Chris Panatier on Fatherhood, Fear, and Intrusive Thoughts

Chris Panatier returns to The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss his new novel Worry Box, out September 22 from Angry Robot. The book follows the Martin family as they move into a new home while preparing to adopt their foster daughter, Lailah. Troubled by increasingly violent intrusive thoughts, Lailah writes them down and hides them inside a homemade worry box, hoping to quiet her mind. When disturbing events begin unfolding around the house, the family is forced to question whether the danger comes from Lailah, their new home, or something none of them fully understand. In this conversation, Chris explains why he set out to write a horror novel in which every character is genuinely doing their best and things still fall apart. He talks openly about drawing Lailah's intrusive thoughts from his own experience, which intensified after his daughter was born. He describes the research he did into adoption and foster care, and his decision to avoid the story readers might expect. We get into Alison and Nathan, two parents with very different histories, and the point where they stop being a team and start butting heads. Chris also discusses Dru, the sister who holds on the longest, and why she became one of his all time favorite characters. He breaks down his approach to the house itself, which he treated as a member of the family with a history and a point of view of its own. He shares his theory that a house is essentially a sponge that absorbs the residue of everyone who has lived in it. We talk about the kinship between Worry Box and A Head Full of Ghosts, and where the two books diverge. Chris explains how humor functions as a pressure release valve inside an otherwise intense story. He reflects on twenty five years of trial work, and how prying a story out of unwilling hands taught him that a story never simply arrives intact. He talks about rewriting this book several times, and how instinct in art is acquired through repetition rather than something you are born with. Chris also looks ahead to Daytide arriving from Saga Press, a collaborative comedy slasher with Sam Rebelein called Final Girl Greg, and a forthcoming Angry Robot novel titled So You Want to Summon a Demon. He closes with a candid look at burnout, envy, and why he now celebrates every other writer's success. Official Website https://chrispanatier.com/ [chrispanatier](https://chrispanatier.com/) Instagram [  / chrispanatier  ](  / chrispanatier  ) Goodreads   / 18894703.chris_panatier   [goodreads](  / 18894703.chris_panatier  ) Publisher Page for Worry Box https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/wor... [angryrobotbooks](https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/wor...) Penguin Random House https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo... [penguinrandomhouse](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...) Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1836730322](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1836730322) Barnes and Noble [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/worr...](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/worr...) Support The Dark Mind Podcast [  / thedarkmindpodcast  ](  / thedarkmindpodcast  )