Review✨

Me: There is no way Josh Malerman can make a book scary when told through a child's eyes. 


Boy was I wrong. If you enjoy Josh Malerman's other works you will love this. And if you have never read a book by him...read this!! Incidents around the house made me scared to go into my closet 😂. The fact that it's told by a child makes it creepier.  This may be the best horror book of 2024. The fearfulness just builds and builds and builds. Out 6.25.24!


Read this if you like:

-Bird Box or any other of his books

-Supernatural Horror

-A book that will keep you up at night


Thank you #netgalley and @randomhouse for the ARC of this title for my honest review! I loved it and give it 5 🌟

Josh Malerman's Incidents Around the House is a chilling horror novel centered on eight-year-old Bela, who is tormented by a malevolent entity called Other Mommy. As unsettling incidents around her home intensify, Bela realizes her family's safety hinges on her decision to let Other Mommy into her heart. The tension escalates with the cracks in her parents' marriage, adding to the sense of impending doom. Malerman's skillful blend of psychological and supernatural horror creates a haunting and unforgettable tale about a family's struggle against an unrelenting evil.

Title: Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
Publication Date- 06/25/24
Publisher- Del Rey- PRH
Overall Rating- 4.75 out of 5 stars

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure I’ve ever given a 4.75 rating, let me explain. Incidents Around the House is a book that’s so different from anything I’ve ever read. I want to be very careful what I say about the synopsis as there aren’t a lot of reveals so really you should go in knowing as little as possible. This is the story of a family falling apart, the child in the middle of it all and how our parents contribute to and take away our innocence. Almost the whole story is told from the perspective of the child, Bela.

Some warnings for you. This is a horror, some scenes are rather creepy mostly because of the descriptions of how things move and how the entity interacts with the child. She wants to go inside Bela’s heart….. I think not. Anyway, it’s creepy, however, it is VERY slow. This is a slow burn, family story. Everything is predictable, there are not really any twists or turns. Now, here’s the thing, this worked for this story. I really felt seen, none of us have normal families and rather you can relate to this exact experience or not, there will be pieces you feel seen in. Because of the nature of the content and it coming from the child’s perspective it can feel really sad at times so just prepare yourself for this. This isn’t a story you read for the thrill, you read it for the heart and it has a lot of it. There were so many quotes I wrote down and a lot of heartfelt words of wisdom.

The reason I didn’t give this 5 stars is because I wish the child’s perspective was used more intermittently. It was very unique and for the most part, I was fine with it. I just think it would have been a five star for me if there was just a little less. One plus about this book as a whole, is that it is exactly what it says it’s going to be, no more and no less and that’s a bleeping win if you ask me.

All in all I would recommend this book if you like the things I talked about in this review. I am looking forward to reading more from this author and probably will reread this in the future.

I absolutely loved this! I love when horror books follow kids and having the book narrated by the book made this even better. I find Josh Malerman to be hit or miss for me but this one was definitely a hit!

Incidents around the house by Josh Malerman is about a little girl named Bella it’s my best guesstimation she is around seven and lives with her mom and dad who she calls the dumbest name ever “daddo.” For years now little Bella has had a woman who comes out of her closet who she calls other mommy and that first other mommy was friendly made her laugh played games but now she wants something from Bella but the little girl cannot make sense of it and that scares her. It seems the more Bella refuses to do this one request the stronger other mommy gets and eventually she will be seen by others. When this happens mommy and Daddo have no idea what to do… I mean who would? The mom is a mess both parents drink too much they smoke pot in front of their daughter they have wild parties where they get so drunk they now hire Calvin a teenager to babysit little Bella who is the only child at the party and who they get to dance to entertain their friends. It is wind Bella‘s mom sees other mommy that they leave the home and unintentionally ruin friendships in an effort to try and figure out what to do. They should’ve listen to grandma from the beginning. This book was OK it wasn’t scary the ending was a letdown in my opinion but for a book whose main character is a little girl I think the author did a pretty good job I didn’t get all the heart the heart and expounding of such deep life contemplating situational talks with Bella by mainly her dad but seemingly every adult in her life and they were a lot of them but I would be lying if I said the book didn’t keep me interested because the dead head I known it was going to end like that I probably would’ve given it a miss because I have so many other great books with awesome endings I just felt like the ending was a total letdown. I would still recommend the book because as I said it is definitely an interesting read and one eye initially didn’t know how the author was going to keep up the momentum with the child as the narrator but he certainly did. If not for that ending I probably would’ve given it five stars. I want to thank random house Valentine for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

