“Ghost stories might not all use the same words, but they all sound like the same words because it’s the ghost we think about, not the words,” (Malerman 65).
Eight-year-old Bela loves Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth, and she used to like Other Mommy until she changed. Other Mommy used to make her smile, but now all she does is make scary faces and ask Bela the same question over and over: Can Other Mommy live inside Bela’s heart? Bela doesn’t want to let Other Mommy into her heart, but horrifying incidents continue around the house that even Mommy and Daddo start to notice. Mommy and Daddo don’t want Other Mommy to hurt Bela either, but no one seems to know just how strong Other Mommy might be.
Incidents Around the House has been getting rave reviews on Goodreads so I was curious about it. I enjoyed Bird Box and loved Malorie, so I was ready to leave the Bird Box universe and see what Malerman’s newest had in store and it did not disappoint! I absolutely loved the formatting of the novel, the whole thing is basically written as one long monologue which the theatre lover in me ADORED, Malerman’s reasoning being that since Bela is a kid the book wouldn’t be punctuated or formatted the way a regular novel would. I also think he wrote Bela’s voice very well. While I do think she came off as a bit younger than eight at times I found the perspective believable for a child narrator, which I think is a very hard perspective to write from.
And wow was it scary! Malerman does such an amazing job of building dread in this book. Other Mommy’s vague descriptions made her such a frightening entity that even reader’s couldn’t put a face to, and I loved the almost cinematic quality that some of the descriptions of tension felt like throughout the book. But the ending wasn’t what I thought it would be and I wish a little more was given. I think it was fitting, all things considered, but I would have liked more explanation or backstory to explain certain things.
Incidents Around the House is worth the hype and a fantastically tense and creepy read that realistically, or at least as realistically as one can, gets right inside the head of all those haunted kids in horror movies and explores the terror they’re experiencing in relation to their own lives.
Publication: June 25 2024
Publisher: Del Ray
Pages: 367 pages (Hardcover)
Source: Library
Genre: Fiction, Horror
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:
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 same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must 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 on the brink of unraveling.
But Other Mommy needs an answer.
Sarah O'Connor 