I’ve been getting better at reading horror, something I’d avoided for most of my life, and didn’t think that I’d been creeped out by this one. Then one night I found myself needing to put the light on to go upstairs, and looking at a closet with suspicion. It turned out that Other Mommy had managed to get under my skin after all.

I found the use of form in this novel to be an intriguing one. There is an author’s note at the front of the book explaining that “the unique format of the novel is intentional: left-justified for narration/action, indentation for dialogue, with spaces between. All in the name of perspective: This story is told by a child.” I admire Malerman for his bold choices here. I’m not sure that the layout enhanced my understanding of the perspective, but it did help to immerse me in the immediacy of the scenes and the lack of narrative commentary allows the reader to interpret the events themselves more readily. Bella sees what she sees, and takes a great deal of this at face value. It’s the adults who, like the reader, must interpret the events as problematic and find a solution

Whilst the simple reporting of dialogue may lead to details reading like a factual recount in the hands of some authors. Malerman’s dialogue often has a steady calmness to it and is at times rather rhythmic. So, you have this little kid recounting horrific scenes as though they are as strange as someone brushing their teeth, the reader’s mind asking all the relevant questions and filling in the gaps, and this lyrical soothing tone pushing you through it all. It won’t be for everyone, but personally, I found the style to be refreshing and rather compelling.

Some of the action is rather repetitive, and I found myself getting frustrated with Bela’s parents on more than one occasion. However, I found this to be a fast-paced read with the author avoiding many of the possible cliched scenarios. There are plenty of original features in this novel to make it a worthwhile read for fans of horror.


Thank you to Pan MacMillan, Josh Malerman and NetGalley UK for an ARC of ‘Incidents Around the House’ in return for my honest review.

The concept for this novel is intriguing, unfortunately the execution of it...well let's just say not so much.

Told by Bela who is 8 this suffers from the fact that anyone who's ever had an 8 year old child will not be able to relate at all. I can't speak to the authors experience but I could guess. Also Bela's parents are, well, prone to pontificating rather than advancing the story. The entire thing was uber repetitive and honestly I only finished it to see if there was anything unpredictable at the end. Spoiler: there isn't.

As for being scary, no. Well OK the parents are scary but that's an entirely different thing. I remain disappointed because it promised so much. Apologies to the author but this wasn't for me at all

An adult seeing the world through a child’s eyes again can be wonderful. A reminder of the joys of discovery, innocence and then there is just the occasional weird level of association they make that can confuse anyone but themselves. But also when we see what a child sees we as adults can recognise when things aren’t quite what they appear we may see dangers a child cannot or themes children are many years from fully understanding. In Josh Malerman’s very interesting horror novel Incidents Around The House we follow a young child whose imaginary friend is now terrorising her but soon many others will feel it’s presence.

Bela is eight, she loved to dance, playing with Mommy and Daddy but is getting worried about Other Mommy. Other Mommy used to love in the closet but has taken to getting closer and closer to Bela in her bed. Talking to her and now is very insistent about being allowed into Bela’s heart. It may finally be time for Bela to tell her parents but will they believe her? Will Other Mommy get mad at her.

Overall I was very interested in this story. Malerman ably makes the challenge of taking a horror story and telling it through a young child’s eyes. The voice of Bela really sells the story as she dwells very much a real chapter filled with the joys, questions and puzzlement of a child. She delights in the love of her parents, being able to show off dances at a party or slight puzzlement at her dad and his friends smoking and getting very giddy outside. As the reader we get to put these experiences together with our own knowledge and just as much and we put the fun pieces of childhood together we then start to see the darkness Bela is only suspecting.

Other Mommy is a worrying force in the book. Bela dangles clues such as black hairs on her arms and a face where the eyes are on the hands. Is this a nightmare or something else - as you may guess from it’s something else and her intense interest in Bela is increasingly disturbing. We get an early puzzle as to why Other Mommy wants a carnation and the explanation for that is ingenious and chilling. Other Mommy is a possessive entity that can mimic others and we also see starts to leave Bela’s bedroom and I’d capable of some much more horrific acts as the story develops.

Child pursued by monster is bad enough but the other theme is the chilling realisation that a child can have that your parents are not godlike superheroes that are both perfect and can make bad things stop. As we get to know Bela’s Mommy and Daddy we start to see the behaviours a child wouldn’t recognise and also the conversations that suggest they are not quite the happy family Bela knows. It’s not the best time to learn that monsters are real and the latter half of the story is these three characters out of their depth and trying to stay together as a family. Malerman makes us feel the increasing desperation and pressure the family tries to survive hour by hour where even a trip to a bathroom can become something truly horrific. Other Mommy also seems to know this family and uses it to her advantage in how to hurt them. The malevolence builds and builds very powerfully. The family are just stuck with fiends and family trying to support and the vagaries of who you can find on Google which really underlines how bad things are getting for them.

