely unnerved like this in such a long time! The premise is fairly simple, a little girl - Bela- (the whole book is told through her perspective) is seeing an entity she calls Other Mommy. As Other Mommy gets more and more aggressive and present in her life, and even more horrifying, other people begin to see her, her parents try and band together to protect their daughter at any cost. This book was so heartbreaking and so well structured, everything we learn as Bela learns it and understands it as Bela understands it. It’s disorienting and so incredibly creepy. I can’t recommend this book enough!

Really wanted to like this book based on the summary but I couldn’t get past it being told by a child. It was hard to read the unfinished sentences and I just couldn’t do it DNF at 40%

I don’t want to go into too many specifics about the plot with this review, because I had such a good experience reading this and I think that going in with minimal information is the way to do it.

So obviously, any novel that claims to be about a little girl haunted by something called "The Other Mommy" immediately makes me think of Coraline, which isn't a bad thing. I love Coraline, and the Other Mother in that story is absolutely horrifying. I can now say that the Other Mommy in Malerman's book is equally frightening but in different ways. Even though I was already a supporter of his work, (I'm a big Birdbox fan), I was a bit wary going into this. The early reviews were SO over-the-top, making this sound like the next Exorcist. Surely, I thought, it can't actually be that creepy. People must be exaggerating. (Turns out, they weren't!) If you are looking for bloody, violent horror, this won't be your thing. But if you want a chilling, thought-provoking story with plenty of spooky imagery then you might just love this one. It's the kind of story that has you jumping at shadows, or locking the closet.

The narrative is told from the perspective of a child, which can be tricky to pull off. It is very effective here, and manages to be both believable and comfortable, never slipping into annoying territory. Bela is very brave considering everything that's happening, but she's also incredibly worried about the fact that her parents are fighting and this book is so real for adding that layer to the horror. Not only is she being pursued by a monster, but her family is going through marital problems simultaneously and this kid is experiencing serious anxiety over all of it in real time. It’s so stressful and heartbreaking. The dynamic between the parents was great and they were good, complex characters. They were real and flawed.

This novel manages to create the elusive literary jumpscare! I was ON EDGE like very few books have managed to do, making me feel like something scary was about to happen at any moment. Because frequently, it did! The buildup of tension was so capable, and it was sustained throughout most of the story. I do want to bring up that there's a bit of “It Follows” in this plot, which I think I also mentioned in my review of Malerman’s book “Daphne.” Maybe he’s very inspired by that movie?

If I have to knock any points off, I wasn’t a huge fan of the big monologues that the parents sometimes had when they spoke to Bela, but even then the dialogue was pretty decent so I can’t complain about it too much. And then, the dread that was building up in the last several chapters...I was thinking, “Malerman, where are you going with this?!” But then, unfortunately, the story ended pretty much how I was expecting it to and I was disappointed. I'm still giving this a five-star rating because the reading experience was so scary and exciting overall. I think there were a lot of deeper things going on here metaphorically about family dynamics that I can't really analyze in detail without getting into spoilers. In fact, aside from being an effectively frightening horror story on the surface, I'm pretty sure the entire thing was also a big analogy. Malerman is a very smart writer and storyteller, and it was an honor to read this early.

Thank you SO MUCH to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for my honest review! All opinions are my own.

What if your imaginary friend isn't so imaginary? Or friendly?

This is what eight-year-old Bela's life has become as her imaginary friend, Other Mommy, goes from friend to fiend by asking the same question over and over: "Can I go into your heart?"

What follows kept me on the edge of my seat and made me regret having to put it down to deal with life as I just wanted to see what would happen to Bela and her parents. How would they deal with Other Mommy? How would it end for everyone?

This was my first Josh Malerman and I am impressed. I have been trying to find a horror novel that made me feel like this one did, and I was actually unnerved while reading it. The descriptions of Other Mommy were disturbing to say the least.

I will say that I wasn't especially satisfied with the ending, however there was an air of inevitability about it, like Other Mommy looming over the reader, waiting to pounce. And though I felt like some of the characters didn't react particularly realistically, and Bela read a little younger than an eight-year-old, I enjoyed it. It was a very quick read and I enjoyed the writing style.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved that this book was told from the perspective of the little girl. It was a very dark and creepy story, an absolutely unique horror story.

I was invested. The outcome felt inevitable, but that didn't stop me from wanting to read the journey.

I thought the perspective on this one was interesting, though I'm still not sure how old Bela was, perhaps a detail I missed somewhere along the way. Telling the story through the lens of a child gives it a certain glossy quality that I found extremely powerful.

I powered through, as I'm sure many will, and I was with it until the last few lines. I'm not sure I understood the where which is all I can say without saying to much.

This book captures my current internal struggle of feeling both trapped in my house and haunted by myself. I am an anxious person who is sick with the flu, if that makes things clearer. I love all of Josh’s books that I have read and this might be one of my new favorites.

I really, really wanted to like this as the reviews really tout it's spooky nature! But the writing style being from a child, I truly couldn't push through. It was suppose to be from the perspective of an 8 year old but read more like a 4-5 year old and it was just too much for me. Sadly I DNF'd.

It’s been a while since I’ve read anything by Josh Malerman but I’m glad I requested this from @Netgalley. Incidents Around The House is told from the perspective of a young child. I feel that it really works to create a spine-tingling story of terror. I don’t want to go into the plot much because I feel like it’s best to go into this one blind and without anything given away. I will say this much about it though only because it’s noted in the synopsis. This is a story about a girl who’s seeing a woman in her closet who she calls “Other Mommy”. I’m not going to lie I was freaked out a few times while reading this at night especially when something would make a noise at night. I really enjoyed this one but there were a few things I didn’t love near the end. This would make a great movie though. This is a solid horror novel that you should definitely read with your lights on.

𝟯.𝟱 ⭐️
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟰, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁: 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲

Josh Malerman never disappoints! This was such a thriller. I had my heart beating so fast. This was actually one that I could not read before bed, if I did I made sure to watch something after, before I slept. This is definitely favorite and I bet will be top 5 this year for sure. Definitely going to recommend!