A Dark Fantasy take on the world of Oz.
Dolly didnât ask for this. One moment, sheâs an ordinary girl living on a farm with her dog; the next, sheâs ripped from her world and thrust into the nightmarish land of Oz. The only way forward is to follow the path of the red bricks, each step pulling her deeper into a world that reeks of death.
Oz is not the fairy tale you imagine. Instead of friendly faces, Dolly is pursued by three monstrous horrors: a Semblance, a twisted creature stitched together from the remains of the dead; a Vampire, a dark force driven by a thirst for blood; and a Werewolf, ravenous for human flesh. Each one is more deadly than the last, and none will stop until she is torn apart or becomes part of Oz itself.
Her only ally is The Mechanic, a brilliant, reclusive inventor from the neighboring land of UL. But the deeper Dolly goes, the more she realizes that in Oz, nothing is as it seems. The red bricks she follows arenât a path to salvationâthey feed on blood, and Dolly may be their next offering.
A Dark Fantasy take on the world of Oz.
Dolly didnât ask for this. One moment, sheâs an ordinary girl living on a farm with her dog; the next, sheâs ripped from her world and thrust into the nightmarish land of Oz. The only way forward is to follow the path of the red bricks, each step pulling her deeper into a world that reeks of death.
Oz is not the fairy tale you imagine. Instead of friendly faces, Dolly is pursued by three monstrous horrors: a Semblance, a twisted creature stitched together from the remains of the dead; a Vampire, a dark force driven by a thirst for blood; and a Werewolf, ravenous for human flesh. Each one is more deadly than the last, and none will stop until she is torn apart or becomes part of Oz itself.
Her only ally is The Mechanic, a brilliant, reclusive inventor from the neighboring land of UL. But the deeper Dolly goes, the more she realizes that in Oz, nothing is as it seems. The red bricks she follows arenât a path to salvationâthey feed on blood, and Dolly may be their next offering.
It all started on a dark and stormy night. This should be a given since the only way to get to the realm where Oz and UL reside is to be carried away by a tornado. Though tornadoes can happen during the day, the sentence is apt. Let's start again.
It was a dark and stormy night in the small town of Millsboro, Delaware. As the storm clouds roil and spin in the sky, a perfect setting for a tornado to form, a young girl runs home to find that she is alone. Neither of her parents were home; she had been in this situation many times and wasn't scared. Dolly is very mature and fearless for her tender age of 17. Life with a cop and a firefighter isn't an easy one, so she has learned how to be self-sufficient.
As she entered the house, she looked around and saw that her parents had secured the porch furniture and close all of the windows before leaving. Dolly knew that her parents were good about it but she took the time to recheck the windows just to make sure. She slowly headed upstairs to her room to change into jeans and a comfortable sweatshirt before entering her dad's office to make sure that his window had been closed, too. She hated going into his office. Her dad liked scary movies and had multiple posters and figurines of vampires, werewolves and the Frankenstein creature all around the room. Dolly hated these movies and they typically fed her nightmares after she spent time there. She decided to take a little bit of time and listen to the radio before feeding her German shepherd, Apollo, to calm her nerves.
After Apollo was fed, Dolly took him outside to do his deed. Their walk took them towards the growing cornfields at the edge of her property. The half-mile walk is usually enjoyable, but the weather tonight was making Dolly tense. As Apollo walked around sniffing anything and everything, she looked up at the sky. The clouds were swirling and would definitely form a funnel soon. I should probably get Apollo and go inside, she thought. Dolly turned to call him back but instead watched as Apollo scared a rabbit out of its burrow and chased it into the cornfield. Great! Dolly thought. She knew better than to run after him, but she had to get Apollo to listen. She ran to the edge of the field and yelled his name several times. If she knew how to whistle, he could hear her over the swirling winds a bit more easily. When he didn't return, she turned toward the house as the tornado touched down directly on top it.
Shit!
Wood, shingles and other debris flew into the air and around the property. Dolly screamed and ducked under a board that was thrown in her direction. Staying there was not safe, so she quickly looked around for somewhere to get out of the storm. The cellar was on the other side of the house and there were no outbuildings near her.
