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.