Twisted Tales of the Yellow Brick Road

“Stray not beyond the village wall. 

For the woods are dark and the night is long.

Beware, beware, the Goblin King’s call.”

     Take a trip down the yellow brick road and revel in the beauty, horror and madness that awaits…four beloved fairy tales with a bonus story inspired by Angela Carter’s The Erl King.

Golden Eyes- A reckless young girl ignores the warnings and is captured by the Goblin King in the mysterious forest of many names. will she ever escape? Will a handsome prince charming come riding to rescue her or a knight in shining armour save her?

     Sleeping Ugly- inspired by Sleeping beauty. A case of mistaken identity. A spoilt, murderous prince lifts up the first beauty he sees, and unable to wake her, carries her away and marries her anyway. Little does he know, she's a kitchen wench.

     Cinder- A rat with dreams larger than her front teeth. A fairy gives her an opportunity to live as a human and marry the handsome prince. But the price is hefty. A life for a life. Who will she kill in order to take their place in the human world?

      Snow White-. A psychopathic princess with severe Mommy issues. Her mother, an abused Queen-turned-Regent, was a mere kitchen wench when her husband stole her away. Murdering him did not slake her thirst for vengeance and a newfound greed for everlasting life and power. Thus, she asks her daughter to do the unimaginable.

      Beauty and the Beast- Beauty became a wizard and the Beast turned green, torn asunder by the crimes Beast committed throughout her life. As the only daughter of the fearsome Erl-King, she carried in her the seed of evil. Will Beauty's love save her?

And its shadowed claim stretching over these many kingdoms and lurking on the edge of all these tales, lies the great and terrible forest of many names. At its heart, a Goblin King ensnares the hearts of the youth he seduces into his trap, weaving their cages and casting their souls into madness. Until one day, he meets his match in a frightened young girl with golden eyes.

     Connecting all four of these tales is the winding, twisting yellow brick road, with no end and no beginning and a propensity to take one exactly where they have no business going.

About the Author

Aneesa Yasin is an author living in Yorkshire, the grandest county in the UK.  Just a short distance away is  Haworth, birthplace of the famous Bronte Sisters. She credits the auspicious location of her residence and a first time reading of 'Wuthering Heights' as one of the strongest...