Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

e-Audio, 08:23:57
Narrated by: Delanie Nicole Gill 
Release Date: June 25, 2024
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: September 30, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
Content Warning: Infidelity, Death, Alcohol, Death of a Parent, Drug Use, Cursing, Pregnancy, Murder, Violence, Possession
For Readers Interested In: Ghosts, Possession, Paranormal, Thriller, Horror, Audio, Adult

  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
      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. 
      Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror told by the child Bela. A story about a family as haunted as their home.

*MY THOUGHTS*

I’m not gonna lie to you. This was a book that I picked purely because everyone kept talking about it. And me being a horror reader and having FOMO I had to check it out. I thought there was no way there can be a horror book with this much hype and I don’t read it. So I read it. And I mean I binged it in one work day. And all I can say is, WORTH IT.

So the creepiest part about this? Its about a haunted 8 year old. And for the longest time, no one knew what was happening. But even more creepy than that, it’s told from the girl who is being haunted. It’s said that children are more susceptible to seeing spirits, so I wasn’t surprised to see this. But the way no one believed them was scary. Why would she make up something like this? The rest of the characters were hella weird. Like I get if you’re ok with indulging in things, but to come home and tell your kids about it is weird. Especially if she’s only eight. It just seemed like a weird choice. I get talking in codes, but they were treating her like a therapist. I don’t blame the ghost for wanting to know all their secrets and and stuff because they were giving them our on the regular.

The scary factor was soooo good tho! And the way the audio is, there is a grown woman who read this book to me as an audio book. The only reason I mention this is because in the audio book, the narrator did a DAMN good job sounding like a child. I really didn’t understand how they were able to do that. The other thing I thought was creepy about this was what the spirit was asking her and what she was calling the thing.. It was all so very weird.

And the entire book was like that. Always so scary and always so weird. But the ending was the weirdest part. I honestly don’t think I understand it. Because who brings their kid (haunted of not) to basically trauma dump on them. And the end end, I didn’t actually get either. I guess it’s not that I didn’t get it, its just that they did all of that and it still happened. And it was dumb because it didn’t actually show what happened after that.

This book was a lot of fun! Definitely one I would say was wild af. I know this review was terrible, But I don’t want to give any spoilers away. This book only works when it can surprise you. So, if you decide to read this, please go in with no expectations and just vibe with the book. I did and it made me enjoy it even more.

Overall, I give this

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