Read Rant Review | Incidents Around the House: A Novel

Incidents Around the House: A Novel

Josh Malerman

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“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 (Best Horror Books of 2024, So Far)

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.

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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Posts about this title from Read Rant Review

Read Rant Review\ \ Kaylee\ \ • Nov 28 2025

Howdy lil freakies! \ \ Here's my roll-up of everything I read this month. Full spoilers and deep dive reviews can be found on my YouTube channel, but you guys get to see what I read behind the scenes!\ \ Below is a roll-up of books with unprofessional summaries and reasoning for the rating.\ \ An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks ⭐/5 \ \ A woman in her 20s crashes a local university's psychology study. The professor running the study is sketchy af, and the book follows the dynamic between these two. I feel like everyone's motives were weird/nonsensical. There was no real reason for any of it, and it ended on such an oddly hollow note.\ \ Never Lie by Freida McFadden ⭐⭐/5 \ \ Okay, genuinely, I'm becoming a certified fan (derogatory) of Freida. The writing sucks, the plots are nonsensical but it's genuinely so entertaining. I don't get tired of these weird weird books lol. This one was about a woman and her boyfriend who get trapped in a snowstorm. Trapped where, you ask? In a famous psychologsit's house... who went missing a few months ago. And from the jump, everyone is acting sketchy and lying to eachother.\ \ The Guest List by Lucy Foley ⭐⭐⭐/5 \ \ This one will be my first December upload on the channel! There's a wedding being held on a creepy island. The book follows the POV of various guests and talks about their relationships and how they got to this point in their lives. Everything seems like rich people messy problems, until someone comes across a dead body. The premise was awesome. Only critique was that it was a sloooooow build and in general the pacing was a little off. Other issues are spoilers, so watch the video if you want more.\ \ We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer ⭐⭐⭐/5 \ \ Eve and her girlfriend buy a house to flip. One day Eve is there alone and this off-putting family knocks on the door, says that they used to live there and would love to take a look around. AND SHE LETS THEM INSIDE. Someone on Goodreads said this book was r/NoSleep coded, and I couldn't say it better. It was interesting, and then we went off the rails in a way that felt like a Jordan Peele movie, but without the right set up.\ \ Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman ⭐⭐/5 \ \ Speaking of Jordan Peele... 8 year old girl tells us about her daddy, mommy and other mommy. My stomach dropped reading the description and there were a few other moments in the book that gave me that feeling, however, they were over shadowed by repetitiveness and just odd narrative choice. It's from an 8 year old, but she talked/thought like she was much younger and then her parents talked to her like she was an adult. And also the tension of WHAT other mommy is and what she looks like is immediately ruined and she wasn't scary anymore, just a weird creepy vibes rommate instead of a monster under the bed. Ya know? I don't think monsters should be described directly or in detail, that almost always kills the vibe.\ \ When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 \ \ Little boy's dad turns into a wolf monster when he gets mad. One day he runs from home and runs into a woman. She takes him in and tries to protect him. It's an absolute batshit ride from there. SUCH a unique premise, fast paced, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I really enjoyed this one. The ending was a little meh, but great otherwise.\ \ Bury Our Bones in Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab ⭐⭐/5 \ \ Getting away from thriller and horror genre binge, I read this fantasy/historical fiction/toxic saphhic vampire book. That premise? Wild. Love. Sign me up. The execution? ahhhhhhh. The ending pissed me off enough to go down an entire star. But, it was a multiple timeline story that eventually interconnects and boy howdy do I eat that up lmao. The timeline, premise and general vibes really carried this book. The characters felt shallow, the pacing wasn't the best and that ending made get up and go for a walk because I was so mad and made me feel like I wasted my time.\ \ Other News \ \ I'll be doing a 2025 Q&A video in a few weeks. If there's anything you've ever wanted to know, ask me here!\ \ For full spoilers and long-form deep dives of other books I read this month, check out my YouTube channel!\ \ In November, I reviewed:\ \ Animal Farm by George Orwell ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5\ \ Hooked by Emily McIntire ⭐⭐/5\ \ Housemaid series by Freida McFadden ⭐/5\ \ Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver ⭐⭐⭐/5\ \ None of This is True by Lisa Jewell ⭐⭐/5

