Incidents Around the House

In many works of psychological horror, the paranormal antagonist can be read as a concrete manifestation of more abstract, emotional, or psychological dangers. Unspeakable events or emotions are repressed, hidden under a veil of secrecy, and they then reemerge in the form of a ghost or monster. In Incidents Around the House, the malevolent being known to Bela as “Other Mommy” symbolizes the adult realities that Bela’s parents try to shield her from—including Ursula’s infidelity, her feelings of confinement in the role of motherhood and her subsequent guilt, and both parents’ reliance on alcohol to avoid addressing the problems in their marriage. Lois is correct, near the end of the novel, when she surmises that the entity is connected in some way with the loss of childhood innocence, but she is wrong to think that robbing Bela of her innocence will keep the monster at bay. In fact, it is only after Bela loses her innocence—coming face to face with the repressed anger and secrecy that fills her parents’ lives—that she finally allows the monster into her heart.

Bela often worries that her parents are unhappy and wishes there were something she could do to heal their marriage. When her mother stays out late, she thinks, “I wish Mommy was here to fall even more in love with Daddo” (20). Though her parents believe she is oblivious to the tension in their relationship, worrying about them occupies a huge amount of Bela’s time and energy. When she learns the word “habitat” at the zoo, she thinks about her parents as animals and asks, “Is our habitat, our house, a safe place for Mommy and Daddo?” (90). Notably, she doesn’t worry about whether she is safe at their home, but only about whether her parents are safe. Her priorities indicate how deeply affected she is by their tumultuous marriage.

The arrival of Other Mommy coincides with the decline of Russ and Ursula’s marriage, revealing the role of Other Mommy as an embodiment of Bela’s fears about her family. The first time she appears, she tells Bela “Peekaboo,” and it reminds Bela of her younger days: “Back when I was littler. Back when Mommy was happier, I think her and Daddo made jokes that made each other laugh all the time” (199). Other Mommy initially positions herself as a friend or protector, and she uses Bela’s fears about her parents to tempt her to make the exchange. She offers to fix Bela’s parents’ marriage if they trade places, and Bela is young enough to be tempted by the offer. This moment emphasizes how much of Bela’s life is structured around worrying about her parents, to the extent that she lacks her own sense of self-preservation.

Some of the novel’s horror arises from the way Bela’s parents overshare with her, making her privy to information children wouldn’t normally encounter. Josh Malerman uses their immaturity and self-centeredness to highlight Bela’s vulnerability, as she has no one in her life who can adequately protect her. Russ does the bulk of the caregiving but positions himself as Bela’s best friend rather than a father. He talks philosophically about emotions, but he often fails to recognize Bela’s in favor of prioritizing his: “Ah, Bela. It’s all so different, you know? How you think things are gonna be and how they end up being. […] Am I happy? Yes. Yeah. Sure I am. But I’m also sad” (70). Both parents get high or drunk and sit by Bela’s bed, monologuing about their lives when they think she is asleep. After the novel’s climax, when Ursula reveals that Russ isn’t Bela’s biological father, she expresses these ideas openly in front of her daughter. She laments feeling trapped by motherhood: “Have I told you how many times I just wanted to drop her off at a friend’s house and never come back?” (345). In these final scenes, Malerman emphasizes what is horrific about this fractured and toxic home environment, which proves to be just as dangerous as the literal monster within it.