Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
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I read this book in a single sitting, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I read it in June of 2025.
That’s usually a sign.
Not because the book is confusing, or messy, or hard to pin down — but because calling it “good” feels like doing it a disservice.
Mostly because saying this book was a triumph still feels like an undersell.
Mostly because sometimes “all the hype” around a book can actively work against it.
But… goddamn.
This book is a triumph. And it absolutely earns every bit of the praise it’s received.
Which is why Incidents Around the House is Devil’s Rock Books’ 2025 Book of the Year.
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A book that grabs you and doesn’t let go
Josh Malerman is now responsible for two books that have done the same rare thing to me: made me genuinely unable to put them down.
Bird Box was the first.
Incidents Around the House is the second.
This is the kind of reading experience where you tell yourself you’ll stop after a chapter, then realise you’re tearing through the pages because stopping feels impossible. Not because the book is loud or frantic — but because it’s tight. Controlled. Confident.
From the very first page, I knew this was something special.
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Everything I want in a horror novel
This book hits every note I personally look for in horror:
- A compelling villain / protagonist arc that never feels simple or comfortable
- An indescribable monster — and one that’s far more unsettling because of that
- A closeness in the point of view that makes you feel every moment as it happens
- A premise that just oozes dread and suspense, without needing to shout
There’s no excess here. No over-explaining. No hand-holding.
The horror is allowed to breathe — and in doing so, it creeps under your skin.
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Horror that feels intimate
What really got under my skin with Incidents Around the House is how close it feels.
The POV is so intimate that you’re not just watching events unfold — you’re inside them. You feel the hesitation, the uncertainty, the slow realisation that something is deeply wrong. The fear isn’t delivered in big, showy moments. It seeps in gradually, through ordinary spaces and familiar rhythms.
That kind of horror is much harder to pull off.
And Malerman absolutely nails it.
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Why this is our Book of the Year
At Devil’s Rock Books, we’re always chasing horror that lingers. Horror that respects the reader. Horror that doesn’t rely on spectacle, but instead trusts atmosphere, restraint, and psychological pressure.
Incidents Around the House does all of that — and does it effortlessly.
This isn’t just one of the best books I read this year.
It’s the book that stayed with me the longest.
The one I kept thinking about after I closed it.
The one I immediately wanted other people to experience.
So yes — this one was an easy decision.
Devil’s Rock Books’ 2025 Book of the Year.
No qualifiers. No caveats. Just a phenomenal piece of modern horror.
