Arriving in L.A. to visit the set of a new streaming horror series, journalist Laura Warren witnesses a man jumping from a bridge, landing right behind her car. Here we go, she thinks. It’s started. Because the series she’s reporting on is a remake of a ’90s horror flick. A cursed ’90s horror flick, which she starred in as a child—and has been running from her whole life.

In ‘The Guesthouse’, Laura played the little girl with the terrifying gift to tell people how the Needle Man would kill them. When eight of the cast and crew died in ways that eerily mirrored the movie’s on-screen deaths, the film became a cult classic—and ruined her life. Leaving it behind, Laura changed her name and her accent, dyed her hair, and moved across the Atlantic. But some scripts don’t want to stay buried.

Now, as the body count rises again, Laura finds herself on the run with her aspiring actress sister and a jaded psychic, hoping to end the curse once and for all—and to stay out of the Needle Man’s lethal reach.

The inspiration behind Winning’s second novel came from his own experience: “The idea for ‘Burn the Negative’ came from a press trip I went on in 2013, when I met Lorraine Warren. She was the paranormal investigator famous for cases such as the Amityville horror and was portrayed by Vera Farmiga in ‘The Conjuring’ movies. I found Ms. Warren so fascinating (yes, I got a photo taken with her) that I resolved to write a book about a paranormal investigator one day, and that’s how the character of Beverly came about. I decided to pair her up with a journalist (write what you know!) to solve creepy crimes, and ‘Burn the Negative’ was born. Having been lucky enough to visit numerous movie and TV sets as a journalist (including ‘The Walking Dead’, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Muppets Most Wanted’, ‘Vikings’, ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ and ‘300: Rise of an Empire’), I have found that the making of movies is often as fascinating as the movies themselves. That is why I enjoy writing novels about what happens behind the scenes, in those snatched, surreal moments before the cameras roll.”

Brilliantly constructed and smoothly written, ‘Burn the Negative’ is surprising, satisfying, and endlessly fun, the kind of intelligent escapism readers need today. Fans of classic horror and slasher films, Stephen Graham Jones and Alma Katsu will delight at the details and allusions threaded through this novel.

To celebrate the release of ‘Burn the Negative’, we’ve got 5 copies to give away. Enter below for a chance to win…

This competition closes at 23:59 BST on Tuesday 18th July 2023.

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‘Burn the Negative’ is the latest book from London-based Josh Winning, senior film writer for ‘Radio Times’, ‘Total Film’ contributor and ‘Torn Stubs’ podcast co-host. Taking his clear love of horror, Winning has crafted a story that slowly unravels and has the reader, as well as the main character Laura, trying to decipher what is and what isn’t real. With plenty of nods to classic horrors, ‘Burn the Negative’ is essentially a story about how the past always catches up with you no matter how hard you try to out-run it. For Laura, she believes that moving from the US to the UK and changing her name was enough but her return to L.A. proves that unfinished business will always find you in the end.

When Laura first arrives in L.A. she’s not aware that the series she’s reporting on is inspired by the infamous film she starred in. To her knowledge, her editor and those around her have no idea that she’s really Polly Tremaine so the coincidence feels incredibly random. After witnessing a man jumping from a bridge upon her arrival in L.A., Laura becomes uneasy and when she starts to see the Needle Man, the monster at the centre of ‘The Guesthouse’, she wonders if she might be going a little crazy. As the bodies pile up, and history starts repeating, Laura finds herself in a race against time to prove her innocence and uncover what’s really going on.

‘Burn the Negative’ starts off strongly. Laura is a character you quickly warm to and as snippets of her life are cleverly revealed, often through newspaper clippings and script pages, you start to put the pieces together as to what’s actually going on. The arrival of Laura’s sister Amy , who forms part of the detective team along with psychic Beverly who is working on the new TV series, switches things up a notch and it adds a bit of family conflict that allows us to dig deeper into Laura’s upbringing. Winning does some great work exploring the dynamics between a reluctant child star and her pushy mother, and that relationship instantly brings to mind plenty of Hollywood stars from the last few decades.

Where ‘Burn the Negative’ falters is its conclusion. I don’t want to give away spoilers but what I will say is that high concept horror historically has difficulty bringing a story to a satisfactory close. Unfortunately, this novel doesn’t quite manage it although Winning makes a valiant effort. For the most part the book treads a fine line between reality and the supernatural, but it’s the attempt to explain the Needle Man that doesn’t quite land. Winning throws his all at making a grand conclusion to his story but the eventual reveal didn’t work for me.

‘Burn the Negative’ is a fairly quick read and for horror fans it will certainly be a page-turner. It’s a shame that the conclusion doesn’t hit the high bar the first half of the book sets but if you choose to just go along for the ride, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. As someone who has spent most of their life wading through the horror genre, I appreciated how much Winning’s love of the genre shines from the pages but I really wish that the ending had been stronger.

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Released date: 11^th July 2023 Buy ‘Burn the Negative’ now

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