For me the main issue I had was the ending. There are in some ways two. The one I liked is where a ‘cure’ appears that really echoes that theme of finding out your parents are human. It’s bold, cuts deep and really makes an impact. If the story had left it there I think while it could be lowkey the emotional impact it leaves packed a punch. Instead Malerman returns back to a much more traditional spectacle of a horror tale ending which while done well is still ultimately heavily signposted and actually just feels for me a bit obvious and lacking the impact the other option could have delivered.

Incidents Around The House is a broadly inventive story that’s used its main viewpoints really well and puttered in an interesting position of not just a witness but also an interpreter of events. Its exploration of how children see parents is very well handled and bar that ending was a very enjoyable spooky tale. Highly recommended!

For eight-year-old Bela her family is her whole world, but as well as Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth there is Other Mommy, an entity that asks Bela every day “can I go inside your heart?”
When incidents start occurring around the house Bela realises that Other Mommy is getting restless and wants an answer to her question, Bela will need her family to help her defeat Other Mommy but that family is starting to fall apart.

When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must pay.
Telling the story from Bela’s point of view had the potential to be interesting but although she is supposed to be 8 years old due to the way the character is written she come across as much younger.

i'm afraid this wasn't for me, i gave it to 20% but i couldn't get into it. please note that as i didn't finish the book i didn't leave any reviews on any other platforn

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book and absolutely loved the horror vibes right from the start. The opening line, "Mommy and Daddy leave my room. Other Mommy comes out of the closet." instantly set the tone—eerie, unsettling, and full of dread. The cover with the bunny in the dark? Spot on. It perfectly captures the atmosphere of childlike fear and helplessness.

The story is told entirely from the perspective of a child, and while that’s a clever and unique choice—bringing a raw vulnerability and sense of powerlessness—I unfortunately just couldn’t connect with the voice or language. The narration felt too distant for me to really sink into the story, and ultimately, I had to DNF it.

That said, I fully recognize what Malerman was going for. Writing horror through a child’s lens is brilliant in theory, because the world becomes scarier when you don’t fully understand it. And for readers who can click with the narration style, I imagine this could be a truly chilling and immersive experience.

Verdict: Not the right fit for me, but a creative concept with some seriously creepy moments. Worth trying if you enjoy unconventional storytelling and don’t mind a child’s voice guiding you through the dark.

Severely disappointed with this one.
Essentially a long slow marital drama more than anything. Daddo is weak and Mommy is a terrible person, both of whom unload their troubles onto their daughter when they think she's asleep- a bizarre way to get the story across.
Bela is supposed to be 8 yet behaves and talks like a 4 year old with occasional thoughts and actions of a child much older, there's zero consistency.
I don't understand why so many people find Other Mommy terrifying either. The ending was dull. I may have enjoyed this as a short story but as a novel it was a waste of valuable reading time.

I've heard so many people raving about this book, recommending to not read it at night because it's so scary, with lots of praise for the unique perspective. And I get some of that praise for sure. I was really intrigued when I heard that this is written from the perspective of an eight year old girl haunted by a being she calls Other Mommy that once just lurked in her closet but seems to be getting stronger and closer every day. Sounds wonderfully scary, really.
And <i>Incidents Around the House</i> had its scary moments! I liked Other Mommy as the scary creature we can't figure out. I also initially liked Bela's perspective.
But in the end, I felt like Bela was written too young (would have guessed she was way younger than 8 at times) and the writing style did kind of start grating on me. All the adults have these huge one-sided conversations with her when they think she's asleep, which very much felt like a cheap cop-out to get some information across while not leaving the perspective of the little child. The adults were mostly annoying and made terrible choices, and I was a little underwhelmed by the ending, too.

Still, the atmosphere, the unique perspective and the mystery made this a fun enough read to warrant 2,5 stars, rounding up because I'm feeling nice but also because I like it when authors try something new.

Absolutely terrifying in the best way! I genuinely couldn’t stop reading but I had to at some points! Kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Incidents Around the House is the kind of horror that grips you from the start and leaves you genuinely spooked. Josh Malerman masterfully builds tension, creating an atmosphere of dread that keeps you hooked.

When I first realized the story would be told from the perspective of an eight-year-old, I wasn’t sure how it would work for me. But Malerman nailed it. Her innocence and childlike view of the terrifying events unfolding around her really amplify the horror, making it all the more unsettling.

The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is that some parts felt a little repetitive. Additionally, I wasn’t a big fan of the lengthy monologues.

However, the ending more than made up for it. I wasn’t sure where the story would go, but it stayed true to the tone of the book while offering a satisfying, though chilling, conclusion.

I finished Incidents Around the House in less than 24 hours, and it lingered in my mind for days afterward. It’s a solid read for anyone who enjoys psychological horror with a deeply unsettling atmosphere.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I struggled with the lack of speech marks which unfortunately affected the flow of the book for me not always easily knowing who was talking and unfortunately I just couldn't seem to get past that throughout the book.

