Incidents Around the House: 12 Analytical Essay Prompts

Use these prompts to write a focused, evidence-driven essay on Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House. Each entry includes a “why it matters” rationale, a defensible sample thesis direction, and 3–5 chapter/scene evidence leads drawn directly from the novel. Pair each prompt with related themes and characters for deeper analysis.

1. The Child Narrator’s Evolving Relationship with Other Mommy

Why it matters: Bela’s perception of Other Mommy shifts from friend to threat, mirroring her loss of innocence and the central tension between trust and danger.

Sample thesis direction: Malerman uses Bela’s initial acceptance of Other Mommy as a “friend” to critique the vulnerability of childhood trust; as Bela recognizes the entity’s true intentions, she learns that not all friendships are safe.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 1: Bela greets Other Mommy from the closet with excitement, establishing prior relationship.
Chapter 3: Bela first tells parents about Other Mommy; entity crouches waiting for them to leave.
Chapter 11: Bela corrects party guests, calling the entity “Other Mommy” not a monster, showing residual loyalty.
Chapter 29: Bela reflects that she no longer views Other Mommy as a friend.
Chapter 51: Bela agrees to let Other Mommy into her heart, then experiences displacement.

2. Parental Secrecy and the Causality of the Haunting

Why it matters: The revelation of Mommy’s infidelity and Bela’s true paternity is framed by Lois as the “innocence” that attracts the entity, linking family dysfunction to supernatural vulnerability.

Sample thesis direction: The novel suggests that the entity’s power grows from the family’s hidden lies; only by exposing the truth—however painful—can they weaken its hold on Bela.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 47: Ursula confesses her affairs and that Daddo is not Bela’s biological father.
Chapter 48: Daddo compares the secret to a shattered glass object that leaves a permanent stain.
Chapter 49: Mommy blames herself for the haunting, citing years of selfishness and neglect.
Chapter 44: Lois explains that “revoking innocence” is the goal, and the family drives to Lake Michigan to do so.

3. Mommy and Daddo’s Relationship Under Supernatural Siege

Why it matters: The strain of the haunting exposes cracks in the marriage—blame, resentment, differing coping strategies—while also forcing moments of unity.

Sample thesis direction: The haunting acts as a catalyst that both fractures and temporarily reunites Mommy and Daddo, revealing that their partnership is strongest when they face a common enemy.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 19: Dan and Amanda ask the family to leave; Mommy calls Grandma and they drive off.
Chapter 41: Ursula and Russ plan to attack the entity together, reaffirming their partnership.
Chapter 42: The family showers, dresses nicely, and walks downstairs in formation—ritualistic unity.
Chapter 49: In the car, Mommy blames herself and Daddo’s optimism as a burden; they argue.

4. Contrasting Scenes: The Party vs. The Lake Confession

Why it matters: The party (social masking, adult denial) contrasts sharply with the lakeside confession (forced truth, loss of innocence), showing two ways the adult world handles the uncanny.

Sample thesis direction: Malerman juxtaposes the noisy, performative party with the raw, quiet lakeside confession to demonstrate that acknowledging the supernatural requires stripping away social pretense.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 11: Party with ghost stories, Lois testing Bela, Marsha’s scream—public yet dismissive.
Chapter 14: Bela panics in the butterfly house; Mommy blames Lois for “mayonnaise brain.”
Chapter 46: Around the campfire, Lois explains innocence and the entity’s attraction; Mommy announces she will tell a story.
Chapter 47: Ursula reveals the paternity secret; Bela runs, then sees Other Mommy crawling on the beach.

5. Loss of Innocence as a Defensive Strategy

Why it matters: Lois argues that making Bela “less appetizing” means stripping her innocence, raising ethical questions about the cost of survival.

Sample thesis direction: The novel interrogates the idea that innocence is a liability; the adults’ decision to force Bela to confront adult betrayals may save her from the entity but damages her in other ways.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 43: Lois tells the family they must make Bela less appealing to the entity.
Chapter 45: Bela reveals she was never scared of Other Mommy and liked the idea of reincarnation.
Chapter 46: Lois explains that innocence means being unaware of evil; the innocent are targeted first.
Chapter 47: The confession devastates Bela; she stops speaking afterward.

6. The Closet as a Threshold Symbol

Why it matters: From the first chapter to the final displacement, the closet is a liminal space where the entity emerges and where characters hide.

Sample thesis direction: The closet functions as a permeable boundary between the domestic and the monstrous; its repeated appearance signals that nowhere in the home is safe from intrusion.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 1: Other Mommy emerges from the closet.
Chapter 3: Other Mommy crouches in the space between bed and wall after parents leave.
Chapter 33: The family installs alarms on all closets; Bela wonders what face Other Mommy will make.
Chapter 51: Bela retreats to the foyer closet; later Other Mommy emerges from the closet after Grandma’s collapse.
Chapter 27: Frank Doherty dies in his closet; the family stays in his house.

