*Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.*

This new horror/mystery book from Josh Winning is essentially Poltergeist meets Nightmare on Elm Street and I'm here for it. Journalist Laura Warren is heading to LA from the UK to write a piece about a reboot of a classic horror movie called "The Guesthouse" with a mysterious villain called "The Needle Man"- the kicker is that Laura was the 7-year-old star of the original, and she was lucky to survive. During filming several people mysteriously died so her family fled LA and moved to the UK where she's lived in anonymity ever since. She's terrified to be back, and rightfully so. Soon after she arrives tragedy strikes the set of the reboot and Laura, sets out to conquer the notorious Guesthouse Curse before more people die.

So I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had so many twists & turns, and every time I started to think I knew where things were heading the author threw another curveball at me. I suspected nearly every character of being the Needle Man at some point. I thought that maybe it was a movie within a movie, I thought that Laura was in a psych ward and this was all in her head. I thought the Needle Man was a serial killer, no wait, a paranormal entity, no definitely a serial killer. My brain never stopped trying to figure this one out!

The story, combined with all of the mixed-media elements this was perfectly executed. My only "complaint" was that there were multiple points where two female characters would be conversing and the dialog would go back and forth with just "she said", so I had to backtrack a few times to make sure I was reading the conversation with the right speaker in each role, but hey, it just shows that this book passes the Bechdel test with flying colors! There are also great commentaries about Hollywood, fame, and the morality of child acting. I had never heard of this author before, but after reading this one I will absolutely pick up other works by him.

Journalist Laura Warren is sent on assignment from London to L.A. to cover a story about a remake of a cult horror movie from 1993. What she discovers, much to her chagrin, is the movie in question is The Guest House, a film she starred in at seven years old and has tried to put behind her. Because the film is rumored to be cursed due to eight mysterious deaths to cast and crew that occurred during and after production. Struggling with her secret and the prospect of this new show based on the movie, she reluctantly goes about interviewing the parties involved. But soon people begin to die in unusual circumstances, when Laura is near and has blacked out, knowing only that the villain from the movie and her nightmares, The Needle Man keeps appearing to her. Is The Needle Man real? Are the deaths directly connected to her? Or are the police right and she's responsible for the deaths?
This novel obviously is a love letter to the horror movies of the 80s and 90s, with a movie within the story centered around a haunted house with a creepy little girl and a slasher-type figure. The story is pretty engrossing and does play out like a classic slasher film. My only real issue was the pacing was off somewhat - a lot happens in a short amount of time early on and then later there's a lot of dragged out "trying to solve the mystery" parts, especially in the climactic chapters where all is to be revealed, but it revealed in too many small snippets. But overall any horror fan and especially horror movie fan should enjoy this.

Horror fans will absolutely love this one, but it fell flat for me in the same way that most horror does, especially horror with supernatural elements like a villain that is the human embodiment of trauma or challenging emotion. Still, I was hanging in there and prepared to give this a high star review... but that ending destroyed all of my goodwill. It's a no from me.

The Guesthouse was a 90's horror film featuring the Needle Man, that was known for being cursed after most of the cast died in the same manner and order as in the movie. Seven year old Polly was the star of the film and one of the few to stay alive, but she ended up moving to England with her family and changed her name to Laura to escape Hollywood and the fame. Now on the 30th anniversary of the film, a reboot is in the works and Laura ends up back on set as part of her job as a journalist. As soon as she lands in LA, people start dying, just like before and Laura begins to wonder if the Needle Man is back and if the new set is also cursed. This book includes classic horror tropes, a bit of the paranormal, and red herrings as Laura tries to overcome the events of her past. Overall, an homage to horror films, with a bit of an unreliable narrator.

Urban legends? Curses? Identity changes? It’s a great combination of things that can keep me on the edge of my seat. The story follows a unique yet classic recipe for a quality horror piece of media and it was executed very well. My only criticism is about the last 5 pages of the book. If those were saved for a sequel, I would’ve given this book at least 4 stars, maybe even 5, and had been SO excited for a sequel. But alas, that’s not what happened, and I’m not planning on reading a sequel if one does come out. I’d definitely recommend this book, just don’t read those last 5 pages if you’re hoping for a series to emerge from this.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Burn the Negative.

I love horror movies, I mean I was watching horror movies at an age when it was not appropriate horror fan so I was excited my request was approved.

1. The Needle Man isn't scary, nor is his origin story. He sounds like a D-list version of Freddy Krueger, who we all know is one scary mother****.

It's takes a lot to scare me. I've been around a few years and have watched and read a lot of horror movies and books, but it was hard to keep a straight face every time the Needle Man was mentioned.

