Item: Incidents Around the House
Rating: 2.50
Author: quirkycat

by Josh Malerman

“Simply put—and I do not say this lightly—Incidents Around the House is the most purely effective horror novel I have ever read.”—Neil McRobert, Esquire (Best Horror Books of 2024, So Far)

A chilling horror novel about a haunting, told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,” from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box

“This book is the monster that lives inside your closet.”—Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House

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?”

When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the question over and over, Bela understands that unless she says yes, her family will soon pay.

Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe, but other incidents show cracks in her parents’ marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel.

But Other Mommy needs an answer.

Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror about a family as haunted as their home.

Book Summary:

Not even children are safe from the horrors of the world. Just ask little Bela. Worse, sometimes those horrors package themselves as something loving and caring. For example, Bela’s Other Mommy.

At first, it was perfect. Bela had a family consisting of Mommy, Daddo, Grandma Ruth, and Other Mother. But the longer Other Mother was around, the more she seemed to expect. One question in particular kept rising to the surface.

My Review:

Huh. I’m not entirely sure what I just read here. Incidents Around the House is both familiar and unlike anything I’ve ever read. Let me take a step back. Incidents Around the House has vibes similar to Coraline (the Other Mother element should make that obvious) and Paranormal Activity.

However, it’s also different. This is because of the writing style, a string of thoughts written from an eight-year-old’s (Bela) perspective. It’s a big swing. I bet some readers are going to love it. I bet just as many readers are going to hate it.

The biggest problems were the overall writing style (again, I appreciate the risk; it just wasn’t for me) and the repetition. Yes, Bela is an eight-year-old girl, so she repeatedly covers some basic thoughts. But I didn’t really need to read that a hundred times, you know?

Overall, I appreciate and even respect what Josh Malerman did here. However, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Highlights:
Horror/Paranormal
Speculative Horror
Unique Twists
Coraline meets Paranormal Activity

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Incidents Around the House

by Josh Malerman

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on Sep 8, 2024

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