The POV from 8 year old Bela did work for me though as it added to the innocence and atmosphere around her fear of Other Mommy and the contradiction of both wanting to be her friend and wanting to be rid of her as well.

I can definitely see this as a Netflix production

Incidents Around the House was an eerie, unsettling read. There were genuine moments which scared me, and that is an uncommon occurrence for me.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the story being told from the child’s point of view, but it worked brilliantly, and made it all the more tragic. I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a love of horror, or anyone who wants to be scared.

Firstly this book is told by our main character Bela who is eight years old so the dialogue may not be for everyone. That being said I found it makes it a quick read, although horror is not my usual go to genre.

Bela tells her Mommy, Daddo and grandma Ruth about “other mommy”, other mommy comes out of Belas closet at night and keeps asking Bela if she can go into her heart. Obviously her parents think this is all imagination until they witness it themselves.

Unfortunately this just wasn’t for me, although I don’t tend to read horrors very often I was expecting a lot more as it was so hyped up on my book group pages, but I’m probably not the best judge as I wouldn’t normally read this genre. It was just flat throughout for me. I like a book that has suspense and tension and has my mind wandering what will happen next.

2.5 rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

“Mommy and Daddo leave my room.
I pull the covers to my chin.
Other Mommy comes out of the closet.”

Right from that creepy opening page, I was hooked. The formatting and narrative style instantly drew me in, with Malerman really capturing the voice of the young narrator, Bela. It's a great example of how first person narration can be used intetionally to enhance the story. It's simple, eerie, and totally effective.

By experiencing things through the lens of a child, we’re not just watching a haunting unfold. Instead, the events are filtered through a mind that doesn’t fully understand what’s happening which adds an extra layer of tension throughout.

This also gives us access to the things Bela notices about the adults around them, for example we realise early on that her mother is hiding a certain secret purely from the things Bella notices—but she doesn't quite understand the significance of her observations, allowing us as readers to put things together ourselves. It really adds to our involvement in and understanding of the story, while maintaining the protagonists naive sense of the world.

If you liked Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak which is another favourite horror of mine, then you'll probably like this one. It might just be because both stories center a hauntings and young kids, but they also share that similar creeping dread that just builds and builds.

Incidents is also one of those stories that has a lot more depth beneath the scares than you'd expect. Despite starting off as what could have been a pretty typical haunted house story, Incidents veers into something much more original and truly sinister, grappling with themes of family dysfunction and the cost of the secrets we harbour.

Oh wow was this creepy and did it play on my mind long after I finished it! It was fast paced and had me hooked the whole time with plenty of horror movie type scares along the way!

Incidents Around the House is a completely new genre to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This novel is so very different to what I normally read and I was slightly dubious when I started but from the first page I was intrigued and hooked.

We meet and hear Bela's story and it is a scary one to say the least. She lives with her parents but she also has another Mom, known as Other Mommy.

The Other Mommy is an evil existence within the house and wants Bela for herself. When strange and very weird things start happening within the home, Bela has to realise what is happening with the Other Mommy and try and save her family she loves.

I was super scared whilst reading this novel, do not read just before bed that is for sure.

Thanks to Netgalley, Josh Malerman and the author for allowing me an ARC in exchange for this haunting book that will stay with me for a good while yet.

Okay, so, I truly loved this. It was amazing.

I LOVED the perspective, I rarely read books from a child’s perspective as frequently, they're children’s books. Reading this story, the use of Bella’s perspective is gripping, and I don’t think that there’s anything that would improve this - in fact, changing perspective would detract from the story.

This was really interesting. I’m kind of devastated by the end of it, but the plot was intriguing, the characters were fascinating - none more than Bella.

I was not expecting this one to freak me out as much as it did.
I've been hearing about this one from American readers since the release but us UK horror fans have had to wait... and it was worth it.
There is something about your parents actually not being able to make everything better that's actually completely terrifying - and this book completely nails that. As well as the big bad being alarming as hell, and the child main characters complex relationship with it... brilliant.

I loved the first 3/4 of this book but that last part just wasn't for me. It was very creepy, other mommy was fantastic and I'd have liked more of her haunting. The parents were terrible people.

Thank you Netgalley. Josh Malerman and Pan Macmillan | Tor Nightfire for the eArc of Incidents Around the House.

Having loved Birdbox by the same author and being a lover of anything " haunted ", I was excited to read Incidents Around the House.
Josh has quite a writing style that builds both characters, pacing and atmosphere that's tense, haunting and claustrophobic. The pacing is slow to medium and is really creepy as we follow Bela, our 8 yr old MC trying to outrun " other Mommy " Not often are books written from this POV and it works very well, adding to the over all essence of the narrative.

It has everything, tension, creepiness that builds up to a haunting that you may or may not expect!
I also listened to the audio version of this book which was narrated by Delanie Nicole Gill and she did a wonderful job in narrating just a young character.

4 stars