Not even his name is scary, and I don't like needles. Who does?

I wasn't scared or creeped out or disturbed by anything, but I kept reading because I wanted to know what happens.

2. I loved the horror movie references, and the multimedia pages of emails, newspaper clippings, and tweets added atmosphere to the story. But I wasn't a fan that this wasn't available in Kindle form because it wasn't fun to read on my phone. Hurts my eyes. That's not the fault of the author yet I wanted to throw it out there.

3. The premise began to sound a bit like Smile and The Machinist, where an entity feeds on trauma (Smile) or a tragic event weighs heavily on the main character, causing his or her mind to unravel (Christian Bale goes all Method in the latter film).

4. Character development is weak and I didn't dislike Laura, Amy, or Beverly, but I didn't like them.

Beverly the psychic felt off-putting and just wrong, somehow. It felt very woo-woo to me and I believe some people are more intuitive than others and can sense things most of us can't but I never bought into Beverly's role in the story.

5. I love revenge stories and the ending makes it sound like that was the true motive behind the murders.

But I felt like it didn't work here, and that might be because of the dull characters and the repetitive cliches peppered throughout the book; Laura seeing the Needle Man out of the corner of her eyes, convenient blackouts, the tone of the writing just didn't feel right to me.

I really wanted to like this more, I was so hoping I would be scared and terrified but I wasn't.

But, I do look forward to see what the author comes up for his next book.

I read the shadow glass and thought you know what , Josh winning is going to be a auto buy. And I keep my word when I say, this is a great author that really knows how to tell a story.

There were some things I liked about this story. I think horror movie fans will like all of the references to classic slashers and horror movie cliches, and the premise of the story was promising. In my opinion, it just didn't deliver. There was more suspension of disbelief required than I was able to give the story after a certain point. I also wish it would've ended a chapter earlier; the evil-villain monologue and hand-holding about what had happened weakened what could've been a fine final scene. I could see some people enjoying this story, and I really liked the premise, but it just wasn't my cup of tea in the end,

My eyes just aren't up to reading this one from my phone. I am sorry. declined to read at this time.

Super-excited (and appreciative) for the opportunity to pre-read this prior to its pub date.

As billed, it does pay homage to horror/slasher films and touches upon the price of fame. Beyond that it touches upon adjacent themes of the potential costs of dark associations, including: those for whom celebrity is derived from horror, horror fans, and the propensity of social media/entertainment to feed off dark and horror. It whispers at these, but doesn't fully explore it and to be fair, can't be held to task for not self-examining too closely.

A spoiler-free plot summary:
30 years prior, Laura - now working as an entertainment journalist for a small print pub - changed her appearance, name, and forged a new identity in attempt to outrun her past as a childhood star. Her last movie as a child lead was in a horror/film rumored to be cursed as most of the cast members died or were killed in circumstances that paralleled the movie's plot.

When the movie opens, Laura is sent by her ex-boyfriend editor on assignment to cover the filming of a horror movie which - somehow unbeknownst to her until she's mid-flight - is a sequel to the movie she starred in as a child. She fights off panic attacks as old memories resurface and then people involved with the second movie start dying too. Is the curse real? If so, what's behind it? Demonic influences? A serial killer tied to both films? Or, is Laura herself the bad seed? (Very different plot, but sorta reminiscent of Night Film.)

The book uses 'multi-media artifacts' in support of the story - images of movie scripts, blog posts, movie reviews, posts from horror fansites, etc. These worked fine in ebook format, though they may be better and easier to interact with in a print copy.

Horror is personal--what produces fear and jangles nerves for some, might be ho hum for others. I didn't find this to be scary or thriller-ish in the typical sense, but was just curious enough to read through to the end.

There are subplots that go nowhere, characters driven by motives that range from that unseemly to highly questionable, and that ending was like - whoa, where'd this come from, but not entirely in a complimentary way. Has some interesting thematic elements including the entertainment/movie/Hollywood stage dressing, but also was a nihilistic-lite stew of horror-ish ingredients tossed together that failed to gel into a cohesive plot.

Though not my favorite, I'm not sorry I read it. Horror fans intrigued by a party co-hosted by Inside Edition and the prince of darkness might want to give this a try. (2.75 stars curved to 3)

I'm glad I gave this one a try. The campy horror of it all was right up my alley. The media add ins really made this one pop. I appreciated the Winona Ryder references. I really think this will appeal to fans of 80's and 90s horror films. The characters were interesting. The plot kept me guessing. And that ending left my jaw dropped and my horror loving heart happy.