November Reads (spoiler free)

7 books

Read Rant Review\ \ Kaylee\ \ • Nov 2 2025

GRWM and talk about books I read in October

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5 books

Posts about this book from across Bindery

ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Apr 17

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\ \ I'm bringing author interviews back on Bindery! Today I'm joined by the amazing Annie Neugebauer. Neugebauer is the author of several horror books that we will be talking about today!\ \ \ \ I have read both The Extra and The Other and loved them! I will definitely be checking out You Have To Let Them Bleed.\ \ Let's Dive into the interview!\ \ 1. I love to use this first question as an introduction. Feel free to tell us as much or as little as you want about yourself!\ \

Hi! Right now most people know me as the author of The Extra, a novella from Shortwave that has expanded into The Outsiders Sequence, a shared-universe sequence of novellas consisting of The Extra, The Other (this June), and The Spare (next March). I’m also the author of You Have to Let Them Bleed, a short story collection that’s out now. I’m also a poet, blogger, and novelist.\ \ 2.When did you first start writing? Was it always horror or did you write genres as well?\ \ I’ve always been writing, even as a young child, but I began pursuing it seriously when I graduated from college in 2007. I’ve written many novels, but I’ve built my way toward publication with poems and short stories. I love writing in many genres, but I’d say horror is my home base. I’ve been drawn to the dark side for as long as I can remember.\ \ 3. @blankets_books from instagram/bindery would like to know What was your inspiration behind The Extra? Any books or media that helped influence the book?\ \ The Extra wasn’t directly influenced by any other media, believe it or not. I had not yet even seen The Thing, its most common comparison. (I have now; it’s stellar!) The idea of an extra person came to me organically, and the protagonist and situation were inspired by my husband’s former job.\ \ 4.Do you go camping and hiking? If so, what has been your favorite trail/campground?\ \ I love camping and hiking! I’m never happier than when I’m outside somewhere beautiful. Camping in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado is by far my favorite area to return to. I’ve also had beautiful experiences in Austria, Hawaii, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. One of my most memorable hikes was the Glacier Gorge trail (9 miles) in the Rocky Mountain National Park.\ \ 5. You also have a short story collection called You Have to Let Them Bleed that released in March. Care to tell us a little more about that one? Do you have a favorite story from it?\ \ You Have to Let Them Bleed brings together some of my most successful short fiction from almost two decades of publishing stories. It’s framed by a “collector” who’s gathering shadowlings and sorting them by color. Probably the most well-known story is “So Sings the Siren.” I don’t have a favorite per say, but I’m really proud of and excited about the original in the collection, “The Baby.” It’s just wackadoo in the best way. Folks are loving it.\ \ 6. What can you tell us about The Spare (releasing 3/9/27), the third book in The Outsiders Sequence? \ \ The Spare takes place in the Texas Panhandle at a family camping reunion. As with each of these novellas, the less you know about it going in, the more enjoyable the actual read is. I will say that it, like The Other, is not a direct continuation of storyline and characters from the first two books, but it does bring in elements from each in a way that makes them all most satisfying when read in order. It shares the same tense vibes and unsettling concepts as the first two.\ \ 7. Do you have any writing routines or rituals that help you write?\ \ I wish! I prefer to write at home in a quiet setting, no music or background noise, with my computer setup that includes a special mouse that helps my wrists/shoulder. Other than that, I write when I can through the hecticness of parenting and working. Weekends, evenings, mini-trips, nap times, days off, whatever I can pack in.\ \ 8.What have been your top three 2026 horror releases? Movies?\ \ I don’t know that I’ve read any 2026 releases so far this year. I’m a backlist reader for sure. My most recent favorites are all at least from last year: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, and Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker. Movies are the same way. Recent favorites were Sinners and Weapons.\ \ 9. What are a few of your favorite backlist horror books?\ \ Kind of working my way back from when I read them: Nestlings by Nat Cassidy, We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer, Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman, the whole Cal Hooper trilogy by Tana French, The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, Mister Magic by Kiersten White, and then I get so far back everyone probably knows them all. (At this phase in my life, the only time I’m on top of a trend is if I’m lucky enough to set one.)\ \ 10. Any upcoming horror books you're excited about? Movies?\ \ I love Paul Tremblay and hate A.I., so I’m really looking forward to Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep, and Rachel Harrison’s Kiss Slay Replay sounds super fun. I’m even further behind the curve on movies than I am on books, so I usually wait until something is so good that my close friends literally force me to watch it. (It’s not cool, but it’s a pretty effective screening process.) I’m cautiously optimistic about two of my favorite scary books being adapted for film: Josh Malerman's Incidents Around the House and Paul Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts. I have that book-lover’s fear of a movie not doing my mind’s vision of a beloved book justice.\ \ Use the space below to add in anything else you'd like to say! \ \ I have a couple of really big pieces of news coming any day now, so be sure to follow me online @AnnieNeugebauer and subscribe to my blog newsletter here https://annieneugebauer.com/subscribe/ to get the good stuff. :)\ \ Special thanks again to Annie Neugebauer for the opportunity to interview her! All books mentioned here can be found below. If you have not read any of Annie's works, be sure to pick up The Extra (out now) and pre-order The Other (June).\ \ Join for free or login](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/item/Gk3QQWupgqWgsqwYTC7E/)

