HOW TO FAKE A HAUNTING by Christa Carmen – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

How To Fake a Haunting by Christa Carmen
Published by Thomas & Mercer on October 7 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 322
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Ghosts both psychological and real haunt the pages of Christa Carmen’s latest, a unique, shiver-inducing take on the haunted house story.

“So”—Adelaide’s eyes had that glint again, all fire and excitement—”what do you say? Shall we turn this place into a motherfucking haunted house?”

This is my third Christa Carmen book, and while it wasn’t my favorite of hers, it’s still very, very good. Carmen puts an interesting spin on the haunted house trope and gives readers some fun surprises as well. The story is heavy on domestic drama, since it revolves around a woman who is trying to leave her alcoholic husband, and there are a couple of trigger warnings I’ll hide at the end of the post, one of which could be considered a spoiler but might be important for some readers to know about.

Lainey and Cal have been married for six years and have a four year old daughter named Beatrice. They’ve recently built their house from the ground up and are settling in. However Lainey is on pins and needles because Cal is an alcoholic and has been for their entire relationship. Despite her pleadings to get sober for the sake of their daughter, Cal just can’t stop drinking. And after car accident that could have ended up much worse, Lainey has had enough. The trouble is, Cal’s mother is overly protective of him and doesn’t acknowledge his problem, plus she’s well connected. Lainey knows if she tried to file for divorce, Cal would end up with custody of Bea, and Lainey just can’t allow that to happen.

Enter Lainey’s friend Adelaide, who has come up with a crazy idea to solve the problem. She proposes they stage a fake haunting to scare Cal into leaving. If Cal leaves on his own, he won’t be able to get custody of Bea. 

Lainey agrees, and Adelaide sets up an elaborate plan to scare Cal away. But in the midst of the fake haunting, something real might be lurking in the house as well. 

I loved the idea of someone staging a fake haunting and then finding out that not everything they see and hear is part of the set-up. Adelaide is quite creative with her plans, and in fact she’s a bit out of control (more on Adelaide later). She finds ways to sneak into the couple’s attic to set up her “hauntings,” going so far as to hide a ladder in the nearby woods and drag it to the back of the house every time she needs access. As for Lainey’s part in the charade, she has to pretend that she doesn’t see or hear anything in order to drive Cal over the edge. This gaslighting was uncomfortable to say the least, but it was necessary for Lainey’s end goal.

The story takes a very creepy turn when Lainey starts seeing things that aren’t part of Adelaide’s plans. Carmen really knows how to write chilling scenes, and while I don’t want to give away specifics, I will mention that she does a great job using the mirrors in the house to scare the pants off the reader. I personally think mirrors can be one of the scariest horror devices, and I seriously thought about covering up my own mirrors after reading this book!

There are a few things that didn’t quite work for me, though. Adelaide’s obsession with the fake haunting is over-the-top, and some of the things she and Lainey come up with are ridiculous (like trying to convince a plumber to help them run a line of fake blood to the shower). Lots of silliness ensues in the first part of the book as they carry out their plans, and while there’s a good deal of scary content mixed in as well, I grew tired of Adelaide’s shenanigans.

And because the story is relationship focused, there’s lot of bickering and yelling between Cal and Lainey. I could not figure out why Lainey even married Cal in the first place, to be honest, knowing he had a problem with alcohol. It’s an unhappy marriage made even more emotional because there’s a child involved, and while the author did a good job of portraying the fear and uncertainty of living with an alcoholic, the two never really worked anything out, but instead kept rehashing the same arguments over and over.

And I learned something new: Lainey discovers something called a Prince Rupert Drop and uses it in an extremely sinister way as part of the fake haunting. Of course I looked it up, and you should too!

Carmen eventually reveals what is actually haunting Cal and Lainey, and I thought it was such a cool idea. The ending worked very well too and didn’t go in the direction I was expecting, which is a good thing. How To Fake a Haunting has plenty of creepy scenes to satisfy readers looking for a good haunted house story, and now is the perfect time to grab a copy.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.