Creepy 😭 this is why I won’t ever have kids, too many creepy things happen 😂 I really enjoyed this book and it sufficiently creeped me out. It kinda reminded me of the Grudge, and tbh that movie scared me when it first came out lol. Josh Malerman is becoming a great horror writer and I’m glad more people are being introduced to his writing. If you’re into horror movies, hauntings or being creeped out, give this book a shot! You won’t be disappointed!

The creepy goodness I've come to expect from Josh Malerman! Always happy to see new stories from him. Can't read this after dark!

I happily requested an ARC of Incidents Around the House after reading Bird Box. I love Josh Malerman's inventive plots and was extremely intrigued by the book's description. Needless to say, Incidents Around the House did not disappoint! I loved the setting, characters, overall plot and underlying domestic drama. I could not put Incidents Around the House down and am waiting anxiously for Malerman's next book!

“Can I go inside your heart?”

Eight year-old Bela has been seeing someone in her closet. Other Mommy comes out at night pretending to be her friend and asks if she can go inside her heart. Bela becomes so frightened that she tells her parents about her. When others begin to see Other Mommy too, the family attempts to outrun Other Mommy and make her disappear.

I became a Josh Malerman fan after reading Bird Box, which scared the living daylights out of me. Since that book, I have read or attempted to read his all of his other books. None of them are anywhere near the caliber of Bird Box. I was starting to wonder if it was a one-hit wonder for Malerman. Then I was given the opportunity to read Incidents Around the House. It seemed creepy and reviewers have been raving about this book as his next big hit. So, I listened to the audiobook while following along with the Ebook

My thoughts:

Disappointing. While it is atmospheric, scary, and creepy, Incidents Around the House felt like a remake of the 1980s hit movie Poltergeist with Bela as Carol Anne. While Poltergeist actually had a plot that I could follow and made sense, I never really figured out why the boogie mama was in the closet. The plot just fell apart for me in the end. I pride myself on being able to understand the psychology behind deeper meanings, but this one just wasn’t clear. It seems that Malerman enjoys creating open endings, but after reading almost 400 pages, I NEEDED to know why.

Stylistically, this book will not appeal to everyone. The story is told from the perspective of an eight year-old and short and repetitive sentences are used over and over. The audiobook reader sounds like Minnie Mouse (probably an adult’s voice recorded at a higher pitch) and is grating on the ears. I sped the audio up to 1.5X which really made the repetition stand out.

I’m still waiting for Malerman to write another stand out horror novel. This just wasn’t it.

3.5/5 stars rounded down

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine for the ARC of IncidentsAround the House in exchange for an honest review.

Malerman nailed the ending, and much of the book was effective, but there were too many authorial quirks that did not earn what they asked of the reader -- e.g., Stephen King-style references to fictional towns and characters from other Malerman books; the screenplay-style format of the dialogue; and bizarre, repeated use (and I would say misuse) of the word *piqued.* Other flaws that stand out are a canine character that is introduced and described and completely forgotten about and unaccounted for, and the characterization of the parents, who are both intensely unlikable and for whom the books expects the reader to fully or partly find empathy. I continue to recommend the book to readers I know will like it, and have given feedback to support that assumption, but I personally found it lacking.

This book hooked me in from the start. I found myself wanting to drop everything so that I would spend my time reading this book to find out what happened next. I loved that the pov was that of the child - it made this book stand out from the crowd. I’ve read other people say they didn’t like the child narrator but personally it really worked for me. The story was tense and creepy and I didn’t know what was going to happen. Itowards the end I thought it was going to go one of two ways and I was right.

Really creepy thriller. Enjoyed it a lot.

Bela is a normal little girl, living with her mom and dad.

And someone she calls Other Mommy.

Other Mommy lives in Bella’s closet, but she’s started to come out more lately.

And she wants something from Bela.

***

I don’t want to say too much, because this is the first book to legitimately creep me out in so long.

The story’s told from Bela’s point of view, which adds a terrible simplicity to the situation. It makes it even scarier, to see everything from a child’s perspective.

But this horror extends beyond the unknown; Bela’s parents are also grappling with their own demons, which threaten to tear the family apart.

Bela is a sensitive, lonely child whose parents are desperate to help her, they just don’t know how.

This book had me looking over my shoulder and avoiding the dark. I loved it. I would recommend going into this book blind; don’t read too much about it. Just be ready for chills.

Thanks to @netgalley and @delreybooks for the eARC.

Check out this book if you want a good scare!

I just finished INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE by @joshmalerman last night and I cannot stop thinking about it!!! Admittedly late to the Malerman train, I think this is only my third of his but both this one and DAPHNE had me perspiring with anxiety and dread so I am in his camp to stay!

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and @delreybooks for the e-ARC!

🧸🧸🧸

A brutally early coming of age story narrated by 5 year old Bella who has a secret friend named Other Mommy who lives in her closet. No one else can see other mommy until one day when her real mommy sees Other Mommy which starts a harrowing journey to determine what this entity actual is and what it's intentions are.

This book starts out playfully innocent and slowly swallows your soul with impending doom as the story goes on. As an anxietal human myself that simply LOVES to take on the anxieties of my environment, I would give Malerman an expert rating when it comes to imbuing that brutally dreadful helpless feeling while simultaneously punching you in the face with the feels. This book tore me apart not just with the scares but with the brutal honesty and vulnerability of the characters.

I can genuinely say that parts of this truly freaked me out. The last hour had me spiraling out of control and the last 20 minutes absolutely slayed me!!!!

Read this one if you dare. It is out on shelves now!!

🩶🩶🩶

What are some of your favorite books tropes (any genre)?

I love creepy kids, haunted houses, isolated on a spaceship, and many more!

💚SMASHBOT💚

#joshmalerman #incidentsaroundthehouse #delreybooks #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #bibliophile #booknerd #bookdragon #bookworm #bookreviewer #bookreview #horrorbooks #creepykids

I was looking forward to this one for quite a bit, but didn't seem to get to it until a few weeks after release. I was reading rave reviews in Facebook groups but unfortunately, this one just didn't seem to land for me. Admittedly, unknown entities is not my favorite sub genre of horror but a good story still has the opportunity to keep my attention. This book is about Bela who initially is friends with the "monster in the closet". As time goes on, it's apparent this monster, "other mommy", has an ulterior motive and she won't give up until she gets what she wants. Personally, I just felt like this could have been a novella at most.

WOW, this book was fantastic...
I was shocked at how creepy it was from a kid's perspective.
I think for me it was so creepy (and books don't usually creep me out but it gave me an unsettled feeling) was because it brought back my childhood fears and nightmares.
There was sooo much in this book and the crazy part at the beach with the family was insane BUT I can not really tell you too much bc it would give it all away.
oh and the ending that was not what I was expecting at all.
Not only did eight-year-old Bela have a 'darkness'/spirt (they are not too sure what it is) around her called Other Mommy but she had so much family issues that she was dealing with. We see it from her eyes which was fantastic.

This is def a book you are gonna want to read!!!!

Young Bela lives with her parents and a strange entity named Other Mommy. Other Mommy lives in Bela's closet (apparently) and comes out at night after Bela's parents have put her to bed. At first, Other Mommy is kind and friendly. Bela thinks of her as a friend. Soon, however, Other Mommy begins to ask something of Bela: can she go into her heart? Bela isn't sure what exactly that means, except it seems to have something to do with "carnation" but she is fearful and doesn't answer. Other Mommy begins to get more insistent and to try to persuade Bela that friends help each other out. While Bela is dealing with . . . whatever Other Mommy is, the relationship between her parents is growing more strained. Other Mommy seems to know quite a bit about that situation, too. As Bela continues to refuse Other Mommy's requests, it's not long before she realizes that while Other Mommy might live in the closet, she certainly doesn't have to stay there. Soon, other people get glimpses of what Bela has been seeing, and their horrified reactions and determination to get rid of Other Mommy once and for all put everyone at risk.

I was happy that other people started to see Other Mommy so we were sure that something was going on, and that it wasn't just that little Bela was seeing things. It was interesting to read about how the desperate adults attempted to get rid of the spirit/ghost/demon and how Bela was torn between being afraid while also having some loyalty to her "friend." I'd love to see this made into a film, as I'm sure it would be terrifying!

I honestly thought that I would end up disliking this one based on the first few chapters, and it was all due to the author’s writing style. The sentences are short and simplistic, quotation marks aren’t used for dialogue, and dialogue tags are infrequently used. These are all things that tend to decrease my enjoyment of a book, but the more I read this, the more I found I didn’t mind it here (though there were still times when I wondered who exactly was saying what). Similarly, there are almost no setting descriptions or other details included that I tend to rely on for immersive experiences. However, aside from a few instances where I found myself trying to remember what continent and area this work was set in, I barely noticed. These things ended up working well enough because the narrator is an eight-year-old and it made the narrative voice feel young.

