Incidents Around the House: A Novel

“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
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
LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE
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.
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
LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE
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.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Incidents Around the House* delivers eerie, creepy vibes with a unique haunted house tale told through the eyes of an 8-year-old girl, bl...
I have no idea what to make of that ending…by my god, would Mike Flanagan make a killer adaptation of this book.
“...whatever you do, most of all, don’t allow someone else’s meanness, someone else’s cruelty, to get inside of you.”
I liked the concept of childhood trauma manifested as "Other Mommy" -- a monstrous demon woman who lives in the closet and is relentless in her pursuit for 8-year-old Bela's heart. Telling the story from Bela's point of view was very effective, creating a confused and surreal atmosphere and illustrating that children are impressionable and even when they are not equipped to understand adult situations and conversations, they can still be affected by them. Bela is so young and curious, but also afraid of what might happen if she lets "Other Mommy" in.
This was not what I was expecting at all. While this book is not scary in a jump-scare or blood-and-guts kind of way, it definitely messed with my head, taking me back to those nights where I was afraid to sleep in my big-girl bed all by myself, when everything that went bump in the night filled me with absolute terror.
Written from the perspective of a young girl being haunted by an evil entity named “Other Mother” who wants to possess her, this haunted house novel was unique and had my interest all the way until the end.
The Other Mother entity was so creepy and while this was written from a child’s perspective, it wasn’t confusing or annoying, it actually worked.
While I greatly enjoyed the ride this novel gave, I hated the ending and it knocked this down a star for me. I get what the author was going for but in my opinion it was not the right ending for this. Definitely recommend if looking for a unique and eerie supernatural horror!
Two genuinely haunting scenes, but I felt like the story dragged on at times and the ending wasn't very satisfying.
Disturbing in the best way!
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