Incidents Around the House is a psychological horror book following a young girl named Bela and her parents Ursula and Russ. The horror elements come in the form of an entity called the “other mommy”, who has attached itself to Bela and wants her to “open her heart”. I had a lot of fun with this book and the familial drama that was slowly revealed throughout, I found both the parents to be unlikable for different reasons and I just felt bad for Bela in this situation. The writing is very unique as it’s told through a child pov (which can be hit or miss for me personally), but the way it was done here was actually clever in conveying this sort of innocent lens to experience the book through. I think the ending was very fitting and I enjoyed the added side characters too.

Ahhh!! Other Mommy gave me nightmares!! Josh Malerman is SO good at a creature feature and Incidents Around the House is no exception.

Ahh!!! Terrifying! Carnations??? I will never look at those flowers the same again. Told from the perspective of eight-year old Bella, I had my doubts. How well can a child convey fear? Turns out, really, really well if it's written by Josh Malerman. I made the mistake of reading most of this at night, in the basement, with the lights off and I love every terrifying second! Thank you for the ARC! I'll be buying a physical copy to share with my friend.

fantastic and spooky horror. i was in as soon as i elarned it was malerman, and the pov just added SO MUCH to the whole thing. thanks for the arc.

First of all, I've read every one of Malerman's books.

THIS IS THE BEST ONE.

Genuinely creepy. You can bank on this one being on all of the horror ballots next year.

Malerman is such a great writer. His books are an automatic read for me. This one was very entertaining,coming from a child's POV. Creepy. Just wanted it longer

This was the creepiest book I think I ever read. Having it told from the child's perspective is a whole new level of unsettling. Something living in the closet, is what will give bad dreams. I sure had to read this in the daylight. This is the first book I read by Josh Malerman but I am sure going to be checking out his back list. A total feel of dread while reading. What a quick, spooky read! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this e-arc
4.5 stars

4.5 ⭐️

What the fuck did I just read…I haven’t been this unsettled and disturbed in a minute. There was no moment during this fast paced read that my heart wasn’t racing.

Josh Malerman does horror right. I don’t understand how he thinks of these plots, but my heart is so happy that he does. I love a horror book that actually freaks me out.

This book is not going to be for everyone. If you enjoy being uncomfortable, disturbed and a bit creeped out, pick this one up when it’s released!

This book follows a family whose daughter is being haunted by a semester being. The plot is mostly from the little girls POV, so keep that in mind as well.

I was so captivated by what was happened and how they’re going to make this mess go away, that I read this in one sitting. This on is a “can’t walk away, can’t put it down” kind of read. And honestly, maybe not one to read before bed. This one will be with me for a very long time!!

My only complain is Malerman left me with so many damn questions! The last chapter was absolutely nuts. My jaw was on the floor. My god. I want to reread this book like I never read it yet. Jealous for everyone to experience it!

I’m so thankful that Natgalley, penguins random house and Josh Malerman for the opportunity to read this ARC early. I will definitely be recommending this to my horror lovers.

Release date is June 25th! Mark your calendars. You don’t want to miss this!

Very fun, cinematic thriller. The child POV gives a new spin to the haunted house story. I couldn't finish it fast enough.

Wow. This was a quick, creepy read. I absolutely could not put it down and if it were to be optioned for a film it would be terrifying! It was interesting reading from Bela's young point of view. Definitely made things seem scarier when you are reading through a child's eyes.

Definitely recommend checking this out when it's released. Will be one to buy for my collection.

This book had me freaked out from the beginning. Something living in the closet that comes out and talks to a child, keeps wanting to “be let into her heart”. I find the fact that the pov was that of a child made it even more disturbing. We see videos and hear stories of kids talking to people no one else sees and it’s always shrugged off at spooky but nothing. This books is a prime example of what it is when it’s not nothing. Josh Malerman has a knack for writing books that make you sit on the edge of you seat, and this book was no different. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wow! I have not been this thoroughly creeped out by a book in a while. I made the “mistake” of reading this at night, in the dark, on my kindle and had to make myself not think about other mommy while trying to go to sleep because I was frightened! There were some long monologues from different characters that dragged on and lost my interest at times. And it took a bit of adjustment to get into the voice of a young child but once I did it really added to the store and the creepy factor. Really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend!

Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this amazing ARC!
Incidents Around the House began with a bang and had me hooked within the first couple of pages. I told a friend of mine who had just finished an ARC copy of this himself, “Well, Malerman got off to a creepy start!” And his reply was “And it doesn’t let up!” He was so right. I couldn’t put this down; I read it in two days. Two days! I don’t read books in two days! The characters were well-developed and flawed, just like I like them. And being a child of the 1980s, the character Lois Anderson looked just like Beatrice Straight from Poltergeist in my mind’s eye. The pacing was good and the tension was palpable and ever-present throughout the book. The concept of being “followed” by (insert spooky entity of choice here) has always been terrifying to me. This story grabs this concept and runs with it. Fantastic creep-factor and without spoiling anything, middle-of-the-night bathroom trips will never be the same for me. And if I ever see any skinny, hairy dogs from a distance on the beach, I’m out of there.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. This book was terrifying! It made me put on my lamp more than once to look in my closet!

This was a unique take on a haunted house/demonic possession book because it was told from the child's point of view which made in more terrifying because of the innocence of the character.

The only thing that bothered me were the parents. They were the worst but that's part of the storyline!

I recommend for a quick, spooky read. Good luck sleeping after reading this one!

