I received this book for free from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Shitshow by Chris Panatier Published by Sobelo Books on September 2 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 214
Format: eARC
Source: Author
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The nitty-gritty: Carnival horror meets gross-out humor in this wickedly funny, touching tale about memory, friendship and port-a-potties.
“And you’re saying he’s coming in through the port-a-potties?”
“Portal-potties. Sorta like Doctor Who, except the Tardis is a shitter.”
“Tardis?”
“Goddamn, Gaynes, like a time machine.”
What if a port-a-potty was a portal-potty? That’s the idea behind Chris Panatier’s Shitshow, a funny, gross, absurd and emotional story about a man dealing with his mother’s declining health and how he tries to save her. Not many authors can get away with mixing latrine humor and Alzheimer’s, but Chris pulls it off splendidly.
We follow Sunday McWhorter, a fifty-something “latrine technician”—ok let’s be real, he services port-a-potties—who is dealing with his mother Regina’s dementia and still trying to keep his job. His neighbor Ms. Poppy watches Regina when Sunday is working, but even then it’s hard to monitor her 24/7. So when Regina goes missing one day, Sunday isn’t too worried. It’s happened before, and he knows where to look for her.
Except this time, Regina is gone. Sunday is determined to find her, and he suspects her disappearance might have something to do with another missing persons case at a local fairground, where two teens disappeared near a port-a-potty. With the help of Ms. Poppy, Sunday embarks on a weird journey to find his mother. Something evil is rising in Dublin, Texas, and Sunday must stop it before Regina is lost forever.
The humor in Shitshow won’t appeal to everyone, and honestly it’s not something I usually enjoy. But this is such a well written story, that the occasional turd joke or description of what happens inside the port-a-potties didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all. The idea of port-a-potties as portals to a dark carnival world is so outlandish—but it works, and I found myself laughing in the most inappropriate places. There are definitely some over-the-top gross-out moments, although they aren’t the focus of the story.
There’s plenty of crazy action as well, and Sunday is joined by a few memorable and very quirky characters. Ms. Poppy is a tiny, cigar-smoking woman who can’t believe Regina disappeared on her watch, and so she’s committed to saving her. Sunday meets a young girl named Gabby at a museum who has an interesting connection to what’s going on. Gabby also explains the title of the book, which is hilarious! I loved Sunday’s character too. He takes his latrine technician job seriously (which is funny in itself), and his devotion to Regina is heartwarming.
Sunday’s search for his mother adds a nice mystery element to the story, although it’s a bit of a circuitous journey that involves geo tags, an evil stuffed rabbit, and a visit to a museum. Once Sunday finds Regina, the story shifts into an emotional and devastating look at the effects of memory loss. Panatier gives readers a brilliant twist on dealing with these challenges, and the story ends on a poignant, hopeful note with a sort of magical, “wishful thinking” solution. Chris Panatier never disappoints—Shitshow is excellent and highly recommended.
Big thanks to the author for providing a review copy.
This doesn’t really sound like my kind of read but I’m glad you enjoyed it so much. It’s definitely not a concept that I’ve come across before, that’s for sure. And the carnival style world intrigues me. On the whole it sounds too odd for me though and I feel like the humour probably wouldn’t click for me. It’s lovely that you were pleasantly surprised on that count though.
Yes, the humor is very subjective:-)
As a big Doctor Who fan I appreciate the quote! Already would read it just for that, even though it isn’t something I would pick up myself right away. It does sound like a really funny book!
It was so different from anything I’ve read, and a nice change of pace:-)
OMG I need this! Great review.
Thanks Barb! It was a lot of fun.
Ha! This sounds like a fun time.
It was a blast!
Sounds pretty good, and glad you liked it!! But… it’s pretty short, Tammy. Maybe if it were 800 pages longer…?
LOL. You really need to try a short book sometime, Will;-)
Nah, that sounds boring 😉
The evil stuffed bunny sounds interesting! And the whole book seems really original, I am glad it worked so well for you!!
It was original for sure!
I don’t even know what to say… I just have nothing… but I can’t stop smiling, so I think I’d like to read this one myself. 🙂
LOL it will definitely make you smile!
OMG! I am glad you loved it and that quote is amazing but I don’t think it would be for me…
I do like this author so I would give this one a try even though it doesn’t sound like my usual read.
Lynn 😀
That is quite the hilarious and unique idea behind this! Love the cover, sounds like you enjoyed it even if it wasn’t your normal type of humor though. Great review!
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