Westerly’s Christa Carmen Releases New Book That Peeks Beneath the Poet’s House

Rhode Island is home to a treasure trove of spooky settings, and in her horror-fiction novels, author Christa Carmen is adept at turning slightly creepy lore and locations into the truly frightening. “I can’t help but think there’s something haunted and horrific about America’s smallest state,” she begins with a grin. “There’s such a sense of isolation in the winter, of things lurking in the cold and waiting to awaken.” So far, the Westerly-based writer has taken readers to a haunted mansion in The Daughters of Block Island, and now to a vast maze of dark, dank tunnels under Providence’s East Side in her latest Beneath the Poet’s House (released December).

Based in part on the 19th century real-life romance between Sarah Helen Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe, Beneath the Poet’s House takes place in and around College Hill, including the Providence Athenaeum and the Brown University campus. The historical romance between Poe and Whitman runs parallel to the fictional arc of recently widowed protagonist Saoirse White and her paramour, acclaimed writer and professor Emmit Powell. As the ghosts of the past proceed to haunt their courtship, Saoirse and her three quirky friends must uncover the truth – before it’s too late.

Through her storytelling, Carmen is able to bring Whitman, an often overlooked poet, essayist and critic, to life. “She was a fascinating, multifaceted and purposeful individual, a woman who knew her own mind and surrounded herself with similarly idea-driven friends… and romantic interests,” Carmen explains. Much of the action takes place beneath the streets of Providence in a maze of underground tunnels that, although only exist in Carmen’s imagination, feel very real indeed. As she explains in the novel’s afterword, the catacombs were created based on long-believed rumors of slave tunnels running under the city, but they do not really exist, so don’t go digging.

Carmen’s settings serve as characters in her tales, which correlates directly with how comfortable and acquainted she is with them. “I find that setting a work of fiction in an intimately familiar place makes for fiction that can be more dynamic to read, and more enjoyable to write,” she says. The native Rhode Islander appreciates the warm response she receives, expressing, “I am tremendously grateful for my readers and the support of local bookstores and organizations. I love how game readers are to jump into the dark and rippling waters and it’s so much fun to talk about ways to incorporate Rhode Island into horror stories.”

Her first novel, Daughters of Block Island, was a smash hit, winning her praise and honors including a prized Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. With a third novel scheduled for later in the year, she remains modest, saying, “If you’d told me 10 years ago that, in 2025, I’d be poised to have my third novel published, I would have fallen on the floor.” How to Fake a Haunting, expected this fall, will also take place in Rhode Island, this time in Newport. Carmen hints that it will be a little darker than her previous two novels, and that’s saying something. Learn more at ChristaCarmen.com.