Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

Book Review

Sarah Deeming

Eight-year-old Bela lives with Mommy, Daddo, and Other Mommy; only Other Mommy lives in Bela’s closet, and only she can see her. Mommy and Daddo don’t believe in Other Mommy, but that’s OK because Other Mommy and Bela are friends. Until Other Mommy asks Bela for a favour, to go inside her heart, something even Bela’s young mind knows is wrong. That’s when things take a turn. Other Mommy leaves her closet and keeps appearing downstairs and out of the house. Other people can see her, and she’s hurting them. She’s hurting Bela. Suddenly, Bela doesn’t want to be friends with Other Mommy. Still, Other Mommy is already out of the closet. Even though Mommy and Daddo believe Bela now, there may be no way to put Other Mommy back.

Incidents Around the House is told entirely from the perspective of Bela, an eight-year-old girl whose imaginary friend is not so imaginary. This is quite a bold perspective, as her understanding and word choices will be different from those of an adult and maintaining that consistency throughout a story is quite a challenge. However, Malerman succeeds in keeping Bela’s voice consistent. She sees much but doesn’t understand. For example, her mother is having an affair, and Bela sees her mother very close to another man. An adult reader will correctly identify the affair, while Bela doesn’t. The layout is also different, reflecting her child’s mind. These are just two of many little things that keep Bela refreshing.

Having a child protagonist also significantly increases the threat level. Possession makes for a scary story anyway, but it is told from the point of view of a child, and with a child as the victim, Incidents Around the House takes it one step further. Bela not only has to come to terms with her parents’ failure to act but also with the fact that they don’t know how to handle the situation. It’s a pretty emotional journey as her confidence in her parents gradually erodes. They seek help from many people but often don’t receive the support they need or encounter charlatans. In particular, there is a group that investigates the paranormal, and they are no match for Other Mommy. That scene is quite intense. There are no heroes in this story; they are just flawed adults trying to do their best, and that makes the whole story more relatable.

That isn’t to say this book is perfect. There are some lengthy monologues where Bela’s parents talk to her when they think she’s asleep. It works as a tool for getting information to the reader that Bela can’t work out or know for herself. It happens a couple of times, and while it is well written with the chaotic speech of a drunk parent trying to work something through in their own life, this technique was used once too often for me. 

I really enjoyed Incidents Around the House. I read it in only two sittings and glared at my family if they tried to disturb me. Tension built quickly and didn’t let up all the way through, meaning it was really easy to get lost in this story. If you love stories about the occult and possession, then Incidents Around the House deserves a place on your bookcase. Highly recommended.