This was a tad too slow for me and the whole "blackout before something happens" trope is not a favorite of mine

Burn the Negative is a suspenseful, mixed media, horror centered story about Laura, a journalist sent to cover the retelling of a horror movie classic. What her boss doesn’t know is that she played the little girl in the original movie decades ago, and was traumatized by the terrible events that occurred on set. When terrible things start happening again on set, she must face the truth of her past in order to survive.

Fans of horror movies, cursed movie storylines and fast paced suspense will love this one!

SUMMARY

Laura Warren is a journalist from England, flying to L.A. to report on Netflix’s upcoming series It Feeds, a remake of a cursed 90s horror flick. It’s not until she’s on the flight that she realizes it’s a reboot of the Guesthouse, a movie about a supernatural entity called the Needle Man that Laura starred in as a child.

It destroyed her life.

In L.A., people start dropping like flies. The Needle Man is back, and he’s bringing Laura’s nightmares back to life.

THERE ARE MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

If this book wasn’t an ARC, I would have DNF’d it. But I pushed through, and honestly, I don’t think preserving my review score on Netgalley was worth it.

As the book entered the end, I was so excited to be done with it, give the book a 2.5 rating on Storygraph, slap out a review, and move onto greener pastures.

Then I read the final chapter, and that 2.5 plummeted to a 1.5.

I won’t get too heavily into spoiler territory, but the final chapter undoes all of the character development scraped out in the second half of the book. Laura and her sister Amy end up in almost the exact same place they were in the beginning of the book (Laura private, unable to share her trauma, and not speaking up for herself; Amy selfish, unthinking, self-serving, and obsessed with advancing her own career without caring how it will hurt her sister).

What the book focuses on–the abuse of children in Hollywood–is important. However, the book’s approach and execution of it is unfocused, and ends without addressing the root causes of that trauma (both in Laura’s specific case and the wider causes of capitalism and historical lack of protection for child workers). The conclusion of the story undoes not only all of the character growth but also leaves a huge plot element, Laura’s childhood trauma from her mother, completely unresolved.

Speaking of unfocused, the plot was unfocused, too, with a much bigger page count than it needed. New elements and characters get introduced in and out, without ultimately meaning anything after they (predictably) get slashed. Burn the Negative was so much longer than it needed to be; if some of the filler was cut, this book would be so much shorter (and so much better for it).

Speaking of filler, Laura is constantly questioning herself (What should she do? Is this real? Who can she trust?) to the point where it becomes grating, in part because her questions are so obvious that putting them on the page feels patronizing. The surrounding text already shows how Laura is feeling. We don’t need to be spoonfed it.

The book also has a cute gimmick of putting scraps of news articles, internet posts, and movie paraphernalia in front of each chapter. This gimmick is interesting, but doesn’t work. The best example is the very first, a screenshot of a fake meme about The Guesthouse.

Not to sound like an internet weirdo, but this meme is so painfully un-meme-able that it was painful to read. It doesn’t feel like a real meme, which in turn makes the book itself start off on a bad foot.

To top it all off, the prose was boring. Yawn-inducingly so.

And, look, I don’t need purple prose or sentences so complex they should come with their own instruction manual to enjoy reading. But I do need the words on the page to be interesting. If other elements like thematics and character aren’t interesting, the prose needs to pick up the slack.

A book needs more than a decently interesting premise. Unfortunatey, that's all Burn the Negative has.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The general reception for Burn the Negative seems to be pretty high. I could not imagine why, but maybe it’s just my personal taste. Maybe you’ll like it more, but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. Don’t bother.

Burn the Negative joins my list of slasher-inspired books, thread on Twitter here.

Thank you to Putnam for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley. If you are interested in Burn the Negative, it releases July 11. Find more information from the publishers. If possible, support indie bookshops by purchasing the novel from your local brick and mortar or from Bookshop.org!
User-defined content warnings are available via Storygraph.