Dolly had nowhere to hide. The wind and noise were overwhelming, making it hard to think about anything. As the tornado made quick work of the house and headed directly toward her, Dolly had only one thought. I'm going to die. Just then, Apollo ran out of the corn, circled her and stood guard against the inevitable. Dolly then saw headlights shine in her direction. A truck pulled into her yard, Tommy from up the way. He leaned over and swung the door to the old pickup wide and yelled for the two to get into his truck. He stopped just long enough for Dolly and Apollo to get inside. Before the door was even closed, Tommy slammed the gas and threw dirt and stones at the storm.
This must have angered the storm gods because as they sped away, the storm shifted and followed the trio up the local dirt road. No matter how fast Tommy pushed the old truck, the tornado seemed to gain on them. Tommy was worried. Dolly had put her seat belt on while he was driving away from the hell-storm, but Tommy hadn't. He had taken his off to swing the door open for her and Apollo and hadn't had the time to put it back on. The life-saving device hung limply over his left arm. As he drove, Tommy kept looking at the storm in his rearview mirror, so much so that he inadvertently swerved off the road. The truck slammed into a ditch and came to rest at an odd angle,with the drivers side at the bottom. When they hit the ditch, Tommy's head slammed forward and into the steering wheel, blood covering the windshield.
Dolly screamed his name and tried to get him to wake up. As she shook him, she looked back at the encroaching storm. Dolly was afraid that he wouldn't wake up. Is that brain matter on the dashboard? she thought, as the storm finally caught up to them. There was no more time for any thought for Tommy as the truck shimmied and shook from the angry winds. Apollo whined and cowered on the floorboards. At least he was ok after the crash.
The winds picked up, blowing so hard that the bed of the truck lifted and slammed back down, scaring Dolly to death. Any more strength to the wind and it'll pick the truck up completely. Seconds later came another gust; the truck lifted and squealed against the winds as it slammed back into the ditch. This time, Tommy's door was jarred, and the door popped open. His arm and seatbelt hung limply out of the truck as his body started to slowly slide into the ditch. Dolly tried to grab him and keep him inside. It became almost impossible to see inside with the wind-blown sand and stones swirling into the cab of the truck. Everything was going wrong. As she reached over Tommy to get the door closed, it caught in the wind and was ripped off of its hinges. Tommy's limp body started to be taken with it. Dolly had a tiny sliver of hope as his left arm, still wrapped in the seatbelt, caught and held him down. However, before she could react, the wind shifted and took Tommy up and into the storm.
Dolly huddled down, hugged Apollo and prayed that the tornado would pass. As her prayers were sent, the winds died down, and the skies seemed to clear. Dolly lifted her head and tried to thank the gods for her life. Just as she let them go, the storm picked up in intensity. She had just been in the eye of the storm. As the winds shifted, they rattled and picked up the truck. It spun in circles as it rose ever higher into the storm. Dolly quickly became disoriented and nauseous. It seemed like forever before the wind calmed, and the truck stopped its ascent into the sky. The new problem was that as its ascent stopped, it started to descend quickly. The truck picked up speed until it reached terminal velocity. Even with her eyes shut, Dolly knew that she and Apollo were going to die. There was no way to survive a crash of this proportion. Dolly hugged Apollo tight and waited for the inevitable. It took longer than she would've thought to fall from that height. When the impact did come, it was much softer and a lot more sugary than expected. Though the impact jarred her and took away her breath, nothing else seemed to be hurt.
As Dolly opened her eyes and looked around, nothing around her seemed quite right. The storm clouds were gone like they had never been there. She let go of Apollo and undid her seatbelt. As she looked around, all of the colors seemed muted somehow. She thought it might just be the dirty windows of the truck at first, but even her sweatshirt and shoes had the same hues. It was almost like she had lived in the real world her whole life and was now in a magical movie wonderland where everything was being shot in black and white. Everything looked bleak.
###
What Dolly didn't know but would soon find out was that the truck and its cargo had been thrown into the land of Oz. More specifically, she had landed on the outskirts of Munchkin Land, where they grew gelatin in large batches to send to the Emerald City. Somehow, in this land, they were able to grow sugary snacks like lollipops, cotton candy and gelatin. You'd almost expect to see a strange half-deaf fella making a candy factory here using the Munchkins to tend the fields as they sang a cutesy tune. Maybe he would specialize in chocolate, though?
Anyway, with that out of the way, let's get back to Dolly.
###
It took Dolly and Apollo a few seconds to figure out that they weren't dead. How? She'd thought but then figured that it didn't really matter. As long as she was alive, she could figure out where they were and get back home; her parents were probably worried sick. Dolly tried to open her door, but something soft pushed against it hard enough to keep it from opening. She gathered Apollo and decided to slide out of the open driver's door while doing her best to avoid the blood on the steering wheel. As she jumped down, her feet squished in something like mud. She looked down and saw that she was stuck in something like a gelatin mold. She tried to turn and help Apollo out but she had sunk up to her knees in a greenish oozing substance. Dolly thought about how this ooze should've been a very bright, vibrant green, but she could barely tell the difference now.
"Hey! Hey, you! Get your things and yourself out of my crops!" Yelled a loud voice from a nearby house.
Dolly wasn't sure who the child was that was yelling at her or how this green ooze was any type of crop, so she decided to ignore it. As she sloshed her boots through the ooze to grab her dog, she heard a door slam in the distance. Great! With Apollo in her arms, she sank even deeper into the ooze. This stuff was like quicksand. It was above her waist when she heard the child yell again.
"I said get out of my gelatin. That is supposed to be harvested tomorrow to be sent to the Ruler of Emerald City. AND YOUâRE RUINING IT!" the child screamed as he approached the edge of the field.
"I can't get out. I'm sinking. My legs are completely covered in this." Dolly pleaded. "Please go get your mom or dad to help me. They should know what to do." Dolly said this as she turned towards what she assumed was a child by the higher-pitched voice and the quick steps. What she saw was not what she had pictured.
The Munchkin standing at the edge of the field stood a full three feet tall. His beard was probably three and a half feet long as it drug across the ground and between his legs. His face was weather-worn and wrinkled from age.
"My mom and dad? Do you think that I am some type of child? Maybe I should let you die in that field. And your little dog, too!" he yelled as he turned to walk away.
"No! Wait! I'm sorry. I didn't know." she called after him.
The man continued to stalk away as Dolly and Apollo slowly descended further into the gelatin.
"Please help me?" she whispered. More to herself than to anyone else.
A bell went off in the distance. Dolly had no idea what that meant, and if she had been really honest with herself, she wouldn't have cared. The ooze, or gelatin, was up to her chest now. Apollo was kicking and trying to get on her shoulders to stay out of it. A few seconds later, Dolly heard the rushing of wings above her. With Apollo still clawing for purchase on her face and chest, she couldn't turn and see what it was. It wasn't until Apollo's weight was lifted off of her that she could see what appeared to be winged monkeys carrying Apollo off into the sky.
"No!!" she screamed as more monkeys grappled to get a grip on her. "Help! Apollo! Help! Apollo!" she screamed after her dog while fighting off the crazed-winged monkeys.
Two of the monkeys grabbed Dolly's shoulders and started to pull her out of the gelatin. When she got her feet free, she decided to fight back. As she flew through the air toward the edge of the field, she picked her time, grabbed the monkey's claws and ripped herself from their grip. She hung from their arms as she pulled her legs up and wrapped them around the chest of the monkey on her right. Dolly then pulled herself up and spun on the thing in the air. As they plummeted to the ground, Dolly cleared the thing's wings and pulled up on its neck. The wings caught enough air to slow their descent. As they hit the ground, she jumped off and rolled into a fighting stance. She didn't think about the fact that she had just survived a second fall from the sky; all she was thinking about was getting these monkeys off of her and getting her dog back.
As she stood over the winged monkey, it curled up into a ball, wrapping its wings around itself, and it started to wail. Had she hurt it that badly, or was it calling for help? It was then that she heard Apollo barking. It wasn't his mad or threatening bark. It was a happy bark. He came barreling out of the tall grass, completely covered in what appeared to be cotton candy, with a long stick in his mouth. The short, angry man was yelling after him as they ran into the clearing.
"What did you do to my worker?" the man asked suddenly. He ran over to the monkey and pried his wings from around his body. He then leaned in and gave the monkey a hug. As he did, the monkey stopped crying and looked at Dolly with sad, pitiful eyes. "You owe him an apology. He was helping you, and you hurt him."
"I...I didn't know. They just came and took my dog. I wasn't sure what to think. I'm... I'm sorry. I guess." Dolly stuttered.
As she said the words, the monkey smiled, unfurled its wings further and took off into the sky. As Dolly's eyes followed the monkey's flight, she saw others working to get the truck out of the gelatin, too. There had to have been 20 of them in total.
"You aren't from around here. Are you?" the short man asked.
"No. I'm from Delaware. Where...Where am I?"
"You're in Munchkin land. Well, the outskirts of it, anyway. These are our cotton candy and gelatin fields. Your dog has taken a liking to the branches of the cotton candy trees. Which isn't a good thing, but I guess one branch is fine. Come. Come with me. We will get you washed up and on the way to town." The man spun and waddled off.
Dolly wasn't sure what else to do. She was covered in so much gelatin that her pants weighed a ton, and she was covered in dirt from head to toe. She needed a shower badly, so she followed. Later, she sat at a small table, trying not to hit her head on the ceiling. She had washed, and the man had cleaned her clothes. He gave her a bag with some food and a few treats for the walk.
"Town isn't far. You just follow the yellow brick road. The opposite way leads to the Emerald City, but this way heads to Munchkin Town Hall. You want to go in and talk to the Mechanic's Guild. They may be able to fix your thing there." As he talked, he pointed at Tommy's poor truck. It was leaking green and red ooze from a lot of different places. "Once you speak to them. Talk to the mayor, and he will tell you how to get back home, or at least to the Emerald City, where the Ruler will be able to help."
With that conversation finished, the man got up and walked to the door, opened it and stood to the side, obviously expecting Dolly to leave. She got the hint quickly, got up from the chair, kept her head low and walked out of the door. As soon as she was clear, the door slammed shut behind her. Dolly laughed to herself and called for Apollo. He quickly rounded the house with his favorite cotton candy stick still in his mouth. Dolly threw the pack on her back and looked for the road that she was told about.
Follow the yellow brick road, she thought as she found the small path. Ok, here we go.
"We aren't in Delaware anymore, Apollo," she said as she took the path to the town of Munchkin's. She was hoping they were all as helpful but a little nicer than this gelatin farmer.
Apollo only cared about his sugary stick and being with Dolly.
The Bloodstained Bricks by S.M. Sykes is a compelling and imaginative story set in the mysterious Land of Oz before the well-known visit by Dorothy Gale and her little dog, Toto. Told similarly to the style of the original book, Sykes has doubled down on that storyâs elements of horror with monsters of a more modern vintage. Instead of âLions and tigers and bears,â readers get âMonsters and Vampire and bats.â Oh my!
The heroine of the tale is 17-year-old Dolly from Millsboro, Delaware, who ends up âover the rainbowâ with her German Shepherd, Apollo, in much the same fashion as the movie: by tornado. However, her home is destroyed, and the boy from down the way, who had been trying to rescue her and the dog, is wrenched, unconscious, from his pickup and presumed to perish: a much more tragic and dark turn of events from the start. The heartache of the loss of her friend revisits Dolly throughout her ordeal in Oz.
The plot follows the pair as they struggle to get to the person with the power to get her home. The story has a pair of amethyst slippers, but they cleverly transform into footwear that is more suitable for Dollyâs travel needs when the heels are tapped together. Apollo also proves to be way more helpful than that trouble-magnet Toto, protecting his mistress with fervor and the heft and attributes to actually do some damage. While the flying monkeys make appearances, they are on Dollyâs side this go-round. However, their replacements, sent by the evil leader of Emerald City, more than compensate for the monkeysâ about-face. Led by a mysterious, masked Vampire under the thumb of the cruel leader, they are pursued by a werewolf and a nightmarish creature called the âSemblance,â created from the re-animated body parts of the dead (think Frankensteinâs monster), who can regenerate if he becomes dismembered. The trio is seemingly unstoppable, and the pursuit becomes a battle of wits between Dolly and her remote helpmate, a Munchkin technological genius assisting her from his home in the target destination of Amethyst City known as âThe Mechanic.â What follows is an exciting race for safety.
While a little slow getting started, the action soon picks up, making for a suspense-filled tale, and there is some fun dialogue between Dolly and Vampire at times. However, I thought their second escape from the tower was a bit long and convoluted, and it really felt like an idea that was added on later. Also, there are still quite a few typos, missing words, and misused homophones. However, overall, the story is entertaining and somewhat nostalgic, and it ends with a twist and the option for a possible sequel that I would certainly want to buy and read.
I recommend THE BLOODSTAINED BRICKS to readers of horror or dark fantasy, especially those who enjoy stories such as fairytale retellings.