7. Typography and Structural Perspective

Why it matters: The Author’s Note explicitly states that left-justified narration and indented dialogue preserve the child’s viewpoint; this structure influences how readers process the story.

Sample thesis direction: Malerman’s deliberate formatting choices force readers to experience the narrative through Bela’s limited perspective, reinforcing the themes of confusion, vulnerability, and unreliable adult understanding.

Evidence leads:

Author’s Note: Explains the typographic distinction.
Chapter 3: The first explicit mention of Other Mommy—dialogue indented, narration justified.
Chapter 8: Deb’s dialogue at the park; Bela’s thoughts run together.
Chapter 51: The puzzle scene—Bela’s drowsy narration blends reality and dream, typography remains consistent.

8. Foreshadowing Through “Can I Go into Your Heart?” and Reincarnation

Why it matters: The repeated question and the concept of reincarnation are introduced early and build toward the climax, creating a sense of inevitable confrontation.

Sample thesis direction: The novel uses the repeated demand “Can I go into your heart?” as a verbal motif that escalates the threat, while the idea of reincarnation foreshadows the final possession/displacement.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 2: Other Mommy asks for the first time; Bela sits beside her on the bed.
Chapter 11: Bela publicly names Other Mommy at the party.
Chapter 12: Daddo discusses reincarnation; Bela recalls Other Mommy wanting to trade bodies.
Chapter 27: Bela remembers their first encounter and the entity’s threat to become dangerous if refused.
Chapter 51: Bela finally says yes; Other Mommy disappears into her heart, and Bela is displaced.

9. The Ending: Sacrifice and Displacement

Why it matters: Bela’s consent to let Other Mommy into her heart results in a role reversal where the entity cries on Bela’s bed and Bela finds herself in a “vast room”—an ambiguous, unsettling conclusion.

Sample thesis direction: The ending subverts the expected battle by having Bela voluntarily give up her heart; the final image of the entity crying suggests that possession may also be a form of captivity for the entity.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 51: Grandma’s body is found; parents are unconscious; Other Mommy asks again; Bela says yes.
Chapter 51: Other Mommy disappears and reappears on Bela’s bed crying.
Chapter 51: Bela finds herself in the space where Other Mommy came from—a vast room.
Chapter 49: Bela senses a fingertip pushing from the car trunk, indicating the entity’s persistence.

10. Family Unity Under Siege as a Theme

Why it matters: Throughout the crisis, the family oscillates between isolation and solidarity; their survival depends on acting together.

Sample thesis direction: Incidents Around the House argues that supernatural threats can be countered only by familial cooperation, even as the entity exploits the family’s existing divisions.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 33: The family installs alarms and sleeps together in the living room.
Chapter 41: Ursula and Russ vow to act as a team; they include Bela.
Chapter 42: The family walks downstairs in formation, with Bela in the middle.
Chapter 51: Despite the plan, Grandma is killed and parents are knocked unconscious; the family unit fails.

11. The Symbolism of Guard Dogs and Security Measures

Why it matters: The dogs (Kami and Kamael) and alarms represent the family’s reliance on tangible solutions against an intangible threat; their failure highlights the limits of physical defenses.

Sample thesis direction: By investing in guard dogs and alarms, the family attempts to apply rational, material solutions to a supernatural problem, but the entity’s mimicry and mobility render these measures futile.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 34: Trainers deliver the dogs; they are scent-trained but cannot stop “something already in the house.”
Chapter 36: The dogs stare at the ceiling; they growl but do not attack.
Chapter 38: Brian the “pest remover” arrives, a human solution that also fails.
Chapter 40: Other Mommy appears in the dining room despite all security.

12. Mimicry and Manipulation: Other Mommy’s Tactics

Why it matters: The entity uses familiar voices and appearances (including Bela’s own mother’s voice) to lower defenses, making the threat psychological as much as physical.

Sample thesis direction: Other Mommy’s mimicry—of family members, friends, and even Bela herself—reveals that the most terrifying horror is the corruption of the familiar; the entity’s power lies in its ability to impersonate love.

Evidence leads:

Chapter 16: Other Mommy impersonates Mommy in the doorway; real Mommy screams.
Chapter 35: Bela recalls Other Mommy mimicking Kelvin’s laugh.
Chapter 37: Kelvin’s voice claims to be “him” and proposes an identity swap.
Chapter 47: The confession scene uses Mommy’s own voice to deliver devastating truth, blurring entity and parent.

Return to the main book page or browse questions and answers for additional discussion.