Journalist Laura is assigned to cover the reimagining of a cult classic horror film. The twist- she was a child actor in the film where eight people died during and after the filming. Hiding her identity and denying her past, she is sucked back into the drama and curse of the film. When people start dying on the new series, Laura must figure out who to trust. If she is also possessed by the curse, can she even trust herself?

This horror novel was completely ridiculous. It was one trope after another and poorly written. I don't really know why I read or stuck with it except to say that it is blessedly short. Maybe horror fans will enjoy it this more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

It’s such a cliché to say “I couldn’t put it down!” but with Burn The Negative it was so true! Thrillers set in contemporary digs are rarely my chosen genre, but every once in awhile a little thrill appeals to me and relieves me from the setting and character-driven interiority of historical or literary fiction. Burn The Negative had everything I wanted in a thriller: compelling characters with flawed, awful motives; a fast-paced plot that left me thinking “Oh no, what the WHAT?” as things go from horrendous to abysmal; mysterious hints that led me to announce “Aha!” far too early; and, the cherry on top: a twisted ending.

The novel opens with a fabulous line, immediately a portent of fuckery on a grand scale. A young women is headed somewhere she’d rather not be. It’s for work, but it isn’t really, and she’s having a bit of a nervous breakdown over it. The woman is the novel’s protagonist, Laura, who is a former child actor, now tasked with rehashing her Hollywood trauma as a journalist writing an article about the remake of the horror film that killed her career and ended her normal psychological development as a teenager. This is a novel that revolves around the drama of Hollywood on multiple levels, leaving the reader feeling very much like they are watching a Netflix Original horror film unfold in text.

As the remake of the film progresses, things go unbelievably wrong. But is this marketing? Is this the curse of the original horror film? Is it Laura herself? Both the remake and Laura’s memories of her Hollywood nightmare disintegrate into a surreal soup, leaving the reader wondering if there is something paranormal at foot or not.

The story alone is not the only draw of the novel. Winning’s prose is witty and the book includes fun elements — flashbacks, articles, ephemera, movie lore — which flesh out the story arc, provide context, and make the novel feel deliciously kitschy. This book is fun.

Fans of horror films, horror film lore, haunted media, and fast-paced mysteries can fully expect to enjoy Burn The Negative.

Fascinating book, creepy and engaging from start to finish. Perfect for fans of horrors and film in general. Recommended.

This was a really cool plot and concept, but there wasn't enough story in here to carry the full novel length it seemed. It kept hitting the same repetitive emotional beats for the main character and it got super annoying to read. The characterization was just repeatedly hit over and over again. It had a solid twist and I like that it committed to the spooky elements. Sadly the repetitive details were just such a drain on my enjoyment.

**2.5-stars rounded up**

Even though it had a promising start, sadly, Burn the Negative really let me down in the latter half of the story. I'm bummed about it, y'all. I wanted to love this. Let's discuss that initial set-up, shall we?

In the beginning we meet our MC, Laura, an entertainment journalist living in London. We are introduced to Laura as she is making her way to L.A. for a new assignment. She'll be covering a modern remake of a 1990s Horror-Cult Classic movie called The Guest House.

It quickly becomes clear that there is a lot of mystery and dark lore revolving around the original movie and that Laura has first hand knowledge of that film.

As it turns out, Laura was a child actress who actually had the starring role in The Guest House. Since that time and the tragedies that struck many involved in the film-making, Laura has changed her identity and never let on to anyone who she truly is. This includes her boss who sent her on this assignment.

Obviously, she's concerned about returning to L.A. Having anything to do with this new remake, even in the slightest way, makes her nervous. It seems Laura's doubts are for a reason too, as almost as soon as she is on the ground in L.A., strange things begin happening around her.

So far, so good. I'm a sucker for stories revolving around the filming of Horror movies, series or documentaries too. It also had a strong 'is it supernatural, is it not supernatural'-feel to it that I tend to enjoy. I was getting major Poltergeist vibes because of all the lore surrounding the making of that movie and the aftermath; the Poltergeist Curse, if you will.

Laura, as a character, was quite mysterious herself. I was interested in learning more about her, as she slowly unveiled the truth of her time with the film, the reasons her family left L.A., and her life since. She has a rather dry personality, but I wasn't put off by it. She was fine.

