Goodreads asked Richard Langridge:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Richard Langridge In this office I used to work in there was this room that was always locked. It was in the corridor right between the break room and my cubicle, and every day I'd pass it and think 'I wonder what's in there...'. So one day I asked one of my co-workers about it, and she said that nobody knew. They'd lost the key years ago, and no one had bothered to sort out a new one.

As time went on, I started to fantasize about what kind of sick, sordid things might lie inside. Like maybe that was where management performed human sacrifices whenever the figures weren't up to scratch. At least that would have explained why all the temps kept disappearing. It was also right about the time I started to believe my boss was an alien, so, you know. Mystery room. Alien boss. Two-plus-two.

They eventually found the key. This was after I'd left. An old work-buddy told me about it. Supposedly the room was just full of boxes filled with old, mouldy paperwork. So... yeah. No sacrificial chamber, no seedy goings-on. Naturally, I was heartbroken.

It did provide me with some good material, though.

So that was good.

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