Cinderella. Sleeping Beauty. Snow White. Chances are you recognize these names. Most people are probably familiar with the fairy tales these young women come from. If not from the multitude of Disney adaptations, then perhaps from childhood storybooks or even television shows like the 2010s series, Grimm.
The common association with Disney, however, doesn’t mean fairy tales are always family-friendly. In fact, many fairy tales originally featured darker elements and less-than-happy endings. The little mermaid dissolves into foam. Desperate stepsisters cut off their toes to fit into a dainty glass slipper. A princess cursed to slumber is assaulted by a passing king and left pregnant with twins. Not exactly the feel good, sanitized versions pop culture has taught us to expect.
In addition to movies and television shows, fairy tales have provided ample creative fodder for science fiction and fantasy novels. Whether it’s in the way the stories are told or via literary references, they’ve often served as common touchstones for readers everywhere. They’ve even given us many recognizable tropes and themes popular in books today: the knight saving the princess from her tower, a woman breaking a curse through the power of her love, and so forth.
To celebrate the season, here are some dark fairy tale retellings to keep the tradition’s origins alive.
Beauty
No list of retellings would be complete without a novel focusing on Beauty and the Beast. The French fairy tale contains many elements familiar to readers of romantic fantasy today: a heroine that comes from an impoverished family, a female lead that—at first glance—is less remarkable than her beautiful sisters, a beastly love interest, and forced proximity. McKinley’s debut novel doesn’t stray far from the original story.
When her widower father loses the family fortune due to bad luck, Honour and her sisters move to a small town situated on the edge of a foreboding forest. After they receive word that one of her father’s lost merchant ships has returned, he leaves immediately to see if it’s true. But when he returns, the daughters learn that not only did no ship return, he incurred the wrath of a beast who demanded one of his daughters in exchange for his life.
Thornhedge
Presenting a classic fairy tale from the perspective of the villain has become a staple of retellings. Following in the footsteps of Disney’s Maleficent, Kingfisher presents the tale of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the godmother. Toadling is a human child stolen from her family by faeries. But unlike other fictional children who’ve shared this fate, Toadling grew up loved and adored by her faerie family.
Then, one day, the fae ask her to return to the human world and cast a spell of protection upon a child. Not very different from the original story, right? But, of course, since this retelling is told from the perspective of the “villain,” there’s a twist. Here, the spell of protection isn’t what you might first assume and isn’t necessarily about protecting the child.
You can read Chapter 1 of Thornhedge here.
Thorn Jack
Based on Tam Lin, in which a young woman saves her true love from the clutches of a powerful faerie queen, Thorn Jack opens with Finn Sullivan moving across the United States to her father’s hometown after her sister’s suicide. There, she enrolls in the local community college and meets Jack Fata, the son of a rich and powerful family. But beyond this burgeoning relationship, Finn’s new home is strange and full of secrets, many of which revolve around magic and faeries. And when she begins to unravel the mystery, she just might find a surprising connection to her sister’s death.
In The Night Wood
Rather than a specific fairy tale retelling, Bailey’s novel evokes the darkness inherent in the original stories. As a child, Charles Hayden was fascinated by an obscure fairy tale called “In the Night Wood” about a horned fae king and a girl named Laura. As an adult, he faces more mundane tragedies: a lost job, a dead child, and a failing marriage.
But when Charles moves to the English family estate inherited by his wife, he revisits his childhood obsession. And as he delves into the origins of his favorite fairy tale and the life of its original author, it becomes unclear whether he’s uncovering the estate’s lost history or if he's simply going mad.
The Green Man
The Green Man remains an enduring figure from folklore. Often depicted as a green-skinned man covered in foliage, he represents rebirth, rejuvenation, and the wildness of nature. In this anthology curated by legendary editors Datlow and Windling, the essence of the Green Man and other nature spirits take center stage. Featuring SFF literary luminaries like Tanith Lee, Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, and Patricia McKillip, the stories and poems contained in this volume explore wild forests and the creatures—magical or not—that live within.
House of Salt & Sorrow
One of the lesser-known Grimm fairy tales, “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” tells the story of twelve beautiful princesses who sleep in twelve beds in the same room. Even though their father, the king, locks their bedroom every night, their dancing shoes are found worn through the morning after. Erin Craig presents a creepy and macabre retelling of this story in her debut novel. Annaleigh once had eleven sisters, but four of them have died in mysterious and inexplicable ways.
The local villagers say that her family is cursed, but she suspects that their deaths weren’t accidents. You see, the sisters have a secret: They’ve been sneaking out at night to dance at glittering balls. Annaleigh can’t decide between joining them or stopping them, but it becomes apparent that what she needs to question is who, or what, her sisters are dancing with.
Featured image: Олег Мороз / Unsplash
