How to Fake a Haunting—A Twisted, Terrifying Take on the Haunted House Trope

How to Fake a Haunting is not your average ghost story. It’s layered, subversive, chilling, and, at times, deeply uncomfortable in all the right ways. I was lucky to receive an ARC through NetGalley (shoutout to Bookthreads, where I think I first saw it recommended), and it turned out to be a standout paranormal horror-thriller that left me genuinely rattled… and surprisingly satisfied.

At a Glance

A Haunting That Starts Off as a Lie

The setup is clever: Lainey and her best friend Adelaide decide to "haunt" Lainey's gaslighting husband into madness so she can gain full custody of their daughter. Sounds extreme? Yes. But also darkly satisfying, especially when you're as fed up with controlling husbands as Lainey is. The early chapters are filled with prankish schemes and a biting sense of justice—until things start happening that Lainey didn’t plan. And that’s when the real haunting begins.

Characters You Love to Hate—and Still Root For

The characters in this book were simultaneously my favorite and least favorite part, which made me realize something important: you can hate a character and still love the book. Every person in this story is layered. Even the characters you're rooting against are written with such realism and nuance that they’re hard to completely villainize.

Lainey, in particular, is a compelling lead. Flawed, desperate, morally murky, but oh-so-human. Watching her navigate the mess she’s created, only to stumble into something far darker than she anticipated, was engrossing.

Atmosphere & Tension

Christa Carmen excels at creating mood. The first half of the book feels almost fun—you’re giggling at the haunted house antics and Cal’s bewildered reactions. But once the story pivots, the atmosphere turns on a dime. Suddenly it’s not fun anymore. It’s claustrophobic. Menacing. The kind of horror that seeps into your bones and makes you want to finish the book before you go to sleep, just to escape the dread.

And while the ending did feel a little rushed, it also amplified the breathless tension that had been building. I didn’t mind—I was too busy holding my breath.

What Makes It Stand Out

• A fresh spin on the “gaslighting husband” trope. Instead of the husband manipulating reality, it’s the wife orchestrating the lie. The moral murkiness here is chef’s kiss.
• A haunted house story that plays with genre expectations—moving from mischief to malevolence with expert pacing.
• Horror rooted not just in ghosts, but in human trauma, regret, and the things we lie to ourselves about.
• Multidimensional characters you can’t quite categorize as good or bad.

Themes & Tropes

🏚️ Haunted house (but with a twist)

👻 Gaslighting flipped on its head

🔥 Best friends with questionable morals

🕯️ Paranoia & creeping dread

🧠 Unreliable narration

🩸 Emotional and supernatural horror

🎭 Revenge-turned-nightmare

⏳ Facing your past before it consumes you

Final Thoughts

How to Fake a Haunting is dark, eerie, and deeply human. It’s the kind of story that pulls you in with a devilishly clever premise and then tightens the screws until you’re squirming—deliciously so. This one’s for fans of haunted house stories, horror with heart, and thrillers that don’t play by the rules. If you’re stuck in a reading slump or just want something with bite, this is the prescription.

You’ll laugh. You’ll cringe. You might even check your closet before bed.