Chris Panatier is the author of The Redemption of Morgan Bright, the porta potty horror comedy Shitshow, and his new haunted house novel, Worry Box.

Chris talks about starting his first novel at 38 after seeing Interstellar, landing his debut The Phlebotomist through Angry Robot's open door submissions after about 90 agent passes, and balancing a trial lawyer career with ADHD he calls a surplus of focus. We dig into Shitshow, his dark carnival hidden inside a porta potty, and the latrine technician caring for his mother with dementia. Then we get into the StokerCon Death to Tropes panel and Neil McRobert advice that sparked Worry Box, a twist on the haunted house trope built around foster care, sisterhood, and intrusive thoughts. Plus, his witch novel Kill Me With Fire, a demon summoned by book burning, and the wide release of Daytide.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Cold Open: Where All His Humor Starts

00:35 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Chris Panatier

02:57 – Never Meaning to Write Horror

04:52 – A Self-Proclaimed Scaredy Cat and the Hand Off the Bed

06:24 – Why Dark Fiction Feels Cozy

07:44 – Horror, Metal Music and the Blood and Guts Myth

10:01 – Can Horror Come From Too Much Love

11:43 – Interstellar, Kip Thorne and Starting a Novel at 38

13:48 – A 100,000 Word "Middle Grade" Novel and an Art Trade Edit

14:43 – Janet Reid's Blog and Having Zero Expectations

16:08 – 90 Agent Passes and a Book Deal in His Hotmail Junk Folder

20:26 – Loving and Hating the First Draft

22:26 – 25 Years of Suing Big Corporations

23:51 – ADHD as a Surplus of Focus

27:57 – Finding the Horror Community at AuthorCon

29:34 – Clay McLeod Chapman, Clay Galloping and a Talking Scared Intro

32:31 – Why Horror Has Less of an Old Guard

37:25 – Shitshow: A Dark Carnival Inside a Porta Potty

38:46 – The Bike Ride That Sparked "Portal Potty"

40:31 – 80s Gonzo Horror and Flushing the Teens

41:35 – Sunday, Regina and the Fear of Dementia

44:27 – Worry Box Was Born at a StokerCon Panel

45:35 – Neil McRobert: "Go Write That, Don't Tell Anybody"

46:43 – Worry Box: A Haunted House Done Differently

48:24 – Love Bombing You With a Family

49:32 – His Little Sister and Ride or Die Dru

51:44 – Writing Bold Women the Way Men Write Men

55:01 – Lailah's Intrusive Thoughts and His Own as a New Dad

57:14 – The Moment He Realized the Book Was His Worry Box

59:45 – How Far Love Will Go

1:01:17 – Writing Characters People Love to Hate

1:02:53 – "There's No Limit to the Darkness"

1:03:38 – What's Next: Kill Me With Fire From Shortwave

1:04:46 – So You Wanna Summon a Demon and a Book Burning Demon

1:06:00 – Daytide Gets a Wide Release With Saga Press

1:07:46 – Horror on the Hudson and Rachel's Chewbacca

Grab your copy of Worry Box: https://amzn.to/3VUZFnS

Connect with Chris Panatier:

Website: https://chrispanatier.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrispanatier/

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Taylor Grothe, who also writes as T.G. Laine, is the author of the YA folk horror debut Hollow, the upcoming Monstrous Beautiful Things, and the new sapphic dark academia horror romance Lethal Kiss.

Taylor talks about a Catholic childhood of cemetery trips and saints' relics, writing Hollow through their own autism and queer identity, and why horror works as a lens rather than a genre. They break down their writing process, from a 2,000 word synopsis to drafting 3,000 words an hour in a three and a half week sprint. We dig into balancing romance beats and horror beats 50/50 in Lethal Kiss, femme rage, and the real Duke professor behind the book's dean. Plus, writing their first smut scene, book bans, and a first look at the queer Arthurian romantasy The Mage and the Liar Knight.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Cold Open: The "Needles in Eyeballs" Feeling