What in the world did I just read? That was an INCREDIBLE read! I’m going to be honest when I say I was a little intimidated by the writing style. But I’m so glad I stuck through it. This book gave me the heebie jeebies for sure! And it’s hard to find one that will anymore! Thank you NetGalley for this amazing ARC!

Josh Malerman is a very popular author and for good reason. Although it was a bit odd for the story to be told from the eyes of an 8 year old, he did a good job. I got some nostaligia as i read a lot of haunted house books growing up and it gave me flashes back to those good times.

This book is creepy as heck. This book is also freaking fantastic.

I had a bad experience with my last Malerman book, which was Daphne. I didn’t like it at all. I ended up DNF-ing it. I ended up wanting to read this one mostly because I couldn’t stop thinking about the cover. It’s a brilliant cover that evokes these feelings of childhood, innocence, being so small around large things, being defenseless against the dark, abandonment, and of feeling isolated. I just couldn’t get it out of my head: “What is that book about?”

Well, the cover does a good job of conveying a lot of what the book’s themes are, actually (so A+ to the cover designer!). I never had a closet growing up, so I don’t know what it’s like to fear the monster in the closet, but Malerman could’ve made the “monster in the closet” any number of things and gotten the message across because the monster is just a very large metaphor (for lack of a better word right now) for the culmination of just about everything that’s happened to everyone in this book. (If I went any further it’d be Spoiler City and I don’t want to live there).

When I tell you this book is fantastic, I’m telling you I think this is the best horror novel I’ve read so far this year, and that’s saying something because it’s really been a great year for horror already. Not only does it fall outside the traditional narrative structure, which sets it apart in a unique but not-annoying way, but it’s told from the POV of a child that comes across as genuinely lost, frightened, and never comes across as precocious. A lot of the horror in this novel felt like it was being generated directly from how sad and helpless this child felt. How cruel it all felt.

It’s set at a great pace, is unbelievably suspenseful and unpredictable, and honestly left me a bit shook. I can’t recommend it enough.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Ghost Fiction/Horror/Paranormal Horror/Suspense Thriller

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for sending me an arc. All opinions are mine.

We follow Bela as she struggles with Other Mommy scaring her and asking her the same question repeatedly. Of course, that can’t be the only issue in Bela’s life. Her family is completely dysfunctional. Mom has major commitment issues and Dad just sits back and watches the show. When things start to take a turn for the worst, family life begins to crumble.

While I know this story is told from the perspective of an eight year old girl, it felt like she was a lot younger for most of the book. I found that I did not care one bit for any of the characters or what happened to them.

I wanted to love this book. I thought the premise was cool and could have several directions in which to take to make this book scary. However, it fell flat to me. The whole story was repetitive, written like a five year old was telling it, and just not my cup of tea.

I could not finish this book. The storyline was interesting but I couldn’t get past the narrator being the child. I got about 40% and couldn’t read anymore.

It feels good to be back in the Samhatten-Goblin universe, but unfortunately, I’m disappointed. Three stars for the following reasons: surprising nobody; Josh Malerman can describe a monster/ghost/demon. There were parts that, even though I was reading in broad daylight, scared me. For two days I thought I saw and heard Other Mommy everywhere. For most of the book, JM works in lessons and morals without being preachy. Daddo and the grandmother are likable. Even among the unlikely characters, they are all somewhat relatable. Why I removed two stars: it got a little preachy, tedious, and drawn out at the end. At its core, the book is about being grateful, honest, loyal, and most importantly; protective of important relationships. I got that with the name of the monster. I also don’t think the title speaks to what the book is about or even the storyline. Like “Pearl”, I think this book will be re-released with a new title. About halfway through I felt dragged along and just wanted it to end. It really reminded me of the movie “It Follows.” I’m still a JM fan, but this was not my favorite.

