The Bloody Brick Road: A Wizard of Oz Retelling

The Forbidden Tales

De: Maude Royer

In this wildly creative, horror-soaked reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, nothing is as it seems in Dorothy’s dystopian nightmare. Fans of Tender is the Flesh and Maeve Fly will want to follow her twisted journey down the yellow-brick road.

When nineteen-year-old Dorothy Noroît finds out she is pregnant, the road ahead seems bathed in golden light. She has a hard-working boyfriend, a beautiful home, and a job where she works with her best friend. But on October 2nd, 1994, everything changes. A reckless driver causes a massive freeway pile-up, and the Saint-Victorine Hospital in Montreal is suddenly overwhelmed with trauma victims, including five mothers-to-be. Days later, Dorothy leaves the hospital alone and suddenly finds herself without a boyfriend, without a job, and without any direction.

Fast forward twenty-four years.

The city of Montreal is plagued by extremist group, The Winged Monkeys. The gruesome murder of a young man has just made headlines. Lieutenant Henri Duhaime and his partner Detective Emilianne St. Gelais have been brought in to investigate. Just when they begin to wrap their heads around this heinous act of violence, another young man is found brutally murdered. And then another. Desecrated corpses and organs are scattered across the city and investigators are sent running in opposite directions in a race against the clock to solve the murders.

This unhinged retelling of the beloved classic, filled with a twisted cast of your favorite characters, brings together horror and revenge in a blood-soaked, funhouse mirror reflection of the timeless tale—and with endless Easter eggs for listeners to discover. Translated from the French for the first time, The Bloody Brick Road will transport you to a dark new world.

©2026 Maude Royer (P)2026 Simon & Schuster Audio