I could have finished this book last night, but I had to stop because it was late at night and it was scaring the fu … uh, crap out of me. I actually did a marathon read of the remainder this morning so that I wouldn't have to read it past bedtime again. So, yeah, I guess that's pretty high praise for a horror novel? And I'm not one who usually gets super freaked out over what I read, either. It's kind of like an adult version of Coraline, except way, way scarier.

Honestly, I started out thinking that I wasn't going to like this book much. I'm not generally a huge fan of novels narrated by young children, and the narration this one just seemed extra juvenile. There's also no quotation marks around the dialogue, which is something that normally drives me bonkers. By the time I was several chapters in, however, I was completely hooked. There's just something so very, very creepy about a child casually talking about such utterly terrifying events. And somehow the lack of quotation marks just adds to the creepiness of it? I have no idea why, but it does.

And this book is definitely terrifying. I'm a middle-aged adult woman and I couldn't handle reading it in the dark. I know I've already compared it to Coraline, but it could probably be more accurately described as Coraline meets Paranormal Activity. There are short bouts of terror followed by lots of panicked “Oh, shit, what was that and what do we do about it?” And Other Mommy is just so freaking creepy – she makes the demon from Paranormal Activity look like a fluffy (but admittedly menacing) kitten.

I have to say, though, that I did kind of see the ending coming. I mean, not the exact circumstances, of course, but the last few pages of this story weren't exactly a huge surprise. That's not to say that they weren't scary, because they were. I just think it's the only way that this book could have ended, really.

My overall rating: 4.8 stars, rounded up. Incidents Around the House is perhaps one of the scariest horror novels I've read since Stephen King's The Tommyknockers in the late 80s.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.

What does scary mean to you? Is it gore, is it a phobia, is it something concocted in the depths of your psyche, to try and translate words into a mental visual?

Josh Malerman, with his newest novel Incidents Around the House, does his best to show us what he thinks is scary, and without spoiling anything, he’s crafted one of the most genuinely unsettling novels I’ve read in recent memory. Tackling a novel from the perspective of a child is a bold strategy, as seen with the polarizing Room by Emma Donoghue, a book that was brought down by an insufferable 5 year old narrator. With this novel, Malerman utilizes the experiences and life from the perspective of a slightly older girl, by the name of Bela. What is it that Bela lets us readers in on? Just a little secret that she’s being visited by an “entity” known solely as “Other Mommy,” who simply wants to know if Bela will let her into her heart.

Only, before long, it’s not just Bela that finds herself haunted, it’s those around Bela. Malerman, in creating Other Mommy, has done what few are capable of doing in mainstream horror, and that’s taking something as simple as an unwanted entity and making every occurrence a genuine horror show, from his descriptions of her appearance, to her actions, to the very places she ends up making an appearance. He allows our imaginations to run wild with thoughts of how Other Mommy looks, how we would approach situations that occur in the book, questions of innocence and evil, a veritable bevy of emotions that flow from the reader as the book gets more and more intense the longer it goes. And by the end of it, as readers, we are jumping at every creak, every sound that seems out of place, uneasy just based on this fictional entity because Malerman has given us this horror from the perspective of an innocent child, who tells us, in real time, how her life, and the lives of her family, are changing with this invasion.

It’s rare that a horror novel can prove to be unsettling to the point of genuine terror at times, what with everyday horrors experienced and the sheer volume of horror novels published up to this point. But, in brilliant fashion, Josh Malerman, with Incidents Around the House, has shown that an idea doesn’t have to be new or never experienced to be scary: it just needs to be done the right way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC of Incidents Around the House!

Definitely a 4.5 for me!! This book gripped me from the start and never let go! The story is told from a child’s POV, which at times is hard to follow, but other times it's so terrifyingly good! I had to read with the lights on, as Other Mommy scared the beejezus out of me! Definite must read for spooky fans! Think haunting/demonic possession meets child narrator! So good!

Thank you Net Gallry for this ARC!

I’m afraid I might say yes.

I’m afraid that one day I’ll be reading a book by Josh Malerman and the words on the page will be interrupted by a voice asking me

“Can I come into your heart?”

I’m afraid I’ll say yes.

Afraid.

After all, that’s where they live. Why not let them in when they ask? They’ll only come a knockin’ again and again, knocking so many times they wear down the surface until eventually a crack becomes a tear becomes a hole becomes an entrance. 

There’s no keeping stories out. Our hearts are their homes. 

Is that good? Or, bad?

Who’s to say?

But

It’s how it is, how it’s always been, and how it always will be. 

Stories help us survive. They make us stronger and, hopefully, kinder. And there’s none more important than holding onto kindness and giving it, freely, to others, to the world. 

Malerman, again and again and again, shows us the love amidst the horror.

Incidents Around the House is a story about the incidents around all our houses and in all our homes. 

It’s sometimes scary, sometimes anxious, sometimes panicked, sometimes fearful, sometimes horrified, and sometimes beautiful and full of wondrous love and kindness. 

And so I let it into my heart, where it can freely stay.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced copy of Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman. Bella is a young girl who is visited by a ghost/creature who says her name is Other Mommy and that she wants Bella to reincarnate her. When I started the book it intrigued me and I wanted to read more. It was a bit repetitive in the middle and the ending fell flat to me. Having the story told from the child’s perspective was great and made the story much scarier.

This book was absolutely batshit crazy. Your standard haunted house/demonic possession book but told from the child's point of view. I was terrified the entire time.

The only reason I didn't rate higher was the child's parents drove me insane. They were the worst and I honestly didn't care if they survived.

I recommend for a quick, spooky read👹

Read if you love:
✔️Haunted house/possession
✔️A child's POV
✔️Paranormal Activity vibes
✔️Creepy creepy horrible things
✔️"Other Mommy"