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Jamie's Reviews > Incidents Around the House
Incidents Around the House
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I could have finished this book last night, but I had to stop because it was super late and it was scaring the fu … uh, crap out of me. I actually did a marathon read of the remainder this morning so that I wouldn't have to read it past bedtime again. So, yeah, I guess that's pretty high praise for a horror novel? And I'm not one who usually gets super freaked out over what I read, either. It's kind of like an adult version of Coraline, except way, way scarier.
Honestly, I started out thinking that I wasn't going to like this book much. I'm not generally a huge fan of novels narrated by young children, and the narration in this one just seemed extra juvenile. There's also no quotation marks around the dialogue, which is something that normally drives me bonkers. By the time I was several chapters in, however, I was completely hooked. There's just something so very, very creepy about a child casually talking about such utterly terrifying events. And somehow the lack of quotation marks just adds to the creepiness of it? I have no idea why, but it does.
And this book is definitely terrifying. I'm a middle-aged adult woman and I couldn't handle reading it in the dark. I know I've already compared it to Coraline, but it could probably be more accurately described as Coraline meets Paranormal Activity. There are short bouts of terror followed by lots of panicked “Oh, shit, what was that and what do we do about it?” And Other Mommy is just so freaking creepy – she makes the demon from Paranormal Activity look like a fluffy (but admittedly menacing) kitten.
I have to say, though, that I did kind of see the ending coming. I mean, not the exact circumstances, of course, but the last few pages of this story weren't exactly a huge surprise. That's not to say that they weren't scary, because they were. I just think it's the only way that this book could have ended, really.
My overall rating: 4.8 stars, rounded up. Incidents Around the House is perhaps one of the scariest horror novels I've read since Stephen King's The Tommyknockers in the late 80s.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.
Honestly, I started out thinking that I wasn't going to like this book much. I'm not generally a huge fan of novels narrated by young children, and the narration in this one just seemed extra juvenile. There's also no quotation marks around the dialogue, which is something that normally drives me bonkers. By the time I was several chapters in, however, I was completely hooked. There's just something so very, very creepy about a child casually talking about such utterly terrifying events. And somehow the lack of quotation marks just adds to the creepiness of it? I have no idea why, but it does.
And this book is definitely terrifying. I'm a middle-aged adult woman and I couldn't handle reading it in the dark. I know I've already compared it to Coraline, but it could probably be more accurately described as Coraline meets Paranormal Activity. There are short bouts of terror followed by lots of panicked “Oh, shit, what was that and what do we do about it?” And Other Mommy is just so freaking creepy – she makes the demon from Paranormal Activity look like a fluffy (but admittedly menacing) kitten.
I have to say, though, that I did kind of see the ending coming. I mean, not the exact circumstances, of course, but the last few pages of this story weren't exactly a huge surprise. That's not to say that they weren't scary, because they were. I just think it's the only way that this book could have ended, really.
My overall rating: 4.8 stars, rounded up. Incidents Around the House is perhaps one of the scariest horror novels I've read since Stephen King's The Tommyknockers in the late 80s.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.
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Reading Progress
January 30, 2024
–
Started Reading
January 30, 2024
– Shelved
January 30, 2024
– Shelved as:
arcs-and-such
January 30, 2024
– Shelved as:
fiction
January 30, 2024
– Shelved as:
popsugar-challenge-2015
January 31, 2024
–
Finished Reading
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Not for me but I enjoyed your review, Jamie!😊
Great review! This one was easily in my top 5 horror novels of all time; I ended up reading my ARC twice. I had the same experience coming around to the dialogue style--I think it being centered vs typical in-line formatting with no quotes helped a lot.
Whoa, I can only do horror lite. lol. It sounds like a terrifyingly excellent read! Maybe if I get up the nerve… 🙃
If it scares you Jamie it will scare me. I'm all in no quotation marks be damned.
Ian wrote: "Nice review! Not a book I would read myself, because I don’t enjoy being scared - but good to see that it worked for you :-)I’m curious about the habit of leaving out quotation marks. Interesting ..."
Thank you, Ian! Yeah, I have no idea why Malerman decided that the no quotation marks thing was a good idea here, but I really didn't mind it as much as usual. Don't get me wrong - I certainly would have preferred quotation marks because I do love my punctuation 😀 - but somehow it works for this one.
Sujoya(theoverbookedbibliophile)- Lots of catching wrote: "Not for me but I enjoyed your review, Jamie!😊"
Thanks so much, Sujoya! I can definitely see how it wouldn't be for everyone - the creep factor is super high. 🙂
Emma wrote: "Great review! This one was easily in my top 5 horror novels of all time; I ended up reading my ARC twice. I had the same experience coming around to the dialogue style--I think it being centered vs..."
Thank you, Emma! It was so, so good and it's definitely in my top five as well. You're probably right about the dialogue and the centering, and I'm so happy that Malerman did it the way he did because I would have been so sad if it had detracted from the story!
amy wrote: "Whoa, I can only do horror lite. lol. It sounds like a terrifyingly excellent read! Maybe if I get up the nerve… 🙃"
LOL - If you do decided to read it, just don't attempt it in the dark! I love horror and reading it at night was more than I could handle. 😀
Jan wrote: "If it scares you Jamie it will scare me. I'm all in no quotation marks be damned."
Ooh, yay, I hope you love it, Jan! It was so scary but in the best possible way! I'm not sure what the author has against proper punctuation but it really did add to the creep factor in this case. 😀
Great review! If you say this book is scary then COUNT ME IN!!
Kathleen wrote: "Great review! If you say this book is scary then COUNT ME IN!!"Thank you, Kathleen! It's one of the scariest books I've read in a long, long time! Hope you love it.
Jonas wrote: "Fantastic review."
Thanks so much, Jonas! 🙂
I badly wanted to read this book
Zoe Anne wrote: "I badly wanted to read this book"It's so good! I hope you get to read it soon! 🙂
I’m curious about the habit of leaving out quotation marks. Interesting to see that it added to the sense of creepiness here, even if you couldn’t put your finger on why. I’ve found in other books that it can add a sense of detachment - which isn’t always a good thing - but I always want to work out why an author’s done that (and hoping that it isn’t just a fashionable stylistic affectation).