There was a certain point though where I stopped enjoying the ride. More specifically, when I stopped feeling as much that it was inspired and started to feel more like it was falling into cliche territory. I can name the point where the switch-flipped too. Without giving too much away, I will just say it had to do with a road trip, a gas station and the police. After that point, I started to be more annoyed with the story than pleased by it. Particularly, the dialogue towards the end bordered on cringe and I'll admit, I was happy when it wrapped up.

Overall, while there were aspects of this I enjoyed, it was too much of a mixed bag for me to give it a higher rating. The concept was fun, but the execution throughout didn't stay consistent in my opinion. With this being said, I know a ton of Readers are going to love this. If the synopsis sounds interesting to you, please give it a go. You could end up finding a new favorite!

Thank you to the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would be interested in checking out more of this author's work.

I'm upset because I'm unable to read this book! I thought this was a kindle read but it I am unable to read it at all! Oh well, I loved his debut book so I'll certainly give it a go when it comes out. :(

This was a super campy horror and I loved it. I think that a lot of things try to be campy but don't succeed, but this was done really well. I flew through this and was super compelled by the characters and the plot. I loved the characters and the tone of the story, it was all *chef's kiss*. Fast-paced, well-plotted and super compelling, this was a great story and I can't wait for more from this author!

“Sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence.”
“And sometimes murderers are excellent timekeepers. They live for anniversaries.”

Laura is thousands of feet above the Atlantic headed to L.A. when she learns the truth about the upcoming horror series she’s been tasked with reporting on: It Feeds is actually a remake of the 90s cult film The Guesthouse. A movie with a curse and a body count that continued on long after the film left theaters. A film Laura herself starred in as a child…and was directly responsible for the family uprooting to the UK for a fresh start.

Someone — or something? — knows Little Polly is back and wastes no time getting to work. Soon cast and crew begin dropping in deaths that eerily echo the original film (and curse) and Laura quickly realizes no name change, no dye job, will be enough to outrun her past.

If you’re someone who begins their next Halloween countdown on November 1, BURN THE NEGATIVE is the book for you. Rom-coms may be a beach bag staple, but there’s nothing I love more on a summer day that slipping away into a horror novel. And a horror novel about a cursed film? SAY LESS.

Part ode to nostalgic slasher flicks, part supernatural thriller, BURN THE NEGATIVE is an intense ride that kept me flipping the pages. I love fun formats and after each chapter this book includes a newspaper clipping, a page from the original script, message boards and Reddit threads. These absolutely added to my enjoyment!

Although I wasn’t as sold on the ending, I had a great time getting there. Curses, a jaded psychic, the terrifying Needle Man, it was all pure camp and I ate it up! BURN THE NEGATIVE is wildly entertaining and will be sure to appeal to readers looking for a summer scare!

3 1/2 stars

The nitty-gritty: The "cursed movie" trope is alive and well in Josh Winning's latest, a creepy, madcap adventure that, while a lot of fun, falters when it comes to the characters and their actions.

It pains me to give Burn the Negative anything less than five stars, since I really expected to love this. Josh Winning’s last book, The Shadow Glass, made my top five reads of 2022, so you can imagine I had very high expectations for this one. And while I loved the idea and the setting, I struggled to connect with any of the characters, which turned out to be a big stumbling block. Still, I did have fun with a lot of the elements, and Winning knows how to create a creepy atmosphere, so overall I’ll have to call this a mixed bag.

The story revolves around Laura Warren, a UK based journalist who has just been sent to Los Angeles on assignment. All Laura knows is that she’ll be covering the launch of a horror mini series called It Feeds. It isn’t until her plane lands in L.A. that she opens the press release to learn more about the project, and to her utter shock and horror, she discovers that It Feeds is a reboot of the infamous 1993 horror movie The Guesthouse—the very same movie Laura starred in as a child. Back then, Laura was Polly Tremaine, a seven-year old who had just been given the part of Tammy Manners, a little girl who can predict how someone will die. The movie became legend, not because of its merits as a movie, but because many of the cast and crew died in mysterious ways during and after filming. Even creepier, the deaths mirrored the fictional deaths of the characters in the movie. Polly was so traumatized by this that her parents decided to leave America for England, and later Polly changed her name to Laura and dyed her hair in order to avoid any media attention.

