REVIEW POSTING ON OUR WEBSITE MARCH 7.

Incidents Around the House is a bone-chilling novel written by Josh Malerman that will terrify you to the bone. The story follows eight-year-old Bela and her family as they navigate through terrifying encounters with Other Mommy, a malevolent entity that threatens their safety.

The unique point-of-view writing style in Incidents Around the House adds an eerie layer to the story that sets it apart from other horror novels. Seeing the events unfold through Bela's eyes creates a sense of unease and tension that draws readers in from the very first page. The gradual escalation of Other Mommy's presence in her life keeps you guessing and leaves you feeling truly unsettled.

As we follow Bela and her family through a series of horrifying incidents, we witness the cracks forming in their relationships. The dynamics between family members are put to the test as they struggle to protect each other from the sinister force lurking within their lives. Josh Malerman masterfully weaves together themes of love, fear, and sacrifice to create a gripping narrative that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

The suspense builds steadily throughout the book, leading to a heart-pounding climax that will leave you breathless. Every twist and turn in the plot keeps you guessing, making it impossible to put the book down until you reach its chilling conclusion.

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman is a haunting and unforgettable tale that will keep you up at night with its spine-tingling suspense. The intricate character development and atmospheric storytelling combine to create a truly immersive reading experience that lingers long after you've finished the last page. Already in-line for one of our books of the year.

This was my first book by Malerman & while it wasn’t my favorite it was pretty good. I loved the dialogue and the narrator being an 8 year old. I loved getting her perspective and inner thoughts on Other Mommy. This book had grit & terror throughout!
The middle was where it started to get repetitive. (Take a shot every time you read the word “piqued”). I thought the aspect of them basically just running away from Other Mommy was kind of silly. The ending was the most disappointing for me & maybe that’s my fault. I just didn’t understand it & was left feeling confused. I wish we got a few more chapters explaining everything more. Overall a good, creepy read & I’ll definitely read more by Malerman. Thank you so much Netgalley for allowing me an ARC of this book!

I want to say that this is one of the creepiest haunted house novels you'll ever read. But it's not really a haunted house. It's a haunted child. And it's not really a ghost...or maybe it actually is? That's the beauty of a Josh Malerman book, you never know if what you've read is real or not.

But, in this one, the "thing" living in the closet of a little girl named Bela is real. She calls it Other Mommy. And it keeps asking her if it can live in her heart.

What makes this book especially dreadful is that it's written in first person through the eyes of Bela. Seeing how this terrifying thing plays out from the perspective of a small child gives it an extra thick layer of the creeps that keep increasing as this thing gets more and more insistent in its demands.

The fact that Bela's real mother has some issues and secrets adds to the sense that her and whatever this thing is are somehow connected. But we'll get there eventually and the author is in no hurry to reveal many things. That's a GOOD thing because the tension is palpable throughout this novel and leaves the reader wide eyed and wondering.

Whatever this thing actually is, getting to the end is a lot of fear filled fun. It's a novel you won't want to put down. And you'll likely feel a bit of fear every time you open a closet after reading this!

I highly recommend it.

This was the scariest book I have ever read. I had to stop reading it before bed. I loved how this book was told from little Bela’s point of view. That definitely added to the fear factor. There is now a whole new meaning to “what goes bump in the night?” (Or during the day).
I cannot wait until this is published on June 26th, so I can buy the physical copy.
This needs to be on everyone’s TBR in October (and in general). Josh Malerman did it again. 4.5⭐️

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for the advanced digital copy. Incidents Around the House is now in my top 5 favorite horror books ever written.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Del Rey for the pre-release copy. Below is my honest review.

This one was almost impossible to put down. The point of view is that of the child who is seeing this entity who told her to call it "Other Mommy" and its growing presence in her life. And boy does the tension build! Absolute page turner of a novel, and every page made me say "okay just one more." I can't really say more because I don't want to spoil a single ounce of your potential enjoyment, but I also can't recommend this one enough for fans of horror.

Russ and Ursula aren't sure what to make of it when their daughter tells them she's been talking to a woman in her bedroom at night. Bela calls her Other Mommy and sometimes her eyes are on the bottom of her face instead of the top.
When Other Mommy appears in broad daylight and in the presence of adults is when things really start to escalate.
At this point Bela's parents are at a loss so they flea to a neighbor's house one evening to collect their bearings and figure out a game plan.
Eventually they decide to up the security of their home and guard dogs are on duty 24/7.
Their sanity is slipping, they aren't sleeping well and all the while they have their own martial problems to figure out.

I devoured this one in under 48 hours. Malerman's style has evolved into something masterful. Every single book I've read of his has been phenomenal, but Incidents is on another level. I was blown away by the fact that it's told entirely from Bela's POV yet so fast paced!

