Bloodstained Books In Order

Publication Order of Bloodstained Books

Bloodstained is a series of horror novels by James A. Moore and Christopher Golden and illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne. The first novel in the series was “Bloodstained Oz’ first published in 2006 to rave reviews and much fan popularity. The Bram Stoker nominated first novel was first intended as a standalone, before the publication of the follow-up to the series in 2017, that achieved just as much if not more success than the first one. The classic “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by Frank Baum inspires the novels though the current series does not follow the general plot lines in Baum original work. Given its unconventional plot lines, the novels in the Bloodstained series of novels and their setting in the Land of Oz makes these novels more of adult novels rather than children’s tales. The first editions of the first novel in the series were so popular that they sold out almost immediately after publication. With the publisher asserting that the novels would not be reprinted again, the novels became collector’s items selling for as much as $300 on auction. However, with the publication of the second novel in the series, the popularity of the series will only continue to rise. Similar to many of Christopher Golden’s titles, the events in the series of novels are set in Oz, an otherworldly setting. The lead characters in the series are Hank Burnside an escaped convict, Stefan and Elisa who are Roma gypsies, and Gaye Franklin a home farm girl.

The first novel in the series opens to a 1933 Dust Bowl Kansas, where drying and dying is the order of the day. The series of novels involve a trio of characters – one afraid of nothing, one brainless, and one heartless. The series follows the story of the survivors of the disaster in the small town of Hawley, Kansas where Gayle Franklin a young girl and her parents live. The family survives through the dust storm only to face the most terrifying of events. The family is attacked by a troop of murderous dolls whose leader is a pale gaunt figure. A few miles away a prisoner escapes after witnessing the wholesale murder of fellow inmates and guards by strange wild beasts with eyes the color of emeralds. Meanwhile, vampiric flying monkeys attack the caravan of a gypsy family brutally wounding them, even as they frantically protect their newborn infant. With more horror stories filtering through, it would seem that the massive dust storms that made a miserable day worse have brought with them paranormal creatures. The twisters and storms that destroyed much of the infrastructure and homes in the small town were bad enough but even worse, they brought with them unnatural creatures with complete disdain for human life, and an insatiable blood lust. Throughout the long year of the dust bowl, the residents of Hawley thought that they had gone through Hell, but now they realize that they had never had a chance to experience true Hell.

The Bloodstained series is a strangely twisted set of narratives with all the critical elements of the pastiche in all their glory. Moore and Golden construct a vivid and terrifying world of nightmarish familiarity in the series. The series answers the question of what became of Oz after a brainless scarecrow became mayor, the wizard abdicated, and the tourist trade flattened Oz. The first novel in the series “Bloodstained Oz”, turns the premise of the original series on its head. Instead of the young Dorothy going off over the rainbow, Kansas is the victim of a tornado that comes over from Oz. Christopher Golden and James Moore painstakingly devote each chapter to a character, building and fleshing them out, before the tornado strikes to disrupt the lives of the characters. The second novel in the series is a sequel to the first novel in the series that follows Franklin Gayle and her family who fled to Europe to run away from the vampires brought about by the Oz tornado. But things get worse than they were in Oz as they are now facing more than the vampire creatures, but also a range of dark enemies from Wonderland. The Bloodstained series are merciless, hard, and tight reads full of wild jousts, and dark terrors that will have any horror reader in thrall.

“Bloodstained Oz”, the first novel in the series is the enthralling first novel in the Bloodstained series of novels by Christopher Golden and James Moore. The 1933 Dust Bowl has just reduced Kansas the breadbasket of the US into a barren wasteland full of desperate prayers and broken dreams. With no rain for months, the crops are ruined and the people of Hawley, Kansas are living day-to-day in Hell. There is a storm on the horizon but it is not of the good kind, as it will scatter the wretched crops still on the fields and rip the roofs of the desolate farm buildings. A young girl will confront a nightmare and find a treasure trove in ruined farmland, a man will find freedom from the storm only to find that it brings with it damnation. Meanwhile, a woman will seek hope in the actions of her newborn infant after paying for the sins of her husband. In the midst of a tornado, that brings with it evil vampires that threaten to destroy Hawley, dying faith will be put to the test as blood instead of rain wets the fields. Even as the darkest storms typically result in some of the brightest of rainbows there is nothing that says pot of gold at the end of this storm, but rather an emerald gleam flickering with infernal light from the depths of Hell.

“Bloodstained Wonderland”, the second novel in the Bloodstained series is a mind-blowing sequel to the first novel in the series. The novel is set a decade after Bloodstained Oz and finds Elisa and Gayle Franklin two of the survivors from the first novel now trying to live through the London Blitz of World War II. But it is not only the bombs of the Luftwaffe that the survivors need to deal with this time. Gayle had been witness to the murder of her neighbors and parents by vampiric creatures that had emerged out of an Oz tornado. In the decade since that tornado, the vampires have been weakening the barrier between the dimensions and have so far been successful in knocking down a significant portion of them. They have joined forces with some bloodthirsty creatures from Wonderland, and have at last found Elisa and Gayle. The creatures are interested most of all in the strange green pendant that Franklin took from them when fleeing Hawley. The Emerald of Oz is a powerful magical stone that could save the two girls from the Blitz, if only they knew of its power.