An unsettling horror story with a mysterious twist from a celebrated voice in horror. Perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts.
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.
(push your sister down the stairs)
But as the date approaches, her intrusive thoughts get worse, and Lailah fears she’s losing control.
(burn them alive in their beds)
Genre: Horror
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.
(push your sister down the stairs)
But as the date approaches, her intrusive thoughts get worse, and Lailah fears she’s losing control.
(burn them alive in their beds)
Genre: Horror
Praise for this book
"An outstanding read, and one I'll be revisiting whenever I need a reminder of how to write tragic cause-and-effect." - Nat Cassidy
"Chris Panatier will be a household name before long. Too bad all of those houses are haunted. Worry Box may just be his best yet, building up from the Spielbergian blueprints of Poltergeist, annexing Mike Flanagan's Bly Manor, then expanding upon Richard Mattheson's most heartfelt haunts to create a cursed house unlike any other, while still leaving plenty of room for his own preternaturally talented voice to flourish. Some books settle into your psyche after you read them. Worry Box moves into your mind and makes itself right at home. It's never leaving." - Clay McLeod Chapman
"An extraordinary nightmare." - Johnny Compton
"Worry Box is an anxiety machine, its spinning cogs greased with dread, chewing you up and spitting out your bones like the best horror novels should ... without an ounce of mercy." - Aaron Dries
"This house is not what it seems." - Jess Hagemann
"Cannot recommend this one highly enough." - Shaun Hamill
"Beautiful and horrifying in equally devastating ways, this book will shake you... and make you rush to hug a loved one." - Benjamin Liar
"Worry Box is a marvel of manipulation. Like all the most meaningful horror stories, it begins in the light, then beckons you down an ever-tightening corridor of dread. You follow, because Panatier is too good a storyteller to resist, but oh you hope for a doorway by the end. Anything to let the light back in." - Neil McRobert
"Panatier's Worry Box toys with you enough to keep you on your toes before delivering a creeping, eerie hook." - Robert P Ottone
"Unnerving and absolutely terrifying. Worry Box is more than a ghost story. It is a true haunting that will leave readers breathless." - Tanya Pell
"Sinister, intimate, and deeply unsettling. Worry Box stakes its place among the pantheon of iconic family-centered suburban hauntings. It descends into the fragile space where love becomes denial with suffocating tension. 'Buckle up,' sure, but I promise you: it won't be enough." - Peter Rosch
"Chris Panatier's Worry Box is a suburban, white-picket dream turned nightmare and a fresh take on what it means to haunt and be haunted. This book crept under my skin and preyed on my most maternal instincts. I was scared, sad, hopeful, and sick to my stomach by turn - sometimes all in the same chapter. I couldn't put it down." - Lora Senf
"Chris Panatier will be a household name before long. Too bad all of those houses are haunted. Worry Box may just be his best yet, building up from the Spielbergian blueprints of Poltergeist, annexing Mike Flanagan's Bly Manor, then expanding upon Richard Mattheson's most heartfelt haunts to create a cursed house unlike any other, while still leaving plenty of room for his own preternaturally talented voice to flourish. Some books settle into your psyche after you read them. Worry Box moves into your mind and makes itself right at home. It's never leaving." - Clay McLeod Chapman
"An extraordinary nightmare." - Johnny Compton
"Worry Box is an anxiety machine, its spinning cogs greased with dread, chewing you up and spitting out your bones like the best horror novels should ... without an ounce of mercy." - Aaron Dries
"This house is not what it seems." - Jess Hagemann
"Cannot recommend this one highly enough." - Shaun Hamill
"Beautiful and horrifying in equally devastating ways, this book will shake you... and make you rush to hug a loved one." - Benjamin Liar
"Worry Box is a marvel of manipulation. Like all the most meaningful horror stories, it begins in the light, then beckons you down an ever-tightening corridor of dread. You follow, because Panatier is too good a storyteller to resist, but oh you hope for a doorway by the end. Anything to let the light back in." - Neil McRobert
"Panatier's Worry Box toys with you enough to keep you on your toes before delivering a creeping, eerie hook." - Robert P Ottone
"Unnerving and absolutely terrifying. Worry Box is more than a ghost story. It is a true haunting that will leave readers breathless." - Tanya Pell
"Sinister, intimate, and deeply unsettling. Worry Box stakes its place among the pantheon of iconic family-centered suburban hauntings. It descends into the fragile space where love becomes denial with suffocating tension. 'Buckle up,' sure, but I promise you: it won't be enough." - Peter Rosch
"Chris Panatier's Worry Box is a suburban, white-picket dream turned nightmare and a fresh take on what it means to haunt and be haunted. This book crept under my skin and preyed on my most maternal instincts. I was scared, sad, hopeful, and sick to my stomach by turn - sometimes all in the same chapter. I couldn't put it down." - Lora Senf
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Chris Panatier's Worry Box