Incidents Around the House was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. As a Josh Malerman fan I was so excited to pick up his newest novel. I loved so much about this book and disliked so much at the same time.

I had a hard time getting into the book at first because it’s written from a child's perspective. I found that easier to get over the more I read and got into the flow of the story. So many parts of this book genuinely scared the shit out of me. As a mother I could not imagine having my children go through the things Bela did. Other Mommy is so terrifying and was written so well I would literally get goosebumps reading about her interactions with Bela. But at the halfway point the story started to fall off for me. It became more of a family drama than a horror in the end. I do believe the final scene saved it for me but I was still left wanting a bit more. That being said it takes a lot to scare me in a book and Josh pulled it off so well I will probably never forget Other Mommy. And that is why he will continue to be a favorite author of mine.
3.5/5 Stars

Thank you so much to Delrey and Natgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book is SCARY and I don’t say that lightly.
Other Mommy is SCARY.
The book is told from the viewpoint of eight year old Bela and it is SCARY. This will probably be the scariest book you will read all year.

Malerman hits every note just right and nails it! I flew through this book, couldn’t put it down, and it was SCARY. And I don’t scare easily. I went in blind and am so glad I did. I was just as scared by the adults self-centeredness and helplessness as I was by Other Mommy. It took a minute to get used to the format, with the story coming solely from Bela’s viewpoint, but I thought the parents’ monologues to Bela worked and added to the overall tension.

I think we will be hearing and seeing a lot about this book. This was my first Malerman book and it definitely won’t be my last! Thank you to @joshmalerman @delreybooks @randomhouse and @netgalley for the eARC of this excellent book. I loved every second of it!

Incidents Around the House is a new horror book that follows a young girl who is haunted by some being called Other Mommy. This being wants to go into Bella’s heart and take her body basically.

I am definitely the minority for this one. Some many people have loved this one but unfortunately for me it fell flat.

I thought the premise was interesting and I liked how quick paced this was. There was a lot of dialogue so it made the reading go quick.

I did not like having a child narrator for an adult book. It just was disconnected for me and it just annoyed me. The “big” reveal at the end was just dumb to me and was more a family drama than anything. I don’t feel like this was particularly scary, to me at least.

I loved Malerman’s Daphne and I know a lot of people didn’t; a lot of people loved this one and I didn’t. I think I just have different horror taste than most. Don’t let my review deter you from trying this though since so many others loved it!

Thanks so much to netgalley and Random House for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Holy fuck that was the worst thing I've ever read, edging out We Can Never Leave This Place. The nausea and dread LaRocca can only create with gross-out gore was done here with terrifying pacing, the perfect narrative voice, and the regular, normal horror of bad parents fucking up their kids. The most remarkable element is that there aren't any big reveals about the supernatural or any supernatural twists, it's a totally honest book and everything spooky happening is exactly what it seems. The ghost isn't a metaphor, there's not much worldbuilding, the only shoe that drops is a real life terrible thing, and somehow both the ghost and the real life horror are equally gut wrenching. I kept thinking the climax had happened because ultimately everyone knows Bela is telling the truth and it's uncontested that there is a physical haunting, but the ghost, as scary as it is, is almost a red herring distracting you from the real misery of childhood powerlessness and the casual cruelty of selfish parents that constitute the actual narrative arc. Devastating, never want to read it again, I won't be having children, five miserable stars.

