Incidents Around the House: A Novel

In the suburban comfort of an ordinary family home, young Bela's bedtime routine conceals a terrifying secret that will shatter her world. What begins as typical childhood imagination—a mysterious presence in her bedroom closet—gradually reveals itself as something far more sinister: Other Mommy, an entity that bears an uncanny resemblance to Bela's mother but harbors malevolent intentions. As this supernatural doppelganger grows bolder in her manifestations, moving beyond the confines of the closet to appear throughout the house and even in public spaces, Bela finds herself caught between the innocent world of childhood and a nightmare that adults struggle to comprehend or believe.

The family's initial attempts to rationalize away Bela's claims crumble as Other Mommy's presence becomes undeniable, witnessed by neighbors, friends, and even strangers. Mommy and Daddo—whose own marriage harbors secrets of infidelity and deception—are forced to confront not only a supernatural threat but also the fractures within their own relationship. Their desperate flight from house to house, seeking refuge with friends, family, and even strangers, reveals a community unprepared for the inexplicable. Each failed attempt at finding sanctuary strips away another layer of normalcy, leaving the family increasingly isolated and vulnerable. Professional help proves either ineffective or treacherous, as spiritual advisors, priests, and supernatural experts either dismiss their plight or, in one devastating case, betray them to the entity itself.

As Other Mommy's true intentions become clear—her desire to replace Bela's mother entirely, to "slip into her dress" and claim her place in the family—the supernatural crisis forces long-buried family secrets into the open. The revelation of Bela's true parentage, disclosed during a desperate retreat to Lake Michigan's shores, adds another dimension of betrayal and loss to an already fractured family dynamic. The entity's ability to perfectly mimic voices and appearances transforms every interaction into potential deception, eroding the fundamental trust that binds families together. What emerges is not just a story of supernatural horror, but an exploration of how crisis reveals both the strength and fragility of familial bonds.

Malerman crafts a narrative that operates on multiple levels of terror—the immediate supernatural threat and the deeper horror of watching a family's foundation crumble under pressure. The book's power lies in its unflinching examination of how extraordinary circumstances expose ordinary human failings: the mother's guilt over her infidelities, the father's desperate optimism in the face of insurmountable odds, and a child's loss of innocence as she witnesses the adults who should protect her prove helpless against forces beyond their understanding. Through Bela's perspective, readers experience the particular vulnerability of childhood caught between worlds—too young to fully comprehend the adult complexities surrounding her, yet old enough to sense the fundamental wrongness that has invaded her life. The domestic horror becomes a meditation on identity, belonging, and the terrifying possibility that the people we trust most might not be who they appear to be.