Up until now, only her parents and her sister Amy know Laura's true identity, but Laura suspects that her boss Mike, the man who insisted she cover the release of It Feeds, has found out and perhaps sent her here with an ulterior motive in mind. Nevertheless, Laura begins to interview the cast and crew, but when a late night fire results in the death of the show’s director Todd Terror, Laura is convinced her past has come back to haunt her.

Winning sets up an intriguing idea with his “cursed movie” premise, and although it’s been done before, I loved the retro feel of the traumatized child actor who grows up trying to escape her past. I thought the mystery worked really well. I had no idea what was going on, especially because all of the characters were unreliable and suspect, at least to me. We have Laura, who is still struggling with a particular event that took place on the set of The Guesthouse (we don’t learn what it is until almost the end). As soon as Laura enters the set for It Feeds, she starts to hear and see things that may or may not be real, so right away her mental state is questionable. Then we have the unexpected appearance of Mike and Amy, two people Laura is not very happy to see, and they only complicate matters because they clearly have their own agenda that involves Laura’s old identity, Polly Tremaine. This is one of those stories where it’s hard to tell whether the supernatural events are real or not—until the end, of course, when everything is more or less explained.

The chapters are interspersed with an interesting mix of social media screenshots, journal entries, movie script excerpts and more, all of which add to the mystique of The Guesthouse and the terrifying events surrounding the movie. I thought these bits of mixed media were very effective and nicely done.

Winning also tackles some heavy themes, like childhood trauma and the child actor/stage mother relationship, which added a nice depth to the story. Polly’s mother forced her daughter into acting, even though she didn’t want to do it, and some of the methods she used to get Polly to behave were pretty horrific. We also learn that Amy wanted to act more than anything, but as a child she wasn’t good enough to break into the business. This caused a lot of tension between the sisters, tension that never really went away. In the present day, Laura’s mother has Alzheimer’s and Laura is torn between hatred for the way her mother abused her as a child, and compassion for her current condition. I thought it was a nice, emotional touch that added a lot to Laura’s character.

As for what didn’t work for me, there are two main elements I struggled with. First, I didn’t like any of the characters, not even Laura. Laura makes terrible choices throughout the entire story, never once thinking about her safety or the fact that she might be doing something illegal. Things start to spiral out of control on the set of It Feeds, and Laura finds herself in big trouble, but it never occurs to her to talk to the police. No, she has to conduct her own investigation into the reasons behind the mysterious deaths, which leads to a ridiculous plot later in the book.

Then we have Mike, who I hated from the moment he wandered onto the page. Mike and Laura were an item at one time, but she broke up with him when they started working together. He’s trying to get her back, and even though he’s going behind her back and acting shifty, Laura seems to have a hard time telling him “no.” Amy is a whiny girl who never got her moment in the spotlight, despite all her efforts, and you can tell she still resents Laura, even after so many years. Honestly, I couldn’t stand her. There’s a psychic named Beverly who I thought was the most interesting of all the characters, but she wasn’t as fully fleshed out as I would have liked.

The story veers off into the absurd at about the halfway point, and that’s the other major issue I had with Burn the Negative. After a series of very unlikely events, the characters set off on a convoluted road trip of sorts—Laura is still trying solve the murders and won’t rest until she does—which ends in a bunch of over-the-top action that made it hard to immerse myself in the story. For me, the tone just felt “off,” as if the author couldn’t figure out what kind of a story he wanted this to be. On one hand, it’s a pulpy movie-centric horror/slasher with plenty of scares and some deeper emotional themes, but then it morphs into a ridiculous comedy caper, sort of a Thelma and Louise gone wrong, that just felt too silly for what came before it.

