Name: Incidents Around The House
Series: Stand Alone
Author: Josh Malerman
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Format: Kindle
Genres: Adult, Horror, Paranormal, Thriller
š¶ļø: No Spice
š: No Tears (but scary!)
Rating: (Actual Rating: 4.25)
Synopsis: Goodreads
To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. Thereās Mommy, Daddy and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every āCan I go inside your heart?ā
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 parentsā marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel.
But Other Mommy needs an answer.
Review:
I’ll be the first to admit that Malerman successfully creeped me out. My creaky house didn’t help, and my wedding dress being hung in a doorway of a room that already creeps me out in the middle of the night also didn’t help. This book creeped me out, gave me chills and nightmares, so job well done there Malerman.
We’re following 8 year old Bela, and as such the writing isn’t always the most intuitive to follow. Any dialogue in particular is difficult to always grasp. I did manage to get along with it for the most part, though unfortunately the ending didn’t necessarily work for me and I’m not exactly sure if that’s because of the way it was written or if it was rushed as the narrator is a child who was scared in this moment too.
That being said, the fact that the story was being told from this 8 year old’s perspective added to the creepy factor, without a doubt! The glimpses we got into the parents and how they were reacting to this terrifying situation were always just enough that you as the reader could grasp what the adults were trying to do even if the narrator didn’t fully.
It did get to a point where Other Mommy herself wasn’t enough to scare me anymore as nothing much was happening with her that was different – but she had a very specific ability that got me every single time (this thing terrifies me in horror games too!) – the chills would go down my body and I’d be sufficiently terrified.
So, the majority of the book terrified me, the narrator was unreliable and on occassion confusing, and the parents in the situation whilst trying their best were also a problem! The ending was a slight let down, but the vibes were there. This was a brilliant October read! I desperately wanted to read this before watching the movie, but honestly I think this would be an excellent movie that I’m not actually sure I can bring myself to watch now I know that the words on paper gave me nightmares…
“Can I go into your heart?”
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