Josh Winning > Quotes

“One way or another, this trip is going to kill me.”
― Josh Winning, Burn the Negative

“He had done it for her: gotten clean, sworn off killing. She made him want to be better, in the way that a best friend often did. He had no reflection, but he saw himself in the way the cat looked at him, and he didn’t want to see a monster. Not anymore. He wanted Whitby to be proud of him.”
― Josh Winning, Be Still My Unbeating Heart

“The house appeared distorted. It looked almost Victorian but too big, too ornate. The surface vibe was kitschy British, which didn’t fit with the all-American size of the place, and every light fixture and picture frame was gaudy to the point of comical. It was as if somebody had cannibalized a dozen guesthouses from around the world and pieced together a Frankenstein’s monster of a hotel.”
― Josh Winning, Burn the Negative

“He could smell them, the earthy perfume of the kettu mingling with the slimy reek of the skalions, and fresh horror foamed in his stomach as he attempted to process what he was seeing. Skalions. Creatures of nightmare. Merciless. Fearless. Mad. And here. Right here in the attic.”
― Josh Winning, The Shadow Glass

“Horror never lied. It never assured you it would all work out. It never shied away from reality. Horror was different. Horror was honest. Horror hurt in the best way possible.”
― Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll

“Jack Corman swore as he seized the window shutter and forced it to stop flapping. It had been striking the frame when he arrived at his father’s house, making a sound like gunshots that echoed across the street, and he was surprised the neighbours hadn’t come out to complain. Then again, Kettu House wasn't just any house. People tended to approach it with caution.”
― Josh Winning, The Shadow Glass

“The thought of a warm body in his bed made him quiver. Perhaps he’d have a holiday romance. He just had to trust that he wouldn’t lose himself so completely in a heated moment that he ended up sticking his fangs in a guy’s neck.”
― Josh Winning, Be Still My Unbeating Heart

“Jack reached down to tease up the material, grimacing at the slimy texture. It was as thin as paper, a single piece of something like white fabric, soaked through with gelatinous fluid, long and curling at the edges. He fought the urge to vomit as he realised what it was.
Skin.
Something had shed its skin.”
― Josh Winning, The Shadow Glass

“Toby cackled. “The PG puppet just F-bombed you.”
― Josh Winning, The Shadow Glass

“An empty film set was like an empty school. Drained of purpose, which made it feel like anything could happen.”
― Josh Winning, Burn the Negative

“The woman is handsome in a stoic kind of way.”
― Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll

“She felt the past clutching for her and stepped out of its grasp.”
― Josh Winning, Burn the Negative

“Well, there’s no such thing as a happily-ever-after.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means there’s always another story.”
― Josh Winning, The Shadow Glass

“The gloom is comforting, though. It feels womblike. Protective. Nothing can reach me here. Nobody can take my picture or yell at me in the street or slide into my DMs to tell me real quick just how they're going to take me apart, piece by dripping piece.”
― Josh Winning

“As I read the messages, I stop breathing. I feel the trees crowding in through the windows. They whisper and press against my face, pushing branches into my mouth, and it’s suddenly too quiet in here. Too unbearably quiet, aside from the thud of blood in my temples.”
― Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll

“He heard a whispering voice as footsteps beat the dirt. “Got to make them pay. Got to make them all pay.” He heard something heavy being dragged over the dirt. He heard his own throat give a final whine as air left it. Then he heard nothing.”
― Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll

“I’m pretty sure a sound woke me up. I hold my breath, listening. The vein in my temple throbs against my skull. Silence hisses in my ears. Then— Knock. Knock. Knock.”
― Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll

“Not today”
― Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll

“My fingers bleed, are sliced to shreds, but finally I’m done. For the first time since high school, I have bangs. They’re spiky and uneven, make me think about memes celebrating that weird moment in the early noughties when everybody in Hollywood got the “Scream 3 Courteney Cut.”
― Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll

“The Needle Man wasn't outside anymore.”
― Josh Winning, Burn the Negative

“Let us begin again,” the female said, her voice tight, as if she were only just controlling her emotions. “I am Zavanna and this is Brol. Are you friend or food?”
― Josh Winning, The Shadow Glass

“Every day is a gift and should be treated as such, even if one is going to live forever.”
― Josh Winning

“I did warn you all that I run like a drunk octopus.”
― Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll