This is a chilling story of the monster in the closet from the perspective of a little girl. We don’t really know how old Bela is but she is portrayed as quite young and quite unaware of the meaning of things she hears and observes. I felt some moments of eeriness as the story progressed and we learned more about Bela, the entity haunting her and her family’s efforts to deal with the situation. Overall a fast and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE – by Josh Malerman

‘To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”’

‘Mommy and Daddo leave my room. I pull the covers up to my chin. Other Mommy comes out of the closet.’

Though this book does not tick all the boxes for me, it is a Creepy-Good fright fest.

Thank you, NetGalley and Del Rey (Penguin Random House LLC.), for providing me with an eBook ARC of INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE at the request of an honest review.

This horror book was so unique! Our narrator is 8 year old Bela, and that gave such an interesting point of view. Other Mommy, the creature hiding in Bela’s closet, gave Coraline vibes…until she didn’t because Other Mommy was much creepier. The only issues I had with the book was the pacing of the story. It felt like some things were repetitive, or the story would feel stagnant at certain points. But overall, I really enjoyed the unique perspective, the spookiness of Other Mommy, and watching the ebb and flow of the family dynamic as they tried to save Bela. If you’re a horror or thriller fan, I’d recommend this to you!

It was properly creepy. I feel like this may be the one instance that if it were adapted to screen that it might be better than the book 😬 the child narration was definitely a different POV but overall I enjoyed it.

I devoured this book. It had me hooked from the start. I could have done without so many long winded monologues from the adult characters but I’m still rating 5 stars because I loved everything else.

Incidents Around the House is an intriguing, unsettling and atmospheric read. While the writing is vividly eerie and vividly paints a sense of dread, I found some parts more compelling than others. The atmosphere consistently maintains a creepy tone, but a few pieces felt a bit too slow or lacked the punch I was hoping for. Overall, it’s a decent read for fans of slow burning horror — atmospheric and unsettling, but not consistently thrilling.

This book was mega creepy. I love creepy! I stayed on the edge of my seat the whole time and stayed engaged in the story.

I love sitting in the dark by an open window while reading a good horror story, letting myself feel the creepiness envelop me. It isn’t as easy to find books that give off those vibes anymore, but I found one in this book.

This book was very unique and fun! I loved the child's perspective of the story. Creepy but still such a fun read. I've been commenting to all my other creepy book readers!

This book was VERY enjoyable! Having the book from the child's point of view was very interesting, with everything she did and didn't understand. It was a very interesting look at how a family might actually react to something being in their house and stalking their daughter. The ways they tried to fight against the entity were really interesting, and the climax and conclusion of the book were stunning.

Y’all!! This book? Absolutely unhinged horror brilliance. Josh Malerman reaches into your chest, squeezes, and asks—can he go inside your heart? Because that’s exactly what Other Mommy keeps whispering to eight-year-old Bela… every single day.

Bela’s world should be full of family dinners and grandma hugs—not shadowy entities with way too much interest in her soul. But when “incidents” start happening (and trust me, they’re nightmare fuel), it’s clear Other Mommy is getting impatient. And if Bela doesn’t say yes soon, her family’s safety might be the next thing to vanish.

Malerman masterfully blends childhood innocence with full-throttle dread. The house creaks with menace, the air practically buzzes with tension, and every “Mommy?” might be the last safe one. It’s creepy, clever, and gut-punch emotional.

Fast-paced, skin-prickling, and wholly original, Incidents Around the House is horror with heart—and teeth. Read it with the lights on. And maybe tell your walls to behave.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for this review copy via NetGalley for my honest, voluntary review.

#IncidentsAroundTheHouse #NetGalley #JoshMalerman #HorrorFiction

Did not get to read - have way too many books on the shelf. Need to clear some out. Hope to get to this one in the future though.

Started strong with some genuinely creepy, skin-crawling moments as we learn about “other mommy,” who was easily one of the most disturbing and memorable elements of the book. The atmosphere early on was tense and full of dread, and I think the voice of the little girl worked really well.

What I didn't like were those rambling never-ending monologues the parents were saying when they thought their daughter was asleep. Those pages really took me out of the book and bored me.

That said, Malerman still delivers a unique, unsettling experience, and if you’re into horror that leans more psychological and eerie than gory, it’s definitely worth reading!

This was shockingly bad. I was never scared. Creeped out a bit, sure. But there was nothing scary about this book except how bad it was.

What I liked: I enjoyed the narration from the child's POV (the audiobook was done well), Other Mommy was pretty creepy in the way she was described.

What I didn't like: Just about everything else. Not having quotations around dialogue. The stunted dialogue cause it was from a child's POV. Every adult was awful and failed. The ending? No thanks.

If I hadn't read this as part of my book club, I would have DNFd and looked up spoilers. I was so bored.

**Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing/Del Ray for providing this ebook. All opinions are my own.**

Overall I really liked it!! First I’ve read by this author. So creepy and scary!! Can’t imagine being the child or the parent! There was a part towards the end I thought was unnecessary but that’s just my opinion. Adult subject being discussed with child but minor blip. I did like the conclusion. I will read more by this author! Moving towards my horror ERA

NetGalley review: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman is a creepy thrill ride.

I think that what made it extra creepy for me was it being a horror story written from the pov of an eight year old child. Other mommy gave me the chills. Although I’m not a huge horror fan, there are some horror authors I love (Stephen King mainly), but I’ll be adding Josh Malerman to that list.

If you’re a fan of either ghost stories, possession stories or horror in general, you’ll like this one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of this work. Since it had already come out I was able to also get the audiobook and listen while I read. I have to say that the premise of this book being written from the perspective of the child was very intriguing and the style the book was written in was unique as well.

I spent just two days reading this book as I found myself needing to know more about this family, more about Bela, and then in turn more about the distinction marriage of Ursula and Ross. I felt bad for Ross throughout the book only to understand that it’s rightly so with feeling bad. Nice guys do finish last and that’s all I’ll say about the relationship between the two parents.

I thoroughly enjoyed each time Other Mommy showed up and how she became more and more bold as the book played out. This had great ghost story, monster-like vibes but it wasn’t the best in its execution all the time. You never really know if Other Mommy is at fault or if it’s the imagination that often runs wild, especially in the dark. Lois was a great character addition as she brought some hopeful advice to the couple as did Ruth, the grandmother.

I wanted to say that I loved the ending but I cannot. I figured that’s what had to happen as it was building to it. One of the best aspects of this book, well I should say the audiobook, was the voice actor that read the book. I read many reviews that said the audiobook was terrible and that just isn’t correct. If I were you I would listen rather than read as the voice actor does a superb job.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. I had moments of tense uneasy, so well developed characters, but also so slow points. I understand that the relationship strains were a big part of the book and understanding why this may be happening but I found them to be the weakest.

What a spooky thrill. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Thank you for my copy of this book!!

Incidents around the House was just okay for me. Many people are saying how scary this one was for them, and I'm trying to figure out what exactly scared them, because nothing about the story was scary for me. It almost makes me wonder what exactly is wrong with me for thinking that this was a walk in the park. I found the other mom a little creepy, though. I do kind of wish we got more of her, a bit.

I gave this a four out of five stars.

I really enjoyed reading this, it was a pretty fast read. I felt like I would devour this book every time I sat down to read this.

Even though I guessed the ending of this book I really enjoyed reading this!