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Im sure people have asked about this, but i.m looking for a twisted version of common fairy tales, common grim tales. Yes i have read the grimm's fairy (sorta what i.m thinking) but more in a modern approach (Prose, style, etc). can be creepy, deathly horror, or just uniquely subtle. I haven't gotten really into Maguire, and perhaps this is my fault.

thanks

Try Renhala...

Try Laird Barron's The Croning. It is mostly a modern story but it builds on the tale of Rumpelstiltzkin.

Have you read The Child Thief? It's a dark retelling of peter pan.

Try Margo Lanagan.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is a horrific tale about WWII.

peg wrote: "The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is a horrific tale about WWII."

peg... i wonder if i have that. oh no, i dont, but ill get a copy.

Erika wrote: "Have you read The Child Thief? It's a dark retelling of peter pan."

fantastic! the original is already weird enough! on it thanks.

I second The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Maybe The Book of Lost Things?

Anna wrote: "I second The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Maybe The Book of Lost Things?"

got the child thief... going ot have to find The True Story of Hansel and Gretel at the library!

Yeah: Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. Not in the "thriller" genre by any means...but, definitely creepy. And well-written. But, it is considered "YA".

Rhiannon wrote: "Yeah: Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. Not in the "thriller" genre by any means...but, definitely creepy. And well-written. But, it is considered "YA"."

love a good YO book. I should really give gregory maguire more of a chance. i have two of his books; confessions of an ugly step sister and lost.... he just doesnt do it for me, just like King doesnt do it for me. Its a style thing, i guess. I may go after confessions though.

anyhow, thanks for the rec!!!! its on my list. as far as thriller goes... its more of a scare factor im after.. grims like.

I couldn't get into Maguire's books, either. And I heard him speak once and he sounded really pompous and I decided - yeah, not for me.

I don't know if you are into graphic novels and comic books, but there are two series that are very well-known and loved for being "darker" fairy-tale retellings, Fables by Bill Willingham and Grimm Fairy Tales by Ralph Tedesco.

I can personally vouch for Fables - I've read all 18 volumes, and it is one of my favorite series of all time. Really fun.

Rhiannon wrote: "I couldn't get into Maguire's books, either. And I heard him speak once and he sounded really pompous and I decided - yeah, not for me.

I don't know if you are into graphic novels and comic books,..."

not much of a graphic novels sorta guy. I HAVE tried.. but i havent really been pulled inside it.

I'm not sure whether this would qualify, but Mercedes Lackey has a whole series of fairy tale retellings. I've only read a couple of them because I don't like retellings generally, but I think they're pretty well done. I don't know if they would qualify as scary or grimm. I think of them more as fantasy-thriller.

I have been really into this sort of thing lately, but I was focusing on only short stories. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales is okay. Some of the stories are very good, but there are a lot of clunkers. I'd recommend Angela Carter, especially The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. "The New Mother" by Lucy Lane Clifford is one of my favorites. It is a short story, and I know it is included in The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales. Not all of the stories in that collection are scary, but it also has a great one by Ursula K. Le Guin. The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors is fantastic but may be a bit more depressing than you are looking for.

I haven't gotten to buy There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby yet, but it sounds really good.

I think Maguire is just so try-hard that I can't get into his books, even though they're exactly what I'd be into. I do really like the first chapter of Wicked.

Well, it's not actually books, and it's no longer really modern, but I loved "fractured fairy tales" as a kid, and you can still see them on youtube.

tea obreht is based on tales and mild horror. fantastic first novel too The Tiger's Wife

and comyns makes her own tales up, but you cannot tell Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead

I am so overwhelmed. Thanks everyone

If you like short stories there is a long series of dark fairy tale anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow, starting with Snow White, Blood Red.

Also, not exactly a specific fairy tale, but The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce.

Miriam wrote: "If you like short stories there is a long series of dark fairy tale anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow, starting with Snow White, Blood Red.

Also, not exactly a specific fairy tale, but The Tooth ..."

the tooth fairy fell right off my radar! thanks for putting it back on. people took it off my "to be read radar" and put it back on the more i mentioned it. some people hate it for its depictions of sexual 'stuff' while others love it as a coming of age novel.

Tuck wrote: "tea obreht is based on tales and mild horror. fantastic first novel too The Tiger's Wife

and comyns makes her own tales up, but you cannot tell Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead"

i have the tiger's wife and perhaps had NO idea what it was about. is it worth it? do you highly recommend it? of course you do, because you just wouldnt have recommended it here... i dont know, cant remember my reservations in reading it.

ill pick up the other one in paperback.. just seems like it NEEDS to be a physical copy

Tuck wrote: "tea obreht is based on tales and mild horror. fantastic first novel too The Tiger's Wife

and comyns makes her own tales up, but you cannot tell Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead"

Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead looks great. ill be on the look out for it on paper back.

Sarah Pinborough's Poison (to be released later this month) looks like it might possibly be a good fit for this, too. A retelling of Snow White.

Christy wrote: "Sarah Pinborough's Poison (to be released later this month) looks like it might possibly be a good fit for this, too. A retelling of Snow White."

oh you tease you! ill keep an eye out~!

