I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you love horror movies and campy 90s films this one will be for you. I loved the 90s setting and the curse of the film. The writing is fast paced and twisty and you just want to keep going. I finished this in a day. It is not overly scary, though I just enjoyed the setting, the characters and the plot. This would make a great movie! If you are a horror and slasher fan, get yourself a copy of this book, it is so well done!

This is my first book by this author. It is told in third person and follows Laura. Each chapter is preceded by various excerpts from scripts, quotes about the films from relevant publications, etc. Laura sometimes blacks out and can’t remember what happened making her a bit of an unreliable narrator. She has suffered from a great deal of trauma from the events surrounding the movie she starred in as a child as well as the strain of being a child actor and all that entails from paparazzi to obsessed fans who confuse fiction for reality.

When things start to go south on the new movie set and new bodies start piling up, these blackout episodes make Laura doubt herself. Catching several people that are close to her that she somewhat trusts in lies also makes her wonder if she’s imaging things or being gaslighted. I enjoyed the did she or didn’t she push/pull of this story. I also enjoy a story that leads me on a guessing game of is a real person behind it all or is there really a supernatural force at large committing heinous crimes and getting away with it by placing the blame on seemingly innocent bystanders.

I found it a suspenseful and intriguing ride, though not really scary. Recommended to lovers of stories about horror films and Hollywood.

Thank you to Netgalley and GP Putnam’s Sons for a copy provided for an honest review.

DNF at 40%. This book feels incredibly derivative of last year's Curse of the Reaper, and I'm having a real hard time caring despite my fondness for cursed movie productions. It's slow and plodding, and 'protagonist suffers from blackouts right before violent incidents occur' is probably my least favorite trope ever. So far, this book feels too familiar in the been there, done that kind of way, and I'm not connecting with it at all despite too many days of trying. This one's not for me.

DNF at 31%

I can freely admit that this is a good book. The concept is great, the writing is suspenseful, and Winning does a great job of avoiding some of the pitfalls that plague the horror genre.

That being said, this book has made me realize that as hard as I try, I am just not a horror fan. I just cannot suspend my disbelief enough to get into the books. This is probably one of the best versions of the horror novel that I have read and I just can't take it seriously. I figured it would be better to DNF than to push through and give a somewhat unfair review to the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P Putnam's Sons for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

This book was AWESOME!

I enjoyed this one so much I don't even know where to start! Do you ever read a book that you feel was written specifically for you? Burn the Negative is everything I love in horror all written into one perfectly creepy book!

There's the mixed media pages (newspaper clips, articles, script pages etc), the book centering around a horror film, a slasher element, a mystery element, murders, and a bit of the paranormal. Seriously everything I could ever ask for. I was hooked from page one and I flew through the chapters right up to the wicked ending. I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this one.

**Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the audio copy of this book. All opinions are my own.**

Spoiler free review
Burn the Negative by Josh Winning is one of the most fun books that I’ve read in months. The story revolves around Laura, who is a former child star who now works as a journalist. Laura is returning to Hollywood to write about a new horror series called It Feeds, which is apparently a remake of Laura’s final movie The Guesthouse. Many people believe that this film is cursed because eight people involved in the filming died tragically. Now people involved with It Feeds are dying. Who or what is responsible for these deaths? Can Laura solve the mystery of the deaths and possibly stop them?
This book really read like a movie. I could see everything happening and I can also see this perhaps becoming a movie or a series. Even though I know all of the twists and turns, I would absolutely watch because this was such an entertaining read. If you are a fan of horror movies at all, you’ll love this book.

3.5 stars rounded up, because The Guesthouse is a movie I would totally watch.

This mash up of a thriller and horror story keeps you guessing the whole time. All of the characters leave you questioning their motives, and when you think things will finally be cleared up, you are left with wanting to know even more. It's a perfect read for those who love horror movies, and especially those interested in the curses that seem to surround many of them. A little slow to start off, the story picks up as you learn more about the characters, and the movie The Guesthouse, as well as, it's monster the Needle Man.

Josh Winning’s novel The Shadow Glass blew me away with its mixture of nostalgia, pop culture and fantasy, and I was excited to hear that he was bringing two of those to his next novel. In Burn the Negative Winning proves that he can master more than one genre, taking on horror and applying the same love for nostalgia and pop culture to his story that made The Shadow Glass so interesting.

