In The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family by Lorien Lawrence, Gabby and Trent Manning are kinda famous – whether they like it or not. They’re twin siblings and the grandchildren of world-renowned paranormal investigators whose ghastly endeavors and haunting investigations were so iconic that they inspired many beloved horror books and movies.
Their grandparent’s fame fizzled years after their deaths, but their mom insists on bringing the family back into the limelight, dragging the twins all over New England and using their abilities to create spooky videos for their channel. Gabby and Trent inherited the same supernatural gifts as their family, but just because they have the ability, doesn’t mean they love ghost hunting or being connected to this paranormal legacy. In fact, Gabby is totally over it and Trent mostly just wants to keep his family happy.
When their mom brings them back to the abandoned Majestic Theater, the site of their grandparents’ final investigation, everything gets scary quick. Their mom goes missing and the twins come face to face with a terrifying, powerful demon – and they’re the only two who can set the spirits free and set everything right again.
An action-packed, spine-tingling ghost story about twins with supernatural powers—perfect for fans of Five Nights At Freddy’s and the Goosebumps series
Thirteen-year-old twins Gabby and Trent Manning are Connecticut’s youngest paranormal investigators. Both have inherited “the gift” from their grandparents, the Mannings, whose legendary ghost hunts inspired several books and movies—but whose names have been nearly forgotten since their untimely deaths years ago.
Armed with EMF machines, flashlights, and recording equipment, the twins’ mom drags them all over New England in an attempt to bring their family back into the limelight. Never mind that Gabby is tired of being known as a Ghost Twin, and Trent finds most of the haunts to be pretty frightening. Their mom thinks their latest destination is exactly what the family needs to go viral: the abandoned Majestic Theater, the site of the late Mannings’ infamous failed exorcism.
However, nothing about this investigation goes according to plan. After a terrifying séance-gone-wrong on the stage, their mother goes missing in the building, and it’s clear that a powerful demon is haunting the theater. Will the twins be able live up to their grandparents’ legacy and vanquish the demon—before it’s too late?
Featuring articles, interviews, and other found media throughout, The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family is packed with scares that will leave readers sleeping with the lights on.
The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family
AUTHOR: Lorien Lawrence
PUBLISHER: Amulet Books
DATE: March 18, 2025
The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family is a fast-paced, super-spooky page-turner that will have you on the edge of your seat. Perfect for reading under the covers with a flashlight, in the glow of a summer bonfire, or to read along with bunkmates at camp, this story is equal parts suspenseful and heartfelt. Because really, the only thing scarier than demons and spirits is standing up for yourself.
Want to know a little more about this terrifying tale? Author Lorien Lawrence shared five spine-tingling facts about the book!
Author Lorien Lawrence Shares 5 Fun Facts About The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family
FAMOUS GHOST HUNTING FAMILY
Imagine what it would be like to have two ghost-hunters as parents? Then your family vacations would be spent visiting super-haunted places, like abandoned buildings, old libraries, and crumbling theaters. Wild, right?? Well, this was my inspiration for my newest spooky book, The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family.
The story follows two middle school twins, Gabby and Trent, who are able to see and talk to ghosts. They come from a line of famous ghost-hunters, and their mom is determined to keep their family name in the headlines. This fictional family was loosely inspired by the real life ghost-hunting couple, the Warrens, who are also from Connecticut (where I’m from and where this story is set!). The Warrens traveled the world with their young daughter, finding ghosts, talking to ghosts, and getting rid of ghosts.
I always wondered what it would be like to be their child, tagging along to all of these haunted places. So I decided to write a story about that type of dynamic.
GHOSTLY RESEARCH
OK, so while I LOVE writing about ghosts, I don’t actually believe in them. I had to do a lot of research, though, and I learned about the differences between quiet ghosts and noisy ghosts (also known as poltergeists, which means ‘noisy ghost’ in German).
My book has a combination of those, which were both fun to write!
ABANDONED THEATERS
Much of the action in The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family takes place in an old abandoned theater named The Majestic. The theater is based on two real-life abandoned theatres in Connecticut: one is called The Majestic, and the other is called the Sterling Opera House. I reached out to the two cities to see if there was ANY way I could go inside the buildings, but they told me it was too dangerous, and that I would need a fire brigade to accompany me.
Since I don’t know how in the world I’d get a fire brigade, I had to settle for watching videos on YouTube. (Which was also kinda helpful, since the twins in the book have a very popular YouTube channel that follows them on their ghost hunts!)
DEMON POV
The book is told through THREE points of view: Trent, Gabby, and The Thing! Trent is the character I’m most like in real life. He’s quiet and creative, and a people-pleaser to a fault. He just wants his mom and sister to be happy – he’s forever afraid of disappointing people, and he doesn’t see his own strengths. Gabby is his opposite. She’s confident and hot-headed, and sometimes impulsive. She’s the brave one. But she’s sick of being brave. She wants out of the family ghost-hunting business, so she decides to tell her mom and brother after this one last haunt at the Majestic Theatre. Too bad, she runs into The Thing…
The Thing is a demon who haunts the theatre, and it was SUPER FUN writing from a villain’s point of view. Even the font changes when he pops up on the page. (And if you peel back the jacket on the hardcover book, you’ll see The Thing hiding underneath!)
SPOOKY SCENES
The Thing isn’t the only creepy thing, though. Throughout the story, I had the chance to write some spooky scenes where the twins meet life-size dancing puppets, instruments that play by themselves… And rats! Lots and lots of rats! That was a super gross scene to write.
To make it (at least somewhat) accurate, I had to research rats, which I did NOT enjoy. In the process, I learned what a rat king was – something I had never heard of. Given the name, I just assumed a rat king was going to be a giant rat (which is totally gross in itself!), but nope. A rat king is a GROUP of rats, all tangled together to create this monstrous mega rat. So of course I HAD to put that in the book!
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