The Shadow Glass

Dark Crystal meets About a Boy in a race against the clock to save the world in this nostalgia-infused adventure!

Jack Corman is failing at life.

Jobless, jaded and on the “wrong” side of thirty, he’s facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune.

But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he’ll end up a failure just like him.

In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy while conjuring the hero within––and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.

'The fantasy adventure my 80s-loving heart needed! Loaded with unforgettable characters, a thrilling quest, and the best 80s pop culture references, I loved every moment of The Shad ow Glass.' -- Kat Ellis, author of Harrow Lake

'Josh Winning's The Shadow Glass is like the old children's movies it worships: sometimes dark, but never heartless; gritty yet soul-baring.' -- Edgar Cantero, author of Meddling Kids

'Epic, edge-of-your-seat fantasy in its own right, with just enough horror to keep things interesting.' -- Elizabeth Corr and Katharine Corr, authors of The Witch's Kiss trilogy

'Henson Heads, rejoice! Of the myriad of pleasures Josh Winning conjures within his stunning novel The Shadow Glass, perhaps my personal darling is the rendering of a complete and hereunto unexplored cinematic fantasia that could easily stand alongside such practical FX classics as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and The NeverEnding Story. I was instantly transported back to the video store of my youth, sent down the fantasy aisle once again, where these pre-CGI pleasures of puppetry reside... and magic still exists.' -- Clay McLeod Chapman, author of The Remaking and Whisper Down the Lane

'Packed with heart and featuring a plot as fiendish as any Goblin King's labyrinth, The Shadow Glass is a masterpiece! -- William Hussey, Award-winning author of Hideous Beauty and The Outrage

'A blast of big-hearted fantasy fun, The Shadow Glass will have 1980s nostalgists digging back through their VHS collections with glee.' - Matt Glasby, author of The Book of Horror