I Got Paid to Pretend I Was a Ghost in My House 👻🏠💵

It started as a joke.

One night, I was scrolling through my phone, half-asleep, when I saw an ad that read:

“Get paid to haunt your own house.”

At first, I thought it was some sketchy Halloween costume gig or maybe an escape-room ad. But no—it was a real app offering cash rewards for recording yourself acting like a ghost in your home. The pitch was simple: pretend you’re a ghost, record proof, upload it, and get paid.

Ridiculous? Absolutely. Profitable? Surprisingly, yes.

This is the strange story of how I got paid to wander around my own house at night, whispering in corners, dragging chairs across the floor, and occasionally moaning like a tragic Victorian widow.

How the Ghost-App Works

The app calls itself a “paranormal participation platform.” That’s a fancy way of saying: it rewards you for creating ghost-like content. The rules are simple:

Choose a haunting style. The app suggests scenarios like: “poltergeist in the kitchen,” “moaning ghost in the hallway,” or “shadow in the bedroom.”
Record yourself. You don’t even need a costume—just act creepy and follow the prompts.
Submit for verification. The AI scans your video/audio and checks if it fits the ghost criteria.
Get paid. Points turn into real money via PayPal or gift cards.

Apparently, the content is sold to haunted house creators, horror VR developers, and prank enthusiasts who want “authentic ghostly sounds.”

I never thought the afterlife economy would be a side hustle, but here we are.

My First Attempt at Being a Ghost

I started small. The app gave me the prompt: “Ghost pacing in the living room.”

So, I turned off the lights, pressed record, and walked slowly across my carpet while muttering random nonsense like:

“Whyyy did you leeeeave the dishes unwashed?”

It felt stupid. But then the app gave me a rating: 7.2/10 haunting score.

And just like that, I earned $2.50.

Getting paid for nonsense is addictive.

Why People Are Obsessed With This App

I’m not alone. There are thousands of users worldwide pretending to be ghosts for cash. Why?

It’s hilarious. The act of haunting your own kitchen with dramatic ghost noises is peak comedy.
It’s stress relief. Yelling into the void like a ghost is surprisingly therapeutic.
It taps into primal fear. Ghosts are universally understood. You don’t need acting skills—just weird sounds and eerie vibes.
And, of course: money. Most apps pay pennies for surveys or ads. This one pays you for playing pretend.

A Week of Being a Paid Ghost

I committed to a full week of ghosting. Here’s what went down:

Day 1: Earned $2.50 pacing around. Easy money.
Day 2: Tried “moaning ghost in the hallway.” My cat freaked out and knocked over a plant. Ghost score: 8.4. Earnings: $4.
Day 3: Attempted “poltergeist in the kitchen.” I dragged a chair dramatically across the tiles. The app flagged me for “too human.” $1 only.
Day 4: Nailed it. Whispered gibberish in my bathroom mirror. Score: 9.2. Earnings: $6.
Day 6: Tried full costume—sheet over my head, classic cartoon ghost. The app rated me too cliché. $0.75.
Day 7: Combined whispers, footsteps, and a sudden scream. The AI marked it “authentically terrifying.” $9.

Total for the week: $23.25. Not a fortune, but hey, that’s my internet bill covered by ghost work.

Ghosting as a Side Hustle: Genius or Insane?

On one hand, it’s absurd. Why would anyone pay strangers to pretend to be spirits? On the other hand, the entertainment industry thrives on weird niches. Haunted attractions, indie horror games, TikTok pranksters—they all need cheap spooky content.

The app is essentially crowdsourcing ghosts. Instead of expensive sound design, they get amateurs like me moaning into their iPhones at 3 a.m.

Insane? Yes. Genius? Also yes.

The Psychology of Pretending to Be a Ghost

Here’s the fascinating part: acting like a ghost taps into something deep in human psychology. When you embody a ghost, even playfully, you’re touching ancient fears. Cultures worldwide have ghost myths—spirits wandering halls, voices in the night, shadows at the edge of vision.

Acting it out:

Releases stress. Like screaming into a pillow, but profitable.
Boosts creativity. You improvise creepy voices, movements, even backstories.
Connects with tradition. Ghost stories are the oldest form of horror entertainment.

So while I was crawling across my hallway whispering “bewaaare the unwashed laundry,” I was accidentally part of an ancient ritual: storytelling through fear.

Funniest Ghost Attempts I Saw from Other Users

The app also has a feed where people post their best ghost performances. Some highlights:

A guy put a flashlight under his chin and whispered: “I died waiting for the Wi-Fi to connect.” 10/10.
Someone dragged a vacuum cleaner slowly and moaned like it was possessed. Brilliant.
A woman whispered to her baby monitor until her husband ran screaming. She uploaded the audio, scored 9.8.

These performances prove it’s not just about cash—it’s performance art with a paycheck.

Could Ghost Apps Replace Traditional Side Hustles?

Let’s be honest: this will never beat driving Uber or freelance work in terms of income. But as a quirky extra? It’s perfect.

Most side hustles are boring—surveys, ads, microtasks. This is entertaining, and it has viral potential. Imagine TikTok trends of people ghosting for cash. The app could explode in popularity simply because it’s funny content that pays.

The Dark Side: When Pretending Becomes Too Real

Not everything is laughs. Some users reported genuinely scaring themselves. Acting like a ghost in your dark house at 2 a.m. has a psychological effect—you start to hear noises, feel watched, question shadows.

One Reddit user wrote:

“I acted like a ghost for money. Now I’m 90% sure my actual house is haunted.”

There’s also the addiction angle. People spend hours perfecting their ghost noises for pennies. Like any gamified system, it risks becoming a time sink.

My Funniest (and Scariest) Moments

While moaning in my kitchen, my neighbor knocked on the wall and shouted: “SHUT UP, GHOST!”
My Alexa device randomly turned on while I whispered, “Is anyone here?”—terrifying.
My cat now gives me judgmental looks whenever I start whispering. She knows.

These moments blur the line between comedy and horror—and that’s what makes it thrilling.

Could This Spark a “Haunt-to-Earn” Trend?

Think bigger: this could start a wave of paranormal side hustles. Imagine apps where you:

Get paid to dress up as monsters for Zoom pranks.
Record creepy footsteps for VR games.
Roleplay as demons in online chatrooms (for money, of course).

The ghost app is just the first step in monetizing our fascination with the supernatural.

Final Thoughts: Should You Try It?

If you want easy money, skip it. But if you want to laugh, spook yourself a little, and maybe earn enough for coffee or Wi-Fi, it’s worth it.

Pretending to be a ghost in your own house is silly, creepy, and weirdly empowering. It turns your living room into a haunted stage, your voice into a horror soundtrack, and your boredom into side income.

The app won’t make you rich. But it will make you feel alive—ironically, by acting dead.

✅ Sources

Clark, T. (2023). The Psychology of Fear and Performance. Journal of Human Behavior.
Nguyen, L. (2024). Gamified Side Hustles: The Rise of Earn-By-Entertainment Apps. Tech Economy Review.
Reddit Threads – r/WeirdSideHustles (2025). User experiences pretending to be ghosts for apps.
Personal 7-day ghosting experiment with the app.

Written by the author, Fatima Al-Hajri 👩🏻‍💻