Author: Chris Panatier
Publication: September 22, 2026 by Angry Robot
Genre: Horror
Find it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | Waterstones
Rating: 5/5★
The Martins need a new home for their growing family. For Alison, Nathan, daughter Dru, and foster child Lailah, it’s love at first sight when they see the house in Tumbling Hills. It even has a cozy attic, which is great for Lailah: she needs a quiet place to be alone when her intrusive thoughts creep in.
(crack an egg into the coffee machine)
The family gets settled. The house is perfect, and so is the timing – Lailah’s adoption will soon be finalized. But as the date approaches, her intrusive thoughts become worse, and bad things start to happen. Lailah fears she’s losing control.
(push your sister down the stairs)
The family is on edge, pointing fingers and taking sides. And even though they love each other very much, the cracks begin to show. Something has got to give.
(burn them alive in their beds)
Worry Box by Chris Panatier ended up being one of the best haunted house books I've ever read. It offered such a unique take on a classic and well-used trope. Told through multiple points of view, the story slowly unravels, keeping me on edge and making me increasingly anxious to find out what would happen next with each chapter. It had exactly the kind of tension I love in a horror novel like this.
The story follows the Martin family: Alison, Nathan, their 9-year-old daughter Dru, and their 11-year-old foster daughter Lailah, whom they hope to adopt. When they move into a new house, Lailah’s dark and unwanted intrusive thoughts start manifesting in disturbing ways. Despite using a worry box to help manage these thoughts, things take an even darker turn with the arrival of baby Evan.
I loved how the sense of dread kept building throughout the story, leaving me increasingly uneasy and on edge, making the story all the more effective as a horror novel. The idea of Lailah’s intrusive thoughts seemingly manifesting in real life made the whole story even more unsettling. I loved how the story kept me questioning who I could trust, never quite knowing whether Lailah was responsible for what was happening, if someone else in the family was involved, or if the house itself was to blame.
Besides the family’s POVs, Andy’s perspective added another layer of strangeness to the story and made everything even more intriguing and unpredictable. Of course I won't reveal who Andy is but I thought this was such a brilliant addition to the story.
Overall, Worry Box by Chris Panatier was a deeply unsettling read that kept me on edge and left me anxious about what disturbing turn the story would take next. It's easily become one of my favourite haunted house novels!
The story follows the Martin family: Alison, Nathan, their 9-year-old daughter Dru, and their 11-year-old foster daughter Lailah, whom they hope to adopt. When they move into a new house, Lailah’s dark and unwanted intrusive thoughts start manifesting in disturbing ways. Despite using a worry box to help manage these thoughts, things take an even darker turn with the arrival of baby Evan.
I loved how the sense of dread kept building throughout the story, leaving me increasingly uneasy and on edge, making the story all the more effective as a horror novel. The idea of Lailah’s intrusive thoughts seemingly manifesting in real life made the whole story even more unsettling. I loved how the story kept me questioning who I could trust, never quite knowing whether Lailah was responsible for what was happening, if someone else in the family was involved, or if the house itself was to blame.
Besides the family’s POVs, Andy’s perspective added another layer of strangeness to the story and made everything even more intriguing and unpredictable. Of course I won't reveal who Andy is but I thought this was such a brilliant addition to the story.
Overall, Worry Box by Chris Panatier was a deeply unsettling read that kept me on edge and left me anxious about what disturbing turn the story would take next. It's easily become one of my favourite haunted house novels!
About the author:
Chris Panatier is the author of Stringers and The Phlebotomist. He lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, daughter, and a fluctuating herd of animals resembling dogs (one is almost certainly a goat). He writes short stories and novels, “plays” the drums, and draws album covers for metal bands.
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