8 Modern Retellings of Classic Legends

When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly enamored with the kind and bookish young man. Their romance goes against the social mores of the time but their love cannot be contained. They find solace in the woods after dark, embracing in passion all while praying that they do not catch sight of the infamous Headless Horseman. 

But then, on All Hallows' Eve, Ichabod suddenly disappears. It's up to Katrina, accompanied by her friend (and rumored witch) Charlotte Jansen, to find him. Is the Headless Horseman real, or are the evils of men far greater than those of scary stories?

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is not what her parents expected, but as she grows, she comes into her witchcraft powers and evolves into a figure threatening enough to leave the gods themselves shaking in fear. 

Zeus, worried that she may try to overthrow him, banishes her to a deserted island. But nothing can stop her from becoming one of the most terrifying figures in Greek mythology. She can tame wild beasts, seduce men, and bring the world to its knees.

Ariadne, the princess of Crete, was best known for helping Theseus escape from the Minotaur, but Jennifer Saint imagines her life beyond this act of heroism. In this tale, Ariadne grows up in the lap of luxury, but beneath her golden palace lives her brother, the monstrous Minotaur who demands blood sacrifices. 

When Theseus, the Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in him a chance to escape her gilded cage. She'll defy the gods and betray her own family to make it happen, but will it give her the life she's always wanted? And what of Phaedra, the beloved younger sister she leaves behind?

The ancient city of Troy has withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, which continues to wage war over the beautiful Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman, Briseis, the queen of one of Troy's neighboring kingdoms that Achilles ransacked, awaits the outcome. She becomes the concubine of Achilles, the legendary warrior who murdered her husband. 

When Agamemnon, the brutal political leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two most powerful men in Greece. Now, she has power and the perfect position to watch the war unfold. The women of this battle are oft-overlooked or dismissed by history, but she certainly won't be.

The story of Lizzie Borden is now the stuff of children’s rhymes: the young woman who took an axe and gave her parents forty whacks. The truth of what happened with the young American woman and her family's vicious murders has never truly been uncovered. In See What I Have Done, a novel based on the real-life murders, Sarah Schmidt offers her perspective. The brutal deaths of Andrew and Abby Borden in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts, shock the community. 

Those close to the Bordens tell stories of strange spinster sisters with death on their minds. But Emma and Lizzie Borden, caught in the spotlight of a police investigation and media furore, must cling to one another to survive that which nobody else could truly understand.

The Mayan gods and early Mexican folklore are reinvented through the pen of bestselling SFF author Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It's the 1920s, and Casiopea Tun dreams of leaving her small hometown to party in the bright lights of Mexico City. Amid her enigmatic grandfather's possessions, she discovers a curious wooden box. Inside is the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Now, Casiopea must accompany him through the darkness of the Mayan underworld to help him exact vengeance. If she fails, she will die.

Jessamyn Teoh has been forced to move back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. Heartbroken and closeted, she's worried about hiding her sexuality from her family. When she starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress, but that voice won't go away. It claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma, a spirit medium and the avatar to a mysterious deity known as the Black Water Sister. 

Ah Ma wants to settle some scores from her living years, and she's going to force her granddaughter conduit Jess to do the dirty work. Now, Jess finds herself embroiled in a world of street gangs, vengeful spirits, and figures of Malaysian folklore she only previously knew from stories. It's a fight for control over her own body and her destiny.

Loki is the ultimate trickster god, a shapeshifter who delights in chaos and betrayed the gods as Asgard fell. In the retelling by Joanne M. Harris, we hear from Loki himself, eager to correct the historical record that has painted him as the villain. But can you really trust a demon-born god with a reputation for trickery who is so set on disorder and revenge? The Gospel of Loki lets him take center stage for you to decide.