There were a few things that didn’t work well for me. There were many monologues from the adults scattered throughout the book that decreased tension and felt really oddly written, as in not the way that people would talk or things that they would actually say. In many cases it was like they were trying to be so insightful and deep that it felt forced. Another thing I disliked was that we didn’t get to spend much time or depth with the most interesting aspects/characters (especially Grandma) – I would have much rather had more of her and less of the soliloquies.

What I did like was how well the author described Other Mommy, and how that information was slowly released so it kept building up the tension. There were also many instances where the tension was strong, but they felt like they took a backseat to the less interesting aspects (the endless arguments, discussion of mundane activities, details about relocating, etc.).

If you tend to not be bothered by somewhat unapproachable writing styles and are looking for a creepy read, then you should check this one out. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was my FIFTH read by this author. I loved Bird Box, was not a fan of Malorie, and I was middle of road on A House at the Bottom of the Lake and Goblin. This book put me squarely back in the Malerman camp. The Other Mommy was so creepy and the family descending into chaos while also dealing with the entity was so well balanced.

After hearing many positive reviews about how good & scary this was, I was disappointed to find that my personal experience did not reflect the experience so many seemed to have with this story. I'm not the biggest fan of possession stories, but because I've really enjoyed Malerman's writing before and heard good buzz for this story I was excited to give it a go. Unfortunately I didn't find it very entertaining or scary, but otherwise I've heard great reviews so give it a shot if you're interested!

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

Normally I would start this review with something like “this book was so weird!”, but I’ve read a couple of other books by this author, so I was anticipating weird, and I wasn’t disappointed! Narrated by a little girl (I’m guessing around five?) who sees a woman in her room, this was strange, original and to me, darkly humorous in places.

Bela has her Mommy and her Daddo, but as early as she can remember, she’s also had Other Mommy. Other Mommy lives in her closet, and they were the best of friends, playing games together and making each other laugh. But one day, Other Mommy asks Bela a question: “Can I go into your heart?”. When Bela says no, Other Mommy is no longer her friend. Bela knows Other Mommy wants help with her “carnations”, but if she lets Other Mommy into her heart, she has to go where Other Mommy came from. She doesn’t want to do that, and there are…repercussions.

Other Mommy starts getting more scary, and more bold. Soon she’s going anywhere Bela goes, and her parents finally realize something otherworldly is happening. They introduce Bela to Lois, a self-proclaimed old hippie, who affirmed that something is trying to take over Bela. How to stop it though? Burn down the house? Other Mommy can leave it now. Kill her? How do you kill that which is not alive? Have an exorcism? Who would believe them?

The intensity ramps up as the book goes along, and while I’m not sure I cared for the ending, I think it was written well. Prepare for a different writing style if you are new to this author; it may throw you off at first, but eventually I didn’t even notice it. If you like quirky little horror books, this one’s for you! Four stars.

(Thank you to Del Rey, Josh Malerman and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

This was great! It's well written and very atmospheric. It has a really unsettling atmosphere that draws you in. I was invested and wanted to know how it would end. I would highly recommend this! Special Thank You to Josh Malerman, Random House and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Big thanks to NetGalley for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't even know where to begin with this book. I had such high hopes for this to be scary after reading Bird Box but this was not even close to the same. This haunted house story is told from the POV of an eight year old girl. While this makes the story a quick read, I feel like this made it hard to follow and I found myself losing interest very quickly. I will say that the ability of the monster or "entity" to leave the house and follow the family was unique and the descriptions of this monster were creepy. Unfortunately that is not enough for me to want to encourage others to pick this one up.

I have read several Malerman books and though I have a few that I always say are my favorites they've been deranked. This one had me invested in the characters from the beginning. Then you have the sense that dread is coming. What seems to be an ordinary child with an imaginary friends turns into something much more terrifying. You want to help this family but are so helpless as the story goes on. Definitely pick this book up if you haven't yet. It is one that is going to be talked about for a good while!

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I was not disappointed! Josh Malerman knows exactly how to make my skin crawl. While I don't think this book was actually Scary, it was deeply unsettling. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed reading from the POV of a child. I think it worked perfectly for this story. Like always, I enjoyed this Josh Malerman book and I can't wait to read more from him!

I loved last year’s Daphne from this author, so I was really excited for this release! I’m always looking for a horror book that actually makes me feel scared/horrified/unsettled and this book completely delivered. Such a unique story, perspective and chilling atmosphere; there was even an emotional aspect of it that I was not expecting. Highly recommend if you enjoy horror books! 4.5⭐️