Title: How to Fake a Haunting
Author: Christa Carmen
Genre: Adult, horror
Publication date: October 2025
Published by: Thomas & Mercer
Source: Purchased paperback
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Synopsis: 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.
"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?”
I LOVED the premise of this book! This is what our protagonist has been dealing with in her home life:
My current reality—shackled to a man more concerned with drinking than his daughter, my dreams reduced to getting through each day, holding things together for Bea while practically falling apart myself.