This book was terrifically creepy!! Having the child as the narrator made this whole story even more terrifying!

Bela is a child who lives with her mom and dad and they have a seemingly happy, normal life. Bela also has a friend called “Other Mommy” who lives in her closet and wants Bela to “let me go into your heart”…. this is only the start of the troubles to come.

Fast paced read, short chapters, likeable and realistic characters-I really enjoyed this one!!

This book was… different. But I liked it! You have to go into this book with the mindset that it’s told from the perspective of a little girl. It was giving me Coraline/Haunting of Hill House vibes which I loved. It was dark and had that feeling of dread that every horror book needs and it gave me the creeps! If you are looking for an absolutely unique horror story, this is the one.

A good old fashioned, back-to-basics haunted house story. Until it isn't. Genuinely scary work from one of my favorite horror writers, who always knows just how much of the curtain to lift, and how much to leave unsaid.

Told from the point of view of an 8-year-old child (Bela), Incidents Around the House is a slow-burning and terrifying haunted house/ghost story. Bela has what you first might think of as an imaginary friend, Other Mommy, who lives in her closet. But Other Mommy is much more than an imaginary friend. Other Mommy has an agenda of her own and it’s not a nice one. She constantly asks Bela if the little girl will let her into her heart. Bela doesn’t answer. The entity, who Bela first looked upon as a friend, can change shape, becoming large and menacing, slide across the floor, and she can also mimic the voices of other people - people Bela trusts.

Bela’s parents, Russ and Ursula, don’t know about this entity and are dealing with problems of their own. Ursula’s having an affair and is torn between her own carnal desires and the desire to preserve her family. Russ, whom Bela calls Daddo, is an eternal optimist, always looking on the bright side of things. But soon the couple’s marital woes will take a backseat to the entity which becomes more and more malevolent as it seeks to enter Bela’s heart. The terror escalates when Other Mommy, who has always stayed in Bela’s room, follows the little girl to the park, scaring her so much that she falls down the jungle gym slide backwards, hitting her head. Things really get dicey when Ursula overhears Bela and Other Mommy talking in Bela’s room and Other Mommy sounds just like Ursula.

This novel is a total page-turner and I could not put it down. The characters are multi-faceted and literally leap off the page. I especially liked Grandma Ruth who’s a tough old bird who doesn’t mince words and speaks the truth. The terror in Malerman’s novel begins slowly and increases with every turn of the page. Incidents Around the House is by far the best book I have read this year. Always a fan of author Malerman, this novel, I believe, sits right up there with Bird Box. In summary, Incidents Around the House is a riveting read and one horror fans surely don’t want to miss.

INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE is the latest horror novel from Josh Malerman (Birdbox).

We follow Bela and her mom and dad as they try to figure out what kind of entity is after Bela. In that aspect, it has a very Poltergeist feel, but Malerman, as he always does, makes that old story his own. Malerman's form of storytelling is very unique to him, like a series of scratches that, page by page, work their way beneath your skin.

While this is a(n attempted) possession/haunting story of sorts, it's also the story of an imperfect couple and the secrets they keep. I thought the parents, along with the grandmother, were very well done. And "Other Monther" was creepy when she needed to be.

I would have liked the horror to have been ratcheted up a little more, but it's a good book as is.

I give INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE 4 shining, poltergeisty stars!!!!

Every new book I read from Josh Malerman is my new favorite Josh Malerman book. This one might be his best. A haunted house story told from the perspective of a small girl. It was kind of a surreal reading experience as my daughter is the same age as the MC. Kept picturing her in the story. Seriously though Josh Malerman is a top horror writer. one of my faves and not to be missed.

I cannot explain to you how creepy this was. Let me just say, I had to check my heart rate after finishing this book, because my heart was POUNDING. I cannot tell you how many times my jaw was on the floor while reading this (inside joke for those who have read this, haha). I don’t think I will be able to look inside of my closet for a long time.

This book is following the perspective of a little girl named Bela. Bela has a friend who she calls “Other Mommy”. Other Mommy is a terrifying entity who started showing up in Bela’s closet, but started getting closer and closer to Bela as they talked more and more. Once Bela and Other Mommy become friends, Other Mommy starts to frequently ask Bela if she can “go inside her heart”. Bela soon realizes that Other Mommy is not her friend; it is an entity that becomes stronger and bolder every day. Bela and her family fight to protect and save her from this monstrous being in this epic and horrifying novel by Josh Malerman.

This was such a fast paced and gripping read. The fact that this is written from a child’s perspective makes it even more eerie and terrifying. Having the extra layer of innocence when creepy and terrifying things were happening, made me so scared for our main character Bela. She would be seeing this terrifying “Other Mommy” and just assumed she was a friend.