00:46 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Taylor Grothe

02:54 – Begging Dad for Cemetery Trips as a Kid

04:30 – Saints' Bodies, Reliquaries and a Catholic Creep Factor

05:26 – First Word "Chandelier" and Writing Through COVID Lockdown

07:59 – Why Times of Terror Spark Creation

10:13 – Horror Tells the Truth: A Lens, Not a Genre

13:17 – Goosebumps, High Fantasy and Picking at a Scab

14:17 – A Nonfiction MFA and a Medieval Literature Scholar

15:09 – Autism, Auditory Processing and Failing Out of Catholic School

16:44 – Duke, Academic Corruption and Owning a Brewery

21:47 – 175,000 Words of Historical Fiction and an Icelandic Horror Novel

22:19 – Writing Hollow for Their Undiagnosed Autistic, Queer Teen Self

25:31 – Why Taylor Stopped Reading Reviews

29:16 – Meet T.G. Laine: Why a Second Pen Name

31:48 – Seven Book Ideas in One Email to Their Agent

32:22 – Goblin Mode: Drafting a Book in Three and a Half Weeks

33:55 – From Pantser to a 2,000 Word Synopsis

36:47 – The "Needles in Eyeballs" Test for a Wrong Turn

38:11 – 3,000 Words an Hour and Cat Therapy

41:35 – Lethal Kiss: Lacie Is Who They Were, Marcella Who They Wished to Be

45:50 – Their First Happy Ending (Still Bloody)

46:27 – Threading Horror Beats Through Romance Beats

48:42 – The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known

49:54 – The Real Duke Professor Behind the Dean

52:44 – Girl Dinner and Storming a University Campus

54:19 – Writing Their First Smut Scene (and Hiding It From Dad)

58:12 – Why Romance and Horror Are Embodied Genres

1:00:56 – Writing, Coming Out as Nonbinary and Book Bans

1:05:53 – What's Next: Monstrous Beautiful Things and The Mage and the Liar Knight

1:07:22 – A Secret Mushroom Horror Romance for Fall 2027

Grab your copy of Lethal Kiss: https://amzn.to/3TtRvSx

Connect with Taylor Grothe:

Website: https://www.taylorgrothe.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlgrothe/

Newsletter: https://hallowedwords.substack.com

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

If you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!

CONTENT WARNING: This episode covers some sensitive topics such as Sexual Abuse and Domestic Violence.

Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award winning author of The Violence, Guillotine, Bloom, and the new sapphic botanical horror novella Monstera.

Delilah opens up about using horror to process domestic violence, sexual trauma, and being roofied on a date night, and how that shaped The Violence and It Will Only Hurt for a Moment. She breaks down how writing comics differs from writing novels, and what it takes to write franchise tie-ins for Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons Ravenloft, Minecraft, and Disney. We dig into eat-the-rich rage in Guillotine, Bloom as a female Hannibal in cottagecore, and why horror novellas hit like a stab. Plus, how Olympic weightlifting, a Savannah Victorian, and COVID houseplants grew into Monstera.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Cold Open: Why Horror Felt Safe When Home Didn't

00:38 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Delilah S. Dawson

03:25 – Growing Up With Domestic Violence and Finding Comfort in Horror

04:53 – Blockbuster Box Art and Basement Sleepover Scares

06:14 – Writing Her Own Trauma Into The Violence

10:09 – Sleepless New Mom Hallucinations and "Just Write a Book"

14:49 – A Zeus Ferry Romance Written Out of Spite (and 57 Rejections)

16:03 – Book Four Sells at Auction: Wicked as They Come

23:29 – Readers Who Found Healing in The Violence

25:57 – Novels vs. IP Books vs. Comics: How the Planning Changes

26:53 – ADHD, a Chapter a Day and Seven Comic Pages

30:09 – How Comic Scripts and Artists Actually Work Together

37:20 – Seventeen People in the Phasma Comments

37:51 – Keeping D&D Spells Legal on the Page

44:09 – Bloom's Cover Started as Delilah's Own Artwork

45:21 – Bloom: What If Hannibal Were a Cottagecore Woman

48:17 – Why Horror Novellas Hit Like a Stab

53:32 – Going Undercover at a Wellness Retreat for It Will Only Hurt for a Moment

1:01:28 – Olympic Weightlifting, Savannah and COVID Plants

1:04:17 – From People Pleaser to Unhinged Heroines

1:08:45 – What's Next: Shannara, a Slasher Novella and It's Only Forever

1:09:44 – A Bram Stoker Win for Ride or Die

Grab your copy of Monstera: https://bookshop.org/p/books/monstera/ea30b8a7de5d1aff

Connect with Delilah S. Dawson:

Website: https://www.delilahsdawson.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delilahsdawson/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/delilahsdawson.bsky.social

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@delilahsdawson

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

If you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!