Our protagonist Laura is sent to write an article on a remake of a cult 90's horror film, The Guesthouse - a film in which she starred as a child actress. The original movie is shrouded in mystery; after many of its cast and crew die in freak accidents during the movie's making, horror audiences speculated that The Guesthouse was cursed.

Laura is desperate to hide her childhood connection to The Guesthouse, but when the remake of the film begins to take the lives of the new crew, she has to find the answer the question that has plagued her for years: is The Guesthouse curse real, or is it all just a string of bizarre coincidences?

This book felt like a true love letter to horror movies. Full of action and great characters, it is just a fun and addictive read. The snippets of blogs, newspapers etc at the start of every chapter are amazing and they really make the 'cult' status of The Guesthouse come to life.

Thank you to the publishers and Josh for my ARC!

I really enjoyed the premise of this one, but boy would I be miffed with my editor/ex for pulling such and awful stunt. The book is full of intregue and builds tension nicely. 4* read.

My only critique was the format we were given. I had to read on my phone which took forever. I have trouble reading digitally unless it's on my Paperwhite and I didn't have that option.

A tidy, creepy
story of revenge, family,
Hollywood horror.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I write haiku reviews on Instagram but am happy to provide more feedback.

A child star in an infamous horror movie that had several real life deaths related to the movie finds herself back on the reboot of the very movie that has traumatized her into her adulthood... and the very demon she saw is back to haunt her. Journalist Laura Warren has arrived in L.A. to visit the new streaming horror series... and witnesses a man jumping from a bridge and landing right behind her car..... and she knows its all started again. Laura is in town to report on the remake of the 90′s horror movie that is believed to be curse... and that she starred in as a child and has been running from her entire life. Laura starred in The Guesthouse as a child and played the role of a little girl who had the ability to tell people how the Needle Man would kill them. Eight members of the cast and crew died in ways that mirrored the movie’s on screen death and ever since Laura has been haunted, she’s tried to leave it all behind by changing her name, dying her hair, getting a new accent, and moving all the way across the Atlantic... but now she is being sent to report on the very movie that destroyed her and it’s not a coincidence that the moment she gets on set bodies begin to drop and someone knows who she truly is. Can she finally face the monster that has been haunting her, is the film truly curse and the Needle Man a true monster or is it a human being behind all of this? Laura will have to uncover dark secrets she never wanted to and face the monster that has followed her all her life. This was definitely an interesting thriller/horror mystery that keeps you invested until the end. I liked the constant back and forth with whether or not the Needle Man was a real monster or a figment of her imagination. The ending was really interesting and the fact that the story had news articles, script moments, blog posts, and so much more really added to the story!

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was a lot of fun! It gave me Nightmare on Elm Street vibes. The characters were well fleshed out and believable. The story was engaging and well-paced. It touches on some serious topics like, child actors and the abuse and trauma that some of them face.

Overall, I had a good time reading this and it kept me guessing and excited about when I would next sit down to read.

HOT DANG!!! Warning...parents be advised this one defenitly a rated R read. Be prepared to be sucked into this cursed film story immedietly from the opening credits. Oh the ways Winning had my heart rate at an all time high with these non stop action packed chapters. It was too good. For the life of me I could not pinpoint the reasoning behind all the haunting cinematic events that occur within these pages.You will think you have it all figured out then you are quickly smacked with another possible scenerio. OOF I just love a book that keeps me on the edge of my seat. Not to mention the freaking imagery was EVERYTHING. Just the way Winning described the spooky bits, had me jumping at every little noise. The Needle Man I mean COME ON, I was defenitly CREEPED. I am STILL over here trying to wrap my head around that ending. SERIOUSLY WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK?? Well done Winning, well done 👏👏👏

I enjoyed this cursed film story! It read like a fun thriller with lots of movie references for my cinefile nerd brain to digest. I just thought it could have used one two less dream sequences! But highly recommend for any horror film buff!

Just finishing Burn the Negative yesterday, and WOW. The writing, the plot, that twist at the end! It’s a touch of Good For Her, and a large measure of terrifying supernatural, with a sprinkling of body horror tossed in. Following Laura’s journey back to the thing that basically destroyed her and her family’s lives, watching the terror unfold around her, it was almost palpable.

The writing absolutely pulls you along, and gives you a front seat. You can feel the apprehension, the terror, smell the blood, and hear the Needle Man scratch his long talons as he comes ever closer. Honestly, it’s everything I typically want in a slasher horror book, up close, and digging deep into your mind.

This was good. It was campy and sort of out there which was fine, but I was completely lost and over it with anything paranormal. If you enjoy that, you will enjoy this book.