If you grew up on Disney cartoons like I did, you are probably blissfully unaware of the more sinister original versions of fairy tales. A true old fashioned fairy tale is gothically dark. Rape, incest, mutilation, monsters…that was the stuff of real fairy tales. These stories were not meant to entertain 5-year-old little girls (like the Disney movies do), but instead to stir the thoughts and emotions of older readers who are just becoming aware of the existence of evil in the world around them. In an early version of Cinderella, the story begins with a king whose dying wife has a baby girl. After 15 years, the king is lonely and can’t find anyone to marry. So he decides to alter the law and marry his own daughter. (Ewww!) The 15 year-old girl decides to run away from home and find’s refuge in a merchants home were the Cinderella story as we know it begins. Not exactly something you would want to share with your young child right? So I guess I can applaud Disney for cleaning up these stories for younger audiences, but as an adult it’s fun to explore the darker grittier stories of the originals. Continue reading →