In Episode 26, author Mar Romasco-Moore talks about their love for the cult classic Disney film, Return to Oz and how it influenced their latest young adult novel, Deadstream. This is one of our favorite films EVER, and if you haven’t seen it, you absolutely must. It’s got Dorothy Gale escaping a psychiatric hospital, a talking chicken side-kick, the Emerald City in ruins, a headless princess with nefarious intentions, and a king made of stone who REALLY loves Dorothy’s infamous ruby slippers. We explore the whys and hows of the making of this film and the repercussions of its possibly unintentional horrors on unsuspecting young viewers, like us.

Mar Romasco-Moore is also the author of the novels I Am the Ghost in Your House, Krazyland, Some Kind of Animal, and Ghostographs: An Album. Their new book, Deadstream, hit shelves on April 1st, 2025.

Dan Poblocki is the bestselling author of the recent novels Tales to Keep You Up at Night and More Tales to Keep You Up at Night, along with Ghost Hunter’s Daughter, Liars’ Room, The Stone Child, The Nightmarys and others. His picture book with James Rey Sanchez, My Brother’s Butt is Haunted, is arriving July 29th, 2025 from Penguin Workshop. Pre-order your copy RIGHT THIS MINUTE by visiting danpoblocki.com.

Follow the Our First Fears podcast on Instagram @ourfirstfears & @danpoblox and Bluesky @danpoblock.bsky.social. And feel free to reach out at [email protected].