The Horror of Dolores Roach podcast adaptation in development at Amazon

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Something wicked is coming to Amazon by way of Blumhouse's drama series adaptation of The Horror of Dolores Roach, a Gimlet podcast that for two seasons has terrified listeners with a macabre tale of Darwinian proportions.

After Blumhouse secured the rights to adapt the podcast last year, the entertainment outfit set up a virtual writers room to help bring the spine-tingling story to life for Amazon. Dara Resnik, co-creator of Apple’s Home Before Dark, will act as showrunner for the project as part of a partnership with podcast creator Aaron Mark, who has a first-look deal with Blumhouse.

The Horror of Dolores Roach is based on Mark’s one-woman play Empanada Loca, which starred Rubin-Vega as Dolores 'Magic Hands' Roach, a former prison inmate who upon returning to New York City finds the life she once knew in utter shambles.

As per Deadline's exclusive report, The Horror of Dolores Roach is a grotesque Sweeney Todd-inspired tale of Eat or Be Eaten; a macabre urban legend of love, betrayal, weed, gentrification, cannibalism, and survival of the fittest. It follows the indomitable Dolores Roach, who returns to a New York City neighborhood that has changed drastically during the sixteen years she has been in prison. Her boyfriend missing, her family long gone, Dolores is recognized only by an old stoner friend, Luis, who gives Dolores room and board and lets her give massages for cash in the basement apartment under his dilapidated empanada shop.

When the promise of her newfound stability is quickly threatened, ‘Magic Hands Dolores’ is driven to extremes to survive — leaving in her wake a string of strangled massage clients. In the face of unexpected professional success, Dolores and Luis become dangerously symbiotic, and Luis must unleash his own particular predilections. The Horror of Dolores Roach podcast stars Daphne Rubin-Vega and Bobby Cannavale.

Acting as the project's executive producers are Jason Blum, Marci Wiseman and Jeremy Gold of Blumhouse Television and Chris Giliberti and Justin McGoldrick of Gimlet Pictures.

Yikes! Did you read that synopsis? If you ask me, The Horror of Dolores Roach sounds rather spooky. Imagin being lulled into a false sense of comfort while being on the receiving end of a massage, only to then have your life ripped away mid-relaxation. As someone who used to attend monthly massage sessions before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the thought of my massage therapist twisting my neck muscles into a pretzel-like shape are now very real. Thanks, Dolores!

Have you listened to The Horror of Dolores Roach podcast? If you have, why not share your thoughts about it in the comments section down below?