Author Interview: Annie Neugebauer

15 books

ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Apr 12

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Here are some horror books featuring CREEPY Kids 👶 \ \ #horrorbooks #horror #horrorbooksta

Here are some horror books featuring CREEPY Kids 👶

#horrorbooks #horror #horrorbooksta

15 books

ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Feb 22

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👻 some haunting tales to fill your tbr 👻 \ \ These tales will haunt you with haunted houses and ghos

👻 some haunting tales to fill your tbr 👻

These tales will haunt you with haunted houses and ghosts a plenty.

#horrorbooks horrorbooksta #horror

18 books

Read Rant Review\ \ Kaylee\ \ • Nov 28 2025

November Reads (spoiler free)

7 books

Read Rant Review\ \ Kaylee\ \ • Nov 2 2025

\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://readrantreview.binderybooks.com/item/lcbirxxt5Zmi9yISPBWo/)

GRWM and talk about books I read in October

⁠The gaming channel! https://www.youtube.com/@kayleeplaysgames

Support the channel: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@readrantreview

Patreon: https://patreon.com/ReadRantReview

Want to buy some stickers?! https://www.etsy.com/shop/ReadRantReview

Have a book recommendation? https://forms.gle/v1tb3PcVsWshsDdw7

where to find me: goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/readrantreviewkaylee

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thank you for listening!!

5 books

Madisoncanread\ \ Madison\ \ • May 27 2025

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[Poll:\ \ Has a book ever terrified you enough to give you nightmares? \ \ \ \ What we find scary is subjective. My top fears:\ \

Something happening to my kids.\ \
Home Invasion\ \
The ocean \ \
Really big things (being near an airplane makes me nauseous) Megalophobia? \ \
Mass casualties (I live in the US) \ \ \ Gore doesn't really do it for me, but these ones gave me nightmares! \ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://madisoncanread.binderybooks.com/item/Oh9kal6trq36KCYjoYck/)

"Actually Scary" Books

10 books

Madisoncanread\ \ Madison\ \ • May 22 2025

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Top 20 Scariest Books

The scariest books of all time? #madisoncanread #horrorbooks #horrorbookrec #scarybooks #booksthatgavemenightmares #horrorbooktok #Inverted

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Madisoncanread\ \ Madison\ \ • May 22 2025

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My favorites shelf pt. 2

My favorites shelf! #madisoncanread #horrorbooks #thrillerbooks #favoritebooks #bestbooks #toptierbooks

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