Incidents Around the House Quiz
Book Quiz: Incidents Around the House
Test your understanding of Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel with this 20‑question quiz. Questions are divided into plot/sequence, character motivation, theme/symbol, and synthesis. Each question is either multiple choice (choose the best answer) or short answer (one or two sentences). At the end you will find a complete answer key with brief explanations.
Section 1: Plot & Sequence (8 questions)
1. (Multiple Choice) In Chapter 2, what unsettling question does Other Mommy first ask Bela?
A) “Can I have your toy?”
B) “Can I go into your heart?”
C) “Will you play hide‑and‑seek with me?”
D) “Do you want to see my face?”
2. (Multiple Choice) When Bela first tells her parents about Other Mommy in Chapter 3, how do they react?
A) They call a priest immediately.
B) They laugh at first, but her mother’s smile fades.
C) They ignore her and change the subject.
D) They lock all the closet doors.
3. (Short Answer) In Chapter 8, Bela visits Chaps Park with a friend. Where does Bela see Other Mommy outside the house for the first time?
4. (Multiple Choice) Which family member physically sees Other Mommy for the first time in Chapter 16?
A) Daddo
B) Grandma Ruth
C) Mommy
D) Bela
5. (Multiple Choice) After the family flees to Evelyn’s large house, Other Mommy appears in a bathroom while Bela is peeing. What is distinctive about Other Mommy’s appearance during this encounter?
A) She has wings.
B) She is faceless and holds her face in her hands.
C) She is covered in fur.
D) She glows in the dark.
6. (Short Answer) Where does Bela’s family take refuge after the entity drives them from Grandma Ruth’s house and then from Evelyn’s home?
7. (Multiple Choice) In Chapter 47, what secret does Mommy reveal to Bela on the Lake Michigan beach?
A) That Daddo is not Bela’s biological father.
B) That Other Mommy is actually a ghost of a lost child.
C) That the family is being filmed for a reality show.
D) That the entity can be killed with a silver knife.
8. (Short Answer) At the very end of the novel (Chapter 51), Bela finally gives Other Mommy the answer she has been demanding. What does Bela say?
Section 2: Character Motivation (5 questions)
9. (Multiple Choice) Why does Mommy confess her infidelity and the paternity secret to Bela on the beach?
A) She feels guilty and wants Bela to know the truth.
B) Lois Anthony tells the family that making Bela “less appetizing” will cause the entity to lose interest.
C) Daddo forces her to admit it.
D) Grandma Ruth overheard the secret.
10. (Multiple Choice) Why does Daddo fix the loose hinge on Bela’s closet door in Chapter 12?
A) He wants to make the closet feel safe for Bela.
B) He thinks a ghost is making the noise.
C) He is trying to impress Mommy.
D) He hopes to trap Other Mommy inside.
11. (Short Answer) In Chapter 5, why does Bela ask Daddo to watch a movie after she comes downstairs from seeing Other Mommy?
12. (Multiple Choice) Grandma Ruth insists on calling a specialist (not the police) after the entity appears at the Loblolly Pines. What motivates her stance?
A) She believes the police are corrupt.
B) She recognizes that supernatural threats require non‑standard help.
C) She wants to prove that the entity is a hoax.
D) She is afraid of the dogs.
13. (Short Answer) Why does Bela finally agree to let Other Mommy go into her heart in Chapter 51?
Section 3: Theme & Symbol (4 questions)
14. (Multiple Choice) The closet functions as a recurring symbol in the novel. What does it most often represent?
A) A place of safety and imagination
B) A threshold between the ordinary world and the supernatural
C) A storage area for family secrets
D) A trap for the entity
15. (Multiple Choice) In Chapter 50, Grandma Ruth compares the heart to a house. What does she say should not be turned into a “statue” inside that house?
A) Love
B) Painful feelings
C) Memories of the entity
D) Family rules
16. (Short Answer) The entity Other Mommy repeatedly asks, “Can I go into your heart?” How does the novel define what “going into the heart” means in terms of the entity’s goal?
17. (Multiple Choice) What does Bela’s innocence symbolize in the context of the entity’s interest in her?
A) Her naivety makes her an easy target for possession.
B) Her innocence proves she is pure enough to save.
C) It shows that she is too young to understand danger.
D) Her innocence frightens the entity away.
Section 4: Synthesis (3 questions)
18. (Short Answer) Throughout the novel, Bela describes Other Mommy as a friend. How does this friendship evolve from the beginning to the end of the story?
19. (Multiple Choice) The family attempts to escape the entity by moving to several different locations. What do these failed escapes reveal about the nature of the haunting?
A) The entity is tied to a specific geographic area.
B) The entity is attached to the family, especially to Bela, not to a place.
C) The haunting only occurs in houses with closets.
D) The entity can be outrun if the family drives fast enough.
20. (Short Answer) The title Incidents Around the House refers to the strange events experienced by the family. Considering the final outcome, what does the title suggest about the nature of the threat—is it merely a series of “incidents,” or something more permanent?
Answer Key
1. B – In Chapter 2, Other Mommy sits beside Bela and asks, “Can I go into your heart?” This demand recurs throughout the book.
2. B – In Chapter 3, Bela’s parents laugh at first when she mentions Other Mommy, but her mother’s smile fades and she grows uneasy.
3. At the wood room entrance of the playground slide. In Chapter 8, Bela sees Other Mommy’s fingers with hair curling around the opening of the wood room; afterward she realizes the entity has followed her outside.
4. C – In Chapter 16, Mommy sees the entity in the doorway of Bela’s bedroom when she turns on the light.
5. B – In Chapter 32, while Bela is in the bathroom, Other Mommy appears faceless, holding her own face in her hands beneath Bela.
6. Back to their own house. After failing to stay at friends’ houses, Grandma’s, and Evelyn’s, the family returns home and installs alarms and guard dogs.
7. A – Mommy reveals that Daddo is not Bela’s biological father; the father is Douglas Cain, her first husband.
8. “Yes.” In Chapter 51, Bela agrees to let Other Mommy go into her heart.
9. B – Lois Anthony suggests that making Bela “less appetizing” by taking away her innocence will cause the entity to lose interest. The paternity confession is part of that plan.
10. A – Daddo fixes the hinge to make the closet feel safe for Bela, not because he believes in the ghost.
11. She hides her fear from Daddo and tries to maintain a normal routine. Bela asks to watch a movie so Daddo won’t worry.
12. B – Grandma Ruth argues the police cannot deal with a supernatural intruder and insists on finding someone more knowledgeable about such matters.
13. She wants to stop the attacks and protect her parents. After Other Mommy hurts Grandma and knocks her parents unconscious, Bela agrees to the possession to end the violence.
14. B – The closet repeatedly serves as the threshold where Other Mommy emerges from the supernatural realm into the family home.
15. B – Grandma says painful feelings should not be turned into immovable statues; they need room to shift and flow.
16. Reincarnation/possession – the entity wants to take over Bela’s body by entering her heart, effectively swapping places with her.
17. A – Lois explains that the innocent are targeted first; the entity desires Bela’s innocence to corrupt and take over.
18. The relationship shifts from friendly curiosity (Bela initially welcomes Other Mommy) to fear and resistance, and finally to reluctant surrender when Bela says yes to save her family.
19. B – Each time the family moves, the entity follows them. Mommy realizes it is tied to them, not to any specific house.
20. The title suggests that the events begin as isolated “incidents,” but they escalate into a permanent, life‑altering haunting that culminates in possession, indicating the threat becomes inseparable from the family.