How to Fake a Haunting

De: Christa Carmen

Narrado por: Candace Fitzgerald

A desperate woman’s plot to frighten her husband out of her life takes a nightmarish turn in a chilling novel of modern horror by a Bram Stoker Award-winning author.

Lainey Taylor is being pushed to the brink by her alcoholic husband, Callum. Prone to hallucinations and erratic behavior, it’s only a matter of time before he puts Lainey’s life—and that of their daughter, Beatrix—in jeopardy. A divorce and full custody is out of the question. In Callum’s words: Over my dead body.

Lainey’s sympathetic friend Adelaide has a wild solution. They’ll stage a haunting so convincing it will drive Callum out of Lainey’s life for good. Nothing too over the top: strange smells, noises in the walls, and flies unleashed along the windowsills. It could work. Considering Callum’s alcohol-induced night terrors, he’s already close to broken. With each new scare, Lainey is closer to seeing the haunting through to its bitter, freeing end.

But in a house filled with so much rage, resentment, and fear, is it any wonder that Lainey and Adelaide’s plan goes horribly wrong? As their fake haunting spirals into something no one can control, Lainey discovers that the only way out of this frightening trap is to join forces with Callum, or die trying.

©2025 by Christa Carmen. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Christa Carmen delivers the goods in this twisty, clever domestic horror novel that Rachel Harrison fans will love! A twenty-first-century Amityville, haunted by marital strife and the meddling best friend we all need. Now I want the film version of this, immediately!”—Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of The Night Birds and Road of Bones

“How to Fake a Haunting is a poignant, frightening, and utterly original story about the ghosts that haunt families and the homes they create. By turns darkly funny, emotionally devastating, and memorably chilling, this book twists the horror genre in ways I never saw coming.”—Tracy Sierra, author of Nightwatching

“Christa Carmen joins the eerie echelon of Catriona Ward and Silvia Moreno-Garcia as one of the reigning queens of modern gothic. How to Fake a Haunting forgoes the fog and centuries-old castles for something far more frightening: the beguiling black mold insinuating itself within contemporary homelife. The gloom and ghouls may be prefab, but the ghosts lingering within this toxically haunted house are real all the same.”—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

A Different Type of Ghost Story

I think the narrator did a great job here with the different characters and their voices.
The story itself is good, chock full of gaslighting, haunting mastery and mystery, and pretty good characters.

A fun easy listen and great for spooky lovers

I am very glad I listened to this story despite the reviews left , as I thoroughly enjoyed it!
There were times yes that events taking place arranged by the main characters seemed very out there but even with that I enjoyed the characters and the home haunts, the growth the characters had as well. The twist in the events going on was much deeper then most ghost stories that start how this one did, and that was refreshing and made me think about our choices as humans and how things effect us more then we realize. I would listen again and will now move on to the authors other works !

Lots Going On

I listened to this over the duration of a few days. And honestly, there was SO much going on and so much detail…I found myself struggling to keep up.
Overall, the story was good, but I was lost quite a bit throughout listening to it. So I’ve rated it a 3. Perhaps one day I’ll actually read it, to absorb more of the information.

Very unique haunting!

I loved this unique take on a haunting. Truly. I really felt it. It wasn’t corny at all. And I feel like it was very original. How much could you hate a person to fake a haunting and have them go through a whole mental breakdown. You’d have to truly hate them! To watch them suffer. And to get enjoyment out of it. Something is bound to birth out of that hate.

Not a bad read. Did not care for the ending.

Overall the story was OK. I felt the ending was kind of cheesy which kept me from giving 4 stars.