But. I have to admit I really liked the ending. Winning tacks on a epilogue that takes place a year later, and I thought it was brilliant. Despite my complaints, though, I’m glad I read Burn the Negative, and you should try it if any of this sounds good to you.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

This was a quick read that kept my attention! But overall, it was not super memorable or my number one that I will recommend again and again.

Really promising premise, but it felt like this book was afraid to let me be confused or come to my own conclusions, which is a weird choice for supernatural horror! I don't think it's a genre that takes well to didacticism, and it really diminished the impact of each emotional beat when it was directly handed to me four times in a row, The found-object/records-y opening to each chapter was cool.

Laura Warren is an award winning entertainment journalist working for Zeppelin Magazine. But Laura has a secret. Her secret? She is really a former child star named Polly Tremaine. Polly Tremaine was the lead character in The Guesthouse, which is known as "the most haunted film in Hollywood history". It's known as a cursed film due to eight of the cast and crew dying in a similar manner as the movie's on-screen deaths. The movie became a cult classic and ruined her life so Laura changed her name, dyed her hair, and moved across the ocean. When Laura is assigned to visit the set of "It Feeds" (reboot of The Guesthouse), the murders on set begin again. Is The Needle Man real? Is he back to kill again?

I highly enjoyed this book as it had Nightmare on Elm Street meets Poltergeist vibes. I liked the cliché dream sequences, the blackouts suffered by the main character, the red herrings, the campiness, and the cheesy goodness! It made my 80's inner child very happy! I love when mixed media such as memes and transcripts (excerpts from a VH1 special and 911 calls) are used to break up the chapters and gives the story more of a documentary feeling. The only reason this is not a 5 star is because I didn't feel the urge to read it in one sitting or quickly to find out the ending. I was able to put it down a few times and I wasn't in a hurry to get back to it.

If you are a fan of slashers, cursed film stories, lots of movie references, and the supernatural then this book is for you!

Thank you to Netgalley, Putnam Books, and Josh Winning for the advanced reader copy.

Laura Warren has very reluctantly boarded a plane, headed for Los Angeles. She is a journalist and her boss has sent her to write a story about a remake/ reimagining of the 90’s cult classic, The Guesthouse. What no one realizes is that she is intimately familiar with that film. Then,she was Polly Tremaine, a child star who played Tammy Manners in the film.
The set seemed to be cursed though, and a terrifying incident ended Polly’s career. Her father packed up the family and moved to the UK. Polly was done acting and Laura was born.
As soon as Laura lands, things start to go terribly wrong. It seems that this new series is cursed just like The Guesthouse. Laura soon sees the Needle Man(the villain from The Guesthouse), someone who she thought she had outrun. But it seems, his taste for blood is as strong as ever.
Laura, along with her sister, Amy, and a psychic must figure out what’s actually going on, especially since the police believe that Laura is a killer. That is all that I’m going to say about the plot, so I don’t inadvertently give something away. When everything was explained, holy horror movies, I was not expecting that ending.
My first read by Josh Winning and I really enjoyed it.

Going into to this book, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Would it be cliche? Would it be suspenseful enough? Would I enjoy? The answer: kind of all of the above.

I definitely felt that parts were on the cliche horror movie side but it didn’t take away from it as much as it probably could have. I do feel like maybe it was meant more for the big screen then reading on a screen but that doesn’t take too much away from its overall effect.

Overall, it was a quick read that definitely kept the reader’s attention.

Thank you #NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for providing me with an ARC for my honest review.

Laura is heading to LA to cover a new streaming series when she realizes what she’s being sent to cover - a reboot of the classic horror film The Guesthouse. It doesn’t take her long to realize a few things. One - someone knows who she really is. Two - the past that she’s been running from her whole life has caught up to her. And three - when the deaths start happening, she has to face the truth. Was that old film actually cursed when all of those cast and crew died before? Or is the Needle Man truly out there?

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a horror book that was truly horror, and not just a thriller/suspense pretending to be horror. This one had me reminiscing of the old horror movies I used to like watching, and planning my reading time for during the day so that I wouldn’t be reading it just before bed!

