Bedtime stories are supposed to be charming and adequate for a child’s innocent mind, but the most surprisingly dark fairy tales don’t really fit this mould. In fact, the majority of our beloved childhood books and movies were reconstructed and edited to the point where a happy ending is the only possible ending. But the reality is that Disney’s version of events is far from what the original authors planned for their characters and plot.
Unlike 7 of the most scary urban legends, which we compiled in a previous article, many of us never knew about the truly disturbing nature of the famous fairy tales, where rape, murder, and cannibalism are the norm. For those of you who wish to retain your blissful idea of princesses, fairy godmothers, and magical creatures, I warn you now: shy away from this list, because it may scar you for life. But for truth seekers, take a look at the most surprisingly dark fairy tales and how they’ve been modified over the years.
4. Little Red Riding Hood
The only thing sweet about this fairy tale is little red riding hood, who is foolishly tricked into telling the big bad wolf where her grandmother is, who he then proceeds to eat. Now, the commonly known story says that the wolf then lies in grandma’s bed dressed like her, awaiting the child. When she arrives he eats her and then a woodsman finds the wolf and cuts him open, saving both victims. However, there are several original versions that take a different approach to this tale, one where the woodsman doesn’t exist and little red riding hood escapes by distracting the wolf with a striptease. And in another version, the wolf invites the child into the home and serves her grandmother’s flesh as a meal, before eating her too.
3. Snow White
Snow white is one of Disney’s all-time favourites, due to its endearing finale. The story is simple: snow white is more beautiful than her evil step mother, who hires one of her hunters to kill her in the woods. Moved by her innocence and love of nature, the hunter sets her free, telling her to run far away. After finding the cabin with seven dwarfs, she lives comfortably until her stepmother poisons her with an apple and she falls in a coma, from which only a prince can awaken her. The original tale, written by the brothers Grimm, depicts snow white as seven year old child, so her living with dwarfs and being rescued by a Prince are a little peculiar. But also, the queen actually asks for most of her internal organs, so as to eat them.
2. Sleeping Beauty
The most famous version of sleeping beauty speaks of the evil witch Maleficent, who curses the king’s daughter at her birth celebration, due to being excluded from the ceremony. The child will prick her finger on a spindle on her 15th birthday, catapulting her into a 100 year long sleep. Of course, a handsome prince finds his way to the princess and awakens her with a kiss of true love, the end. However, in the original, the handsome Prince is married and actually has intercourse with the comatose Aurora, thereby impregnating her with twins! She gives birth while still sleeping and is only awoken by one of her babies, who sucks on her finger in search of breast milk.
1. Cinderella
As one of the oldest fairy tales around, Cinderella has many different versions, but Charles Perrault’s version is the one Disney based its classic movie on. In a nutshell, Cinderella lives with her stepmother and stepsisters, who are all terrible and make her work as the maid of the castle. Then the fairy godmother comes to the rescue, gives her a gown, a carriage, and a ball to go to, where she meets her prince and loses a slipper. A yes, the glass slipper: in the brothers Grimm version, this is the real deal. The desperate sisters go to the lengths of cutting off their own toes and heels just to fit in the shoe, but once the Prince decides on Cinderella, birds fly to the attack of the mother and sisters, pecking their eyes out for being evil. If that isn’t one of the most surprisingly dark fairy tales then I don’t know what is!