My thanks to Random House/Ballantine, Josh Malerman and Netgalley.
O.K. So, maybe now I know that Malerman and I will seldom get along. Matter of fact, I have decided that I'm totally fucking done with his stupid bullshit stories.
Since Bird box I've been reading his shit and I'm mostly disappointed. This was it for me. I'm finally done with his fucking regurgitated crap! Fuck him, and his very limited imagination.

Between 3.5-4
I was a little wary going into this because the dialogue doesn't have quotation marks, but the formatting and the narration made it work. It felt like you really were seeing things from the perspective of an 8-year-old, but in a very realistic way, which is super rare for me. I'm also not someone who scares easy, and this book had me on edge the whole time. I didn't love the ending, but I can see why it happened

Hauntings and possessions are quite honestly my most favorite horror ever, second being grief. This has a lot of the first two and a smidge of grief and has instantly become my favorite Malerman novel yet!

It takes a while to adjust to the writing format on this one, but after I got used to it, I couldn’t peel myself away from it. It’s the perfect read for nighttime after it’s all quiet and settled in your home, if you’re a weirdo like me. The ending on this one is pretty sad, with the loss of a child’s innocence breaking my heart. It definitely had my heart racing at times. I think it would do well as a movie too, so fingers crossed on that aspect. Many thanks to Random House, Ballantine and Del Rey for my eARC. Incidents Around the House publishes 6/25 and is a must read in my humble opinion.

I love horror novels, but the format generally struggles to generate fear at a level equal to film. Sure, authors can conjure up enough suspense to keep readers turning pages well into the night, but rarely are they able to actually scare anyone. Instead, the genre often resorts to extreme violence or other shocking imagery to elicit a reaction, a problem that can also plague horror movies but seems to be more easily avoided there. So, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the latest from Bird Box author Josh Malerman, Incidents Around the House, uses a clever conceit to create a compellingly creepy atmosphere that completely avoids blood and gore.

The story is told from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl named Bela who has begun seeing a figure she refers to as Second Mommy in her closet at night. Her real Mommy and Daddo (as she calls them) have a relationship that oscillates between happily adoring and severely strained, the latter of which they incorrectly think Bela doesn’t notice.

Bela doesn’t have many friends and so she is at first happy to talk to Second Mommy despite her unusual features. As Second Mommy begins asking Bela to let her “into her heart” and appearing in more and more places, Bela finds herself becoming fearful of her and finally decides to tell her parents. Mommy and Daddo are of course skeptical about Second Mommy’s existence, until the being, whatever she is, begins to more forcefully insert herself into Bela’s life and ultimately becomes undeniably real, at which point they resolve to protect their daughter by any means necessary.

Telling the story from the perspective of someone so ostensibly innocent and naive to the ways of the adult world as they struggle to make sense of the events around them, both of the domestic and supernatural variety, is a genius move. It really helps the reader to build up preternaturally high levels of sympathy for the main character and therefore care very deeply for their well-being and better understand the reasoning behind some of her more questionable decisions. Equally smart was the decision to avoid describing Other Mommy in much detail. Some elements of the entity’s appearance are doled out gradually throughout the novel at key moments, but even then, much of Other Mommy is left to our imaginations, allowing us to insert our own worst nightmares upon her.

This book had me legitimately frightened several times as I tore through its pages well into the night. It should newly refresh a fear of the dark for many readers and will likely have them looking askance at their closets and jumping at minor sounds as well. Incidents Around the House is easily the scariest book I’ve read in years, and with its deeper conversations around growing up, innocence, and the very nature of fear, it’s also one of 2024’s better novels in any genre.

Written for AFPLJournal.com

I was so excited to read this story and it did not disappoint! It was such a unique take on a horror story, it was the first I've read from the perspective of the child. The whole story was creepy and this was due to supernatural elements and domestic, personally I find domestic plot points just as terrifying as the supernatural so this story really held the creep factor throughout the entire novel. My only issue with this story was that the girl, Bela, was 8 but she didn't seem to be an 8 year old, with her mannerisms and the way she spoke or thought she came across to me as much younger. Other than that I really enjoyed the story, and I would recommend.