It had been a while since I jumped into a good ghost story, and I’d seen a lot of interesting opinions online about Christa Carmen’s How to Fake a Haunting, so I decided to take a look. I’ve never read a story of a haunting quite like this one – the premise is easily the most unique I’ve come across in some time, and I definitely have thoughts to share.

The story follows Lainey, a working mom married to an alcoholic nepobaby, who decides it’s time for a divorce but needs to find a way to guarantee full custody of her four-year-old daughter, Beatrix. Along with her work friend Adelaide, she comes up with a scheme to fake a haunting in her own home, psychologically tormenting her husband, Callum, to the point of insanity. Little does she know, mocking is catching, and she ends up inviting in something far more sinister.

Admittedly, I really didn’t like these characters because of their flaws – but that feels very intentional on Carmen’s part. This isn’t your standard gothic horror where the monsters are born from some distant, dusty past. Instead, the ghosts here are created by the characters’ own haunted histories. The novel tackles some very heavy topics, and the haunting itself becomes a sharp commentary on how past mistakes leave unresolved trauma that many of us would rather ignore entirely.

What I appreciated most is that Lainey isn’t written as a perfect or even particularly sympathetic lead. She’s deeply flawed, and she’s affected by those flaws in ways that feel painfully real. She makes a decision that (even if she never fully admits it) she clearly carries heavy regret for, alongside a crushing sense of helplessness. It’s a choice she felt she had no other option but to make, and the trauma of believing she had no choice follows her, shaping everything that comes after.

When it comes to Callum’s alcoholism, many readers online seem content to hate him outright, but honestly, I found myself feeling some sympathy for him. There’s no excuse for his behavior, but seeing how his family continuously pushes their generational alcoholism onto him – even, spoiler alert, after he gets clean – is a powerful reminder that while personal choice plays a role, familial pressure and hereditary tendencies matter as well. In my own family, particularly on my mom’s side, alcoholism and addiction are rampant, and many people refuse to even acknowledge that there’s a problem to begin with. I loved the portrayal of Callum’s sobriety by the end of the novel. It’s the kind of representation we need more of, especially in a world where sobriety is often discouraged or dismissed. Carmen gives him a genuinely hopeful ending, showing that recovery is possible and that things really can get better.

This book is available on Kindle Unlimited, as well as in audiobook format, which made it a great companion while being snowed in this week. It’s a perfect choice for long, boring stretches of time – every chapter is engaging, and it was exactly what I needed.

Overall, I highly recommend this one to anyone who loves a good haunting and is craving a fresh take on the genre. The idea of being haunted by your own self is what makes this story stand out, and I think it will resonate with a wide range of readers.