In 1993 the horror movie filming of The Guesthouse became infamous when eight of the cast and crew died in ways that eerily mirrored the movie’s on-screen deaths, prompting people to claim that the movie was cursed. It gained a cult following with people trading theories for decades later, including what happened to Polly Tremaine the child actor who played the little girl who told people how they died in the movie. Polly mysteriously disappeared after the movie was released and no one knows what happened to her.

Laura knows. Laura is Polly, or she was. After something happened that terrified her parents, her whole family moved to England and Polly became Laura. Since then Laura has changed everything about herself including her hair and her accent. She’s a well published entertainment journalist and for the first time since leaving L.A. she finds herself heading back there to cover a new streaming horror series at the insistence of her boss, who also happens to be her ex. She’s never told him about her past. It’s only when she opens the press release on the plane that she’s been set up, and somehow he found out – because the series is based on that movie. The movie. The one her entire family ran away from.

Making a remake of “the most haunted film in Hollywood history” goes about as well as you would expect. It doesn’t take long before a body count starts and Laura finds herself smack bang in the middle of it all. She has the new production’s psychic on one side telling her it’s something supernatural, and her little sister on the other telling her that it’s a person because it has to be something real… right?

Winning does an excellent job of playing both of these theories off against each other throughout the book. One moment you will believe it’s one, and then the other he throws perfectly good evidence at the reader that proves it has to be the other. He skilfully manipulates every moment of every scene, making the reader question everything and everyone. Nothing is what it seems in Burn the Negative, and the twists in this book are some of the best I have seen. The ending you will never see coming.

Just like in The Shadow Glass Winning has created an entire experience not just a book. Each chapter is interspersed with extracts from books about horror movies, interview clips, segments from The Guesthouse script, and even online cult movie buff websites/social media pages. Winning’s passion for pop culture and his own personal experience as an entertainment journalist shine through in this book especially.

The only reason this is a four-star read for me rather than a five star is because at the end of the day slasher flicks aren’t my thing. So it says a lot that a book about a slasher flick with slasher flick violence style scenes gets such a high rating from me. Its strength is in the character development, suspense and mind games that Winning plays with the reader. Burn the Negative is all about unravelling the mystery of what actually happened all those years ago on the set of The Guesthouse and why it’s happening again. If you’re expecting anything stereotypical, think again.

This meta horror/fantasy is a wild ride reminiscent of Night Film and Into the Drowning Deep. As covered on What Should I Read Next episode 369: State of the Bookstore.

I love all the books that have to do with slasher films and horror movies in book form. It gave urban legends and scream vibes but also I’m such a unique was that I loved it.

J like when books keep me engaged and when the writing is so good as well as the conversational writing. You could really feel like you were in the story with them.

A pulpy and entertaining novel that is an ode to horror films, particularly cursed ones. It also feels relevant with the popularity of memoirs like I'm Glad My Mom Died, shining a light on the pressure and abuse that child stars in Hollywood often face. Burn the Negative is a fun time, but uneven success using mixed media and some plot/character inconsistencies kept it from being a favorite. That said, if the premise appeals to you I think it's worth a try as a sort of popcorn read.

Laura is a successful journalist who has done everything possible to distance herself from the child star she used to be. As Polly, she starred in a horror movie that was famously cursed as many people involved died mysteriously. But now she's been assigned to cover a TV show that turns out to be a revival of that same movie, and things begin going very wrong...

This was twisty and didn't go in the direction I expected. I'm not sure I love some of the choices this makes later in the book, but I had a good time for the most part. A lot of bodies drop and there are some quite creepy scenes. It includes mixed media and while I liked some of it, other pieces really felt like filler and didn't add much to the experience. Overall I liked this, but didn't love it.

Content warnings include physical and psychological child abuse, death, gore, gaslighting, violence etc.

Wonderfully twisty, creepy, and engaging, this fast-paced slasher film in book form will catch your interest from Chapter One and keep you hooked until The End.

Laura is a former child star turned journalist who is sent back to cover a reboot for a horror film she starred in the 90s. The film is said to have been cursed as eight cast members died during and after production. The moment Laura arrives in L.A., tragic events start to happen. With the help of a psychic and her sister, Laura must face her fears and confront The Needle Man in order to put an end to the curse.

