Burn the Negative by Josh Winning

Laura makes a living covering entertainment for Zeppelin. She's spent years making a name for herself as a journalist. 

But there's a part of Laura's past that she's kept hidden for decades. Laura used to be an actress. In fact, she starred in the notoriously cursed film The Guesthouse. But in the aftermath, she and her family relocated to the UK where she'd be less likely to be recognized. And eventually, she legally changed her name as well. 

All that's to say that Laura has gone to great lengths to erase any connection between herself and that film. And yet, she's been assigned to cover the "reinterpretation," It Feeds. 

Her plan is to get what she needs for the story and get out of LA as quickly as she can. But when she's found on set after a tragic accident, it seems her return home is going to be delayed. Convinced It Feeds has fallen under the same curse as the original film, Laura knows she needs to figure out what's going on or she might die trying!

There have been a bevy of cursed film movies of late and I am so here for it!

Burn the Negative introduces us early on to Laura, our leading lady. She's on a plane to Los Angeles when she finally looks over the press material she's been sent for her latest job and discovers it's a remake of The Guesthouse. Which she starred in. And which is said to be cursed because so many people involved in the film died. Not only that, their deaths mirrored deaths in the film!

That was decades ago. Laura has lived an entire liketime since then. And she's worked hard to put that, and the trauma she experienced, way behind her. So to say she's none too pleased about this assignment would be putting it lightly. 

It also means that she suspects her secret has been blown. 

But that becomes a bit of an afterthought when people start dying on set! And the deaths started as soon as she arrived!

Burn the Negative makes for a quick read. I loved the extra design aspect that goes along with the book: pieces of ephemera throughout that give more info on The Guesthouse and other aspects of the curse! The page numbers also appear within a little film reel!

I also loved that the book deals with trauma. Multiple kinds of trauma and how that can affect our life as we grow older. 

This is a super fun read for horror movie fans—pure popcorn entertainment! 

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