''Bloodstained Oz'' is a '' Wizard of Oz''-related

horror novel Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...

la by

Christopher Golden Christopher Golden (born July 15, 1967) is an American writer. Early life Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. He graduated from Tufts University. Career As well as novels, Golden has written com ...

and

James A. Moore James Arthur Moore (September 3, 1965 – March 27, 2024) was an American horror novelist and short story writer, and role-playing game author. Biography James Arthur Moore was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 3, 1965. Moore was married. ...

, and it was illustrated by

Glenn Chadbourne Glenn Chadbourne (born October 19, 1959) is an American artist. He lives in Newcastle, Maine. He is best known for his work in the horror and fantasy genres, having created covers and illustrated books and magazines for publishers such as Ce ...

. It was

published Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

as a

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

hardcover by

Earthling Publications Earthling Publications is an American small press run by Paul Miller and specialising in limited edition books in the horror and dark fantasy genres. In 2003, Earthling won the Horror Writers Association Specialty Press Award. Books published b ...

in 2006. It comes with an introduction by

Ray Garton Ray Garton Jr. (December 2, 1962April 21, 2024) was an American author of horror fiction for adults and young adults. He wrote at least 68 books; the best-known, ''Live Girls'', was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. Personal life Ray Garton ...

. It was nominated for the

Horror Writers Association The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of horror and dark fantasy writers. Overview HWA was formed in 1985 with ...

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

for Best Long Fiction in 2006. The story falls outside of

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...

's original storyline for his ''

Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's literature, children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the List of Oz books, Oz series of books. A Kansas farm ...

'' series and its official sequels. Being outside of the

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

restrictions, ''Bloodstained Oz'' makes the

Land of Oz The Land of Oz is a fantasy world introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, W. W. Denslow. Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Countr ...

a nightmare for adults instead of a

children's story "Children's Story" is a song recorded by British-American hip hop artist Slick Rick. Taken as the second single from his album ''The Great Adventures of Slick Rick'', the song was a Top 5 hit on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B Singles a ...

. Both

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition is all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a book pr ...

s of ''Bloodstained Oz'' were sold out very soon after publication, and there are no current plans to reprint it by Earthling Publications or any other publisher. Being an ''Oz'' related book and a horror novel have made it a collector's item. Copies have been sold on

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

for $300.00 or more.

Plot

1930s

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of natural factors (severe drought) and hum ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

natives and an alternate version of the Wonderful Land of Oz collide during a huge dust storm. The Scarecrow, the

Tin Woodman Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, or the Tin Man, is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He first appeared in his 1900 book '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappeared in many other subsequent Oz ...

, and the

Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, and like all animals in Oz, he can speak. Although he often self-doubt, doubts himself, the Cowardly Lion no ...

may or may not help them on this adventure because the other inhabitants of Oz include

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

flying monkeys,

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

eyed

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

ic creatures, and other horrors beyond imagination. Down home farm girl Gayle Franklin and her family, escaped

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

Hank Burnside, and Roma gypsies Elisa and Stefan along with their infant son Jeremiah, all find themselves face to face with the unbelievable terrors from Oz. The creatures have taken over Oz and now they are threatening to take over

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

too.

Editions

''Bloodstained Oz'' was only available in two limited first editions: #500 numbered

hardcovers, signed by Christopher Golden and James A. Moore.

26 lettered limited edition hardcovers (''A'' - ''Z''), signed by Christopher Golden, James A. Moore, Ray Garton, and Glenn Chadbourne. It is housed in a handmade traycase featuring 1 of 26 matted original color
illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...
s of the Tin Woodsman by Glenn Chadbourne.

Links and references

Official web page for ''Bloodstained Oz''''Bloodstained Oz'' review
at Monsters and Critics.com
also as a PDF
{{Oz 2006 American novels 2000s horror novels Horror novellas Books based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz American novellas American vampire novels Collaborative novels Novels set in the 1930s Novels set in Kansas Works about the Dust Bowl Fictional representations of Romani people

Plot

Editions

See also

Links and references