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

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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

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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!

Neil McRobert is the host of the Talking Scared podcast, a PhD in Gothic literature, and the author of the Stephen King blurbed novella Good Boy, with the chapbook House of Butterflies coming in December.

Neil shares how a Vulture reading list for True Detective: Night Country led to Good Boy, a Northern Weird folk horror novella about a man, his dog, and a child-eating monster in a small English town. He explains why Good Boy is his answer to Stephen King's It, and what it really says about bigotry and getting stuck in your hometown. He gets honest about imposter syndrome at StokerCon, perfectionism, and why every podcast host should read the damn book. Plus, first details on House of Butterflies, set in a 1964 leaded gasoline refinery, and Bad Home, a violent home invasion novel about economic inequality.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Neil McRobert

02:44 – Harryhausen, Norse Serpents and a Lifelong Love of Monsters

04:31 – Dad Telling Him the Plot of Carrie on Holiday in Greece

05:19 – Point Horror and Getting His Mum Called Into School

07:00 – A Working Class Kid Who Wanted to Be a Film Director

08:47 – A PhD in Gothic Studies (and Horror Metafiction)

10:06 – Manny in Switzerland, Llama Farmer, Michelin Star Kitchen

13:10 – Why Writing Is Torture: Perfectionism and Type 2 Fun

15:32 – Imposter Syndrome and Not Feeling "In the Club"

17:52 – Quitting His Job in Lockdown and Emailing Paul Tremblay

21:30 – Fearless on Stage, Terrified of Rabies

24:25 – The Thrill of the Chase: How He Landed Stephen King

27:35 – A Rocky Mountain Horror Camp and Finding Your People

30:57 – Social Media Dopamine and Performative Rage Online

33:59 – The StokerCon Moment That Finally Made Him Write

37:43 – A Vulture Article, Bear Season and the Northern Weird Series

40:58 – 1,500 Words a Day: Writing Good Boy in Three Weeks

41:46 – Ted the Jack Russell and the Tree That Started It All

45:16 – Stephen King's It in a Small English Town

47:24 – Small British Towns, Bigotry and the Real Jim Howarth

50:35 – Doing Good Without Posting About It

52:18 – Growing Up on the Knee of Stephen King

57:33 – Why You Need to Read Dolores Claiborne

58:39 – Spinning Plates: Podcast Scripts and Reading Until 2 a.m.

1:02:53 – "Read the Damn Book": Why Hosts Have to Do the Homework

1:04:31 – The Day Stephen King Sent Him the New Talisman Manuscript

1:07:56 – House of Butterflies: Leaded Gasoline Horror in 1964 New Jersey

1:08:54 – Bad Home: Writing a Cruel Book With Heart

1:14:18 – Neil's Underrated Pick: The Hill in the Dark Grove

Grab your copy of Good Boy: https://www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/books/p/goodboy/9781068563102

Connect with Neil McRobert:

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

X: https://x.com/TalkScaredPod

Talking Scared Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-scared/id1530064310

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

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

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

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Isabel Cañas is the USA Today bestselling, Bram Stoker Award nominated author of The Hacienda, Vampires of El Norte, and her YA gothic debut, The House of Gardenias.

Isabel shares how an "air quotes too Mexican" rejection on her honeymoon in Mexico City led to The Hacienda, and how she defended her PhD in medieval Islamic history the day before it came out. She reveals the 1850s quote from Rio Grande bandit Juan Cortina about "flocks of vampires" that turned Vampires of El Norte into a story about settler colonialism. She connects The Possession of Alba Díaz to pregnancy, bodily autonomy, and the fall of Roe v. Wade. And she opens up about the real family story, her grandfather's abusive stepmother counting tortillas, that opens The House of Gardenias.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Isabel Cañas

06:25 – A Self-Proclaimed Scaredy Cat Reading Dracula Under the Desk

09:12 – The YA Fantasy Books by Women of Color That Cracked Her Brain Open

10:14 – "Too Mexican": Two Novels That Died on Submission

11:34 – A Honeymoon Rejection in Mexico City and the Birth of The Hacienda

14:59 – Writing for Your Id: The Secret Lecture Passed Between Writers

19:44 – Kitchen Table Storytelling and the Grandfather Who Inspired The House of Gardenias

24:33 – The Turkish Grammar Tense Made Just for Gossip

25:48 – Becoming a Published Author and a Doctor in 24 Hours

28:25 – A Medievalist's Research Obsession (and Why the Embroidery Has to Go)

32:56 – Would She Ever Write a Modern Gothic?

36:33 – "Lol, It's Actually Colonialism": Why Humans Are the Real Monsters

43:17 – Vampires of El Norte and the One-Sentence Pitch That Sold It

48:12 – The 1850s Post Office List Where She Found Néstor

53:46 – The Real "Flocks of Vampires" Quote Behind the Book

57:52 – The Possession of Alba Díaz: Pregnancy, Control, and Who Owns a Woman's Body

1:06:56 – The House of Gardenias: A Nightmare, a Grudge, and Her YA Comeback

1:12:51 – Grief, Loss, and the "Flesh and Blood" Editing Passes

1:20:19 – 200,000 Words and What's Coming Next

Grab your copy of The House of Gardenias: https://amzn.to/4qvK89l

Connect with Isabel Cañas:

Website: https://isabelcanas.com/

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

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

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!

Noelle Ihli is the international bestselling, Bram Stoker Award longlisted author of Ask for Andrea, Grey After Dark, and her latest thriller, The Last to Drown.