The premise was interesting, the story of Laura and Amy’s childhood was intense (bringing to mind the real-life trauma of Jeannette McCurdy), and the Needle Man was truly scary to think about. But when it came down to the climax and conclusion of the story, I was left a little disappointed. Obviously the paranormal/supernatural aspect of the story requires a little separation from reality. But I just wished that the ending came together a little stronger.

Overall, I’d give it 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3. It’s good, but a better ending would’ve brought it up to 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced copy of this book

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Burn the Negative will be available on July 11th.

Ah, campy horror. That fun combination of spooky and slasher, often spawning sequel (or reimagining) after sequel. It’s also the perfect setup for a book. Burn the Negative takes advantage of this in the most entertaining of ways.

Laura used to be named Polly. A recovered child star, she was most well known for her role in the 90s horror movie, The Guesthouse. This is the role that led to her quick exit from acting, as the cast and crew began dying in ways that were eerily similar to the deaths in the movie. Fans everywhere have since become obsessed with the movie’s “curse”. Now, years later, Laura has to interview the cast and crew of the upcoming remake- except the “curse” seems to have started up again. And of course, in true campy horror fashion, everyone she’s near is in danger. Gotta love those creepy child stars.

Author Josh Winning set the tone right from the get-go. Burn the Negative is a combination of horror and thriller, and it had me wondering which direction the ending would go- horror or thriller. I am not giving anything away, but I was surprised. I didn’t see any of the twists coming at all. I have an annoying habit of seeing the twists coming a mile away in books and movies, so it was awesome to have no idea.

The characters were all fun twists on archetypes. The psychic was jaded, the replacement main character was bubbly and not at all creepy, and the director was a major fanboy. The horror villain, Needle Man, was exactly what you would find in a horror movie, making for a fun mix of old and new. The way he was described preyed on the imagination and added an extra creep factor.

I loved the way the trustworthiness of every character was thrown into question. Everyone had something to hide and no one was without ulterior motives, including Laura. Characters were added along the way (some were quite obviously “red shirts” but not all of them) so that the suspect pool- if the deaths are human-caused and not supernatural, I’m not telling- didn’t ever shrink to one.

Burn the Negative was fast-paced and the perfect length. It didn’t drag things out but it also didn’t rush things that were meant to have emotional resonance. The ending was a satisfying gut punch and the throwbacks to old-school slasher movies were loads of fun. Burn the Negative oozes guts and glee in equal measure, and I loved every gory moment.

If you love campy horror, cursed productions, and slasher films, Burn the Negative is sure to scratch that itch for you.

Laura Warren has done everything in her power to put her past as a child star behind her. Her entire family moved abroad, she changed her name, her accent, and her hair. No one would ever connect her with Polly Tremaine, the star of the cult- and possibly cursed- horror film, The Guesthouse. Many members of the cast and crew died in ways that parallel the deaths in the movie. After the trauma of the production, Laura quit acting entirely and put The Guesthouse firmly out of her mind. But can you ever truly outrun a curse? Laura ends up back in LA after decades away, on an assignment about the latest craze in horror streaming shows, It Feeds. Imagine her confusion, her terror, when Laura realizes that It Feeds is a remake of The Guesthouse. Her boss, to whom she has never revealed her true identity, obviously knew anyway, and set her up. Almost from the moment Laura steps off the plane in Los Angeles, the bodies start to drop again. With a jaded, wary psychic and her actress wannabe sister as her only allies, Laura will have to face her biggest fears. She will have to confront the Needle Man once and for all, and lay this curse to rest, or die trying.

This was fun and I really enjoyed it. It's definitely campy, more popcorn entertainment than real substance. Some of the characters needed more dimension and I wasn't a fan of the conclusion, but as long as you go in with proper expectations, I don't think you'll be disappointed. The mixed media at the beginning of every chapter added visual interest and I appreciated it. I'll be eagerly awaiting more from Josh Winning. Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam Books for the chance to review this advance copy. Burn the Negative will publish 7/11/23.