This was absolutely a five star read to me and my new favorite from Josh Malerman. This was a wild ride and I can’t wait to read what Josh Malerman comes out with next!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing/ Ballentine/ Del Rey for sending me a digital copy for me to review and enjoy! These are my honest thoughts and opinions.

This scared the shit out of me!!! (This is a good thing)

Incidents Around the House is told from the perspective of a young girl Bela, who is haunted by an entity she calls Other Mommy. We follow her and her family as incidents escalate and Other Mommy gets more bold in her questioning of Bela.

I think this is a really great book to go in with relatively little information. The perspective is jarring at first but it really pays off in the scariest scenes. Highly recommend picking this up in June!

My head is still reeling from this book!!!!

It was so creepy and scary that before I went to bed I made sure my closet was shut tight! If I could have put something in front of it I would have.

I don’t want to close my eyes and go to sleep now. You’ll know what I mean when you finish this book.

I don’t think anything can prepare you for the story you are about to read. This book will definitely make the hair on the back of your neck stand up!

It was so amazing and made me a fan of Josh Malerman.

This was a really great book. Gave me the creeps more than once. I’m only confused by the ending. It wasn’t bad per se, I m just not sure exactly what happened. I will have to discuss with other readers.

2.5 stars, rounded up

I was excited to get my hands on Incidents Around the House because I really enjoyed Malerman's Bird Box, so I had high hopes for this one as well. Unfortunately, this one just didn't hit the mark for me.

The story is told from the POV of 8-year-old Bela, and there were times when she read as much younger than 8, which threw me off a bit. I actually had to go back and look at the synopsis after the first couple of chapters because I had been thinking that she was only supposed to be around 4 or 5. Maybe it's just my life experience with my own kids, but by the time they were 8, they definitely would have contributed much more to the depth of the narrative than the shallow repetitiveness that was Bela's. I thought the premise was a fun idea, but the execution was a little lacking.

There are times when undescribed and under-described "monsters" and horrors can be done well (I'm looking at you, Bird Box!) and can contribute to the fear factor, however, I felt like Other Mommy just wasn't fleshed out well enough to be scary. [view spoilers on Goodreads]

Despite all of the other reviews saying that this was the scariest book they've ever read, I didn't find it to be frightening at all. It had some creepy moments, for sure, but overall, it just didn't do it for me. I couldn't connect with the parental characters and their constant need to use their child as a long-winded confessional booth, which made me far less invested in what happened to them when we reached the inevitable conclusion.

Despite all of that, the story itself wasn't bad, it just felt slow and drawn out, and then the ending felt rushed and like a bit of a letdown even though it was obvious all along where it was going to end up.

Incidents around the House is a classic haunting that provides a creepy feeling without the gore.
It tells the story from the prospective of a little girl named Bella. Bella has a "friend" that she calls Other Mommy. Their friendship starts innocently, but Bella and the reader quickly realize that there is a more menacing side to Other Mommy that causes havoc amongst Bella and her family.
Overall, it was a good book! I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of creepy haunted stories!
#NetGalley #IncidentsAroundtheHouse


Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the E-Arc of this book.

When I was ten me and my best friend stole her brother's VHS of The Exorcist and watched it, I was petrified for weeks after and had to sleep with the lights on, this book elicited those same feelings of absolute terror and unease and "what was that sound!" paranoia, if you thought jump scares were reserved for horror films, think again, the dread creeps around every single page of this and does not let up, I thought Josh nailed the authenticity of a childs perspective making it all the more impactful, it really tugged at my heartstrings, yes this is an absolutley hair raising novel however perseverance and family are at the beating heart of it, this is 10000% *THE* book of the year, destined to be a modern horror classic this chilling goosebumps enducing masterpiece will be talked about for years to come, I read a lot of horror and I've described a lot of those books as creepy and disturbing, but not once have I used the word frightening, but this is *frightening*, I feel like this review is rather rambling as I feel my vocabulary is inadequate to accurately articulate how fantastic this book is, you don't read this book, you experience it, you don't consume it, it consumes you, can't wait for everyone to read this, if we find a cushion big enough we can all collectively hide behind it together, also remember to breathe, numerous times I didn't realise I was holding my breathe whilst reading 
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Well, hot damn. Good luck everyone. I chose to read this only at night and in shorter bursts each time because it took forever for me to get to sleep.
Malerman has managed to write something that has the intensity and propulsion of a suspense film, a feeling that’s tough to get out of the page. I need to sit with this a while before I gush hyperboles but like I said… hot damn. This should be the text everyone receives when they ask the forever question: “What will REALLY scare me?@