Noelle breaks down how the real case of serial killer Israel Keyes shaped the stalker terrorizing a women's rafting retreat in The Last to Drown, and the true story of an Olympic athlete's abduction behind Grey After Dark. She talks about ghostwriting fiction before her own career, self-publishing her debut The Thicket after fifty rejection letters, and the cover redesign that turned Ask for Andrea into a BookTok phenomenon. Noelle also opens up about the Ted Bundy documentary that inspired the ghosts in Ask for Andrea, and how she protects her creative process from online criticism.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Cold Open: "A Little More Empathy for Victims and Survivors"

00:57 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Noelle Ihli

02:59 – A Childhood Drawn to "the Scary, the Spooky" and Watching Censored Horror at "Clean Flicks"

07:28 – Inside the Secret World of Ghostwriting Fiction

16:18 – Why True Crime and the Chowchilla Kidnapping Shape Her Fiction

22:15 – Fifty Rejection Letters Before Self-Publishing The Thicket

25:40 – The Cover Redesign That Turned Ask for Andrea Into a BookTok Avalanche

31:35 – Setting Boundaries With Reviews (and the Shirt With Her Best and Worst Ones)

38:49 – The Ted Bundy Documentary Behind Ask for Andrea's Ghosts

48:08 – The Real Late-Night Car Chase Behind Run on Red

52:01 – The Olympic Athlete Abduction That Inspired Grey After Dark

56:49 – Israel Keyes, the Serial Killer Behind The Last to Drown

1:05:16 – First Look at Her Darkest Book Yet, Coming in 2027

Grab your copy of The Last to Drown: https://amzn.to/45weT4w

Connect with Noelle Ihli:

Website: https://noellewihli.com/

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

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

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!

Leopoldo Gout is the acclaimed visual artist and author behind the horror novel Pinata, the Ghost Radio series, and out today, his stunning new novel, Rooted.

Leopoldo breaks down the true, horrifying history behind Pinata, how Spanish conquistadors forced Aztec children to break piñatas containing their own gods. He talks about the real artifact repatriation lawsuits reclaiming stolen Mexican heritage from Europe that inspired Rooted's archaeologist lead, and his mission to reverse engineer the trope of the evil witch into a protector. Leopoldo also opens up about writing as a dyslexic author, his unusual "photographic scent memory," and the real history behind the word abracadabra.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Leopoldo Gout

02:52 – "I Don't See Horror as Spooky, I See It as Beauty"

04:13 – Day of the Dead vs. the James Bond Carnival Version

08:03 – Discovering Horror as Social Commentary Through Night of the Living Dead

14:42 – Losing His Home and Studio to a Fire He Believes Was Arson

20:56 – His "Photographic Scent Memory" and How It Shapes His Prose

37:10 – The True, Horrific History Behind Pinata's Piñatas

41:00 – The Real Lawyer Fighting to Reclaim Mexico's Stolen Artifacts

44:19 – Reverse Engineering the Witch: Rooted's Central Idea

1:05:15 – First Look at His New Anthology Story, Luz e Fer

1:17:22 – "I Don't Believe There's a Genre Called Horror"

Grab your copy of Rooted: https://amzn.to/4bUk95u

Connect with Leopoldo Gout:

Website: https://www.leopoldogout.com/

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

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

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!

Nick Roberts is the award winning, indie horror author behind the bestselling Exorcist's House trilogy, Mean Spirited, and his debut novel Anathema, and he's one of the most reliably terrifying voices working in horror today.

He talks about being a hybrid author, splitting his work between Crystal Lake, Wicked House, his own imprint Spooky WV, and now Zando's new horror line Evil Twin. Nick breaks down structuring The Exorcist's House: Genesis like The Godfather Part II, and building suspense the way Stephen King does in 1408. He opens up about writing addiction and recovery into Anathema and Mean Spirited, and the dog named Conehead who ended up hijacking the latter. Plus, a first look at his possession anthology Haunted Minds with a foreword by Stephen Graham Jones, his next novel Can You Help Me With an Exorcism?, and his story in the Shining anthology Views from the Overlook.

Timestamps:

00:48 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Nick Roberts

02:33 – The "Is Nick Roberts Okay?" Reaction Readers Have to His Books

04:26 – Falling in Love with Horror Through Library Book Covers and Goosebumps

07:01 – Did Horror Ever Scare Him? Renting Pulp Fiction and Discovering the Craft

09:26 – The Writer-Director Dream That Fell Apart Before Film School

11:00 – Teaching English While Sneaking In Horror Film Electives

16:36 – Why Every Nick Roberts Book Starts as a Movie in His Head

17:37 – Being a Hybrid Author: Balancing Crystal Lake, Wicked House, and Self-Publishing

23:18 – From Anathema's COVID Release to Quitting Teaching for Full-Time Writing

30:44 – Why He Pantses Instead of Plots (and the Stephen Graham Jones Line That Inspired Him)

32:10 – The Stephen Graham Jones Outline He Wrote Just to Throw in the Trash

34:16 – Winning the Horror Authors Guild Debut Novel Award for Anathema

37:16 – Writing Recovery and Addiction Into Anathema and Mean Spirited

43:34 – Building Scares Like Stephen King's 1408

48:45 – Structuring The Exorcist's House: Genesis Like The Godfather Part II

54:01 – Falling In Love With a Character Before Something Horrible Happens

56:16 – Writing From the Killer's POV in My Corpse Has a Heartbeat

59:34 – First Look at the Haunted Minds Possession Anthology With Stephen Graham Jones

1:05:15 – A Tease of His Work in Progress, Appalachian Chainsaw

Grab your copy of The Exorcist's House: https://amzn.to/4zoEcmB

Connect with Nick Roberts:

Website: https://www.nickrobertsauthor.com/

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

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

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!