Vanessa wrote: "I have been really into this sort of thing lately, but I was focusing on only short stories. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales is okay. Some of the stories are v..."

I wanted to thank you, but there was a burp in good reads (AMAZZZZOON!)... i took There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby, because it looked a lot of like Revenge: eleven stories. And i also took The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, just because.. im in a wicked mood for all these sort of jaded, slanted, evil of evilest tales.

i just made a list of fairytale retellings for work. if you want, on monday, i can post the ones that are on the scarier side for you, if that would be useful.

Hi Karen
I would love to see your list if you could post it!

i can post the whole list of you want, or just the scary ones?

I would be interested in seeing the whole list-- if it isn't too much trouble, if so the scary ones would be fine. Nice to connect with you it's been awhile-- I see you are still doing what you do & going strong!
Susan

i will totally do this.

the list is only for books that are available on nook cuz that's my job right now, but there were a bunch of others i wanted to include, but weren't available digitally, so i can add those here, too.

but i left my list at work, so it won't be until monday night

No problem & no rush-- thanks in advance, have a great weekend!

Karen.... I'd love a list of scarier fairy tales. Thanks so much! I'm digging them so much right now

okay. so, today was rougher than i expected. all i can do for now is just post the list i made for work. tomorrow, i will add the titles i couldn't use for the list because of availability, and i will edit the list so the scary ones are all together. but for right now, i can only do quick and dirty. this is a list of fairytale retellings and mythology-inspired.

Ombria in Shadow
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
The Fairy Godmother
Gods Behaving Badly
Black Swan, White Raven
Black Thorn, White Rose
Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears
The Beastly Bride: Tales of the Animal People
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
The Child Thief
The Robber Bridegroom
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
Mirror Mirror
White As Snow
Fitcher's Brides
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg
There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby
Sleeping in Flame
Daughter of the Forest
Spindle's End
Enchantment
The Book of Lost Things
Till We Have Faces
Snow White And Rose Red
The Black Swan
The Big Over Easy
Impossible
Redemption in Indigo
King Rat
Snow White
The Fox Woman
Beauty
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales
The Robber Bride
Grendel
Anansi Boys
The Snow Child
Lady of the Forest
Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale
Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story
The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún
King Raven Trilogy: The Complete Series
Heart's Blood
The Age of Ra

i will fix it later.

Omg, the book of lost things by john connolly is your perfect book then! And the gates by him. forreal haha. How this helped!

Thank-you Karen---you are appreciated BIG time! :)

Oh that is just so awesome. Thanks

okay, i didn't have time last night, but i have a second now - i'll try to get them all at least posted, and then worry about editing another time. sorry i am so busy!

The Mabinogion Tetralogy
Tigerheart
The Last Light of the Sun
Winter Rose
The King Must Die
Deerskin
Rose Daughter
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins
Water Song: A Retelling of "The Frog Prince" (she has a bunch, but they are for younger readers)
The Snow Queen
The Nightingale
Beauty
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
Pricksongs and Descants
Briar Rose
Briar Rose (same title, different book, FYI)
The Sun, the Moon, & the Stars
Jack of Kinrowan: Jack the Giant-Killer and Drink Down the Moon
Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer
The Wild Swans
The Veil of Gold

so, that's pretty much what i have so far.
Mercedes Lackey has a million, but i didn't bother typing them all out.

and the James Lovegrove series is also about 6. but these are not all fairytales - they are fairy tales and books based on mythology, and i parsed out all the biblical and homeric ones for something different, so there is none of that here.

also, there is this series:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/67...

and for fun - here is a list of books that use fairytale elements but are not retellings, exactly:

The Sooterkin
The Stolen Child
Some Kind Of Fairy Tale
The King of Elfland's Daughter
The Girl With Glass Feet
In the Night Garden
In the Cities of Coin and Spice
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
Stardust

aaand that turgeon lady has one coming out soon:

The Fairest of Them All

oh, and Teresa Medeiros has a fairy tale romance series.

oh, and i forgot about all the jackson pearce ones:

Sisters Red
Sweetly
Fathomless

okay. i will try to tidy it up later.
hopefully that will lead to some good matches for now.

omg! thank you!

I second Jasper Fforde for book lovers! I have been meaning to post here to ask for recommendations like his works, Wicked, and Christopher Moore's more recent works (Fool, Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art, and The Serpent of Venice), but I have not gotten around to it yet because I want to formulate a more succinct question.

There is a retelling of Snow White Snow, Glass, Apples that is pretty dark, as is an earlier short story that is kind of similar by Tanith Lee.

Splintered

Boy, Snow, Bird.
The rat catcher.
Shivers.

I love these additions!

Hmmm how about The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels by Agota Kristof (The Book Of Lies, Twins Trilogy # 1-3). Described as a "fractured fairy-tale" it's definitely on the dark side.

The notebook by sparks?

haahah no The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels

oh, and you might also like Gretel and the Dark - i think it will totally be up your alley

Gretel and the dark--- thanks Karen yet another to read on my list