"Via Negativa" is the seventh episode of the eighth season and the 168th episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on December 17, 2000, on Fox and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by executive producer Frank Spotnitz and directed by Tony Wharmby. It is a Monster-of-the-Week episode, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.3 and was viewed by 12.37 million viewers. It was generally well received by television critics, with many positively commenting on the "eerie" atmosphere of the dream sequences; one critic referred to it as a "superb X-Files episode."