However, as much as I loved the concept, this plot is written exactly like the campy horror movies of the 90s. The writing is fast-paced, and action packed sure to give you chills. The characters; I hard time connecting to them. The psychic was the best one, in in my opinion, and even then, she wasn't a fully developed character. The ending plays out how you think it would. If you have seen Nightmare on Elm Street or the Poltergeist, then I think you will you enjoy this. 3.5 Stars

Thank you to Net Gallery and Putnam Books for this ARC

This book, man. If you love cheesy slasher films and horror movies, this is the book for you. Very much an homage to horror films from someone who clearly adores the genre. Lots of little Easter eggs, and just a bonkers, campy ride.

The main character is annoying and vapid for a good part of the book, but it’s very much in line with the final girl trope. You know when you’re watching a movie and you’re thinking, none of this would happen if these people were even slightly intelligent? That’s this. But in a good way because it feels like reading one of those great silly horror movies.

I didn’t want to stop reading and as I got close to the end, I was sad there were only a few pages left. If you love Nightmare on Elm Street or Scream - or if you grew up loving Fear Street and Christopher Pike and Point Horror - you are going to absolutely love this book. It’s just so much fun and a great summer read (while being creepy enough and with enough social commentary to give it that edge).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC. I already ordered a copy to share with others!!

(My review will go up on release day!)

A compelling horror novel that might appeal to readers of Joe Hill, Clay MacLeod Chapman, and Paul Tremblay. While too commercial in style for my personal tastes, this story of a "cursed movie" and its victims has lots of potential and is sure to appeal to many readers.

A cursed '90s horror flick - I'm in!
I enjoyed the twist and turns. Just when I thought I had it figured out, I realized that I didn't. I grew up watching the old horror films and this felt both familiar and new. I'd say its a combination that works.

Burn the Negative follows Laura, who is sent to cover the remake of a famously haunted/cursed horror movie for the magazine she works for. Little does anyone know she was a part of the original production and returning to this project may bring the curse of the past hurtling into the present. This book has pretty much everything I like- curses, horror movies, hollywood/film set horror stories, following clues to try and unravel an old mystery, and a Babadook-esque creepy horror villain- The Needle Man. But with all the right ingredients I’m struggling to figure out why I didn’t love the final product. I think it kind of comes down to the ending. There are a couple of chapters at the end that feel SO unnecessary, like there is a point in the narrative that feels like the obvious ending, and then it just keeps going for a while. I thought the final twist was a bit out of left field, and a lot of moments feel weirdly repetitive. One of those weird book moments where the vibes are all there and I should be loving the reading experience, but I just didn’t. I liked the Needle Man imagery, there were some interesting kills, and I thought the overall idea for the book is just SUCH a good one. I have a gut feeling I’ll be the minority on not loving this book, so check it out for yourself and tell me I’m wrong.

I'll be posting this review on my Instagram closer to the Pub date- @boozehoundbookclub

A journalist is sent to cover the reboot of an infamous horror movie, but she has a secret: she was the child star of the original movie, long considered cursed due to.the deaths of numerous cast and crew members. After the movie, she and her family changed their names and moved overseas. She had never put much faith in the curse rumors, but she soon discovers she probably should have. A gruesome treat perfect for fans of Stephen King and Paul Tremblay.

Thank.you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

DANG. This was good and relatively reminiscent of Mister Magic by Kiersten White due to the other worldly-paranormal aspects of this film-to-tv-show adaptation. I am realllllllly thankful to Josh Winning, PRH Audio, Putnam Books, and NetGalley for granting me digital access and audiobook access to this twisty, horrific tale of what the spotlight will do to possess your soul, both metaphorically and physically in this case.

Laura, an esteemed journalist for an entertainment-focused magazine, is en route to cover a story that hits very close to home. A cult-favorite movie is getting reprised as a TV show remake, and nothing good has ever followed the actors of the old film. To be clear, nearly everyone on set has horrifically died except for Polly or Laura as she goes by.

Perhaps she's returning to where it all started to halt production in hopes of saving lives. Still, she finds out that she can hardly trust anyone, friend, foe, or family because everyone is super invested in the lore and history of this unfortunate media. Laura is up against something not of this world, a bit ghostly and demonic, working through someone to cause these untimely exits. Laura must face her past and the secret she's worked so hard to bury and stop this ritual-like murder.

Burn the Negative hits shelves on July 11, 2023, and I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this eARC. I really enjoyed this book from the start then it slowly unraveled for me. I can tell many people with enjoy this book but just wasn't for me.