Ten Fairytale Retellings That Have A Darker Twist

Surely you’ve heard the story of Hansel and Gretel. Poor lost siblings all alone in the forest stumble upon a house made of gingerbread and candy and have to fight for their lives against a witch who wants to eat them.

In most versions of the tale, the witch burns and the children flee, but have you ever wondered what happened after? Did they feel sick at every mention of candy or gingerbread? Did they hear the witch scream every time they closed their eyes? Could they handle being anywhere near an oven? After the Forest brings us some answers to these questions.

The book follows the story of Greta and her brother Hans, who are just trying to get by twenty years after the events with the witch and the gingerbread house. Their village isn’t entirely convinced they’re fully innocent, and something is certainly not normal in the village, and it’s not just Greta’s magically addictive gingerbread.

Vasya is a pure and wild child full of the forest and magic. When her new stepmother bans the worship of the old gods, Vasya has to take matters into her own hands to protect her family and village from the evil creatures of the forest.

This story blends Slavic and Russian folklore and fairytales together to present a wonderful historical fantasy trilogy full of myth, magic, and monsters . As the dark magic in the woods begins to stir, who should the villagers turn to, the new gods or the old spirits?

Vasya is a strong character who won’t be cowed by society or religious norms, and the conflict between religion, folklore, and women’s place is incredibly well explored in this series. Featuring my favorite winter demon and possibly my favorite fictional horse, this is not one to miss.

In this fresh take on Snow White , we follow Princess Eve, who loves her mother (the queen) and who has spent her whole life preparing to fight the trickster Knight, who terrorizes her town with his wicked magic.

Against better judgment, desperate villagers make deals with the Knight, thinking they can outsmart him. Yet time and time again, the Knight twists the deals, leaving the villagers worse off than before. As Eve’s seventeenth birthday approaches, she finds herself running out of time to save her kingdom, and her frustration is rapidly building as things spiral out of control.

This story captured my attention and kept me eagerly anticipating what would come next. I especially enjoyed the twists and all the fairytale elements.

I’m never going to be a big fan of geese, but I definitely have a new respect for them after A Sorceress Comes to Call. This is a wonderfully written adult fairytale inspired by Grimm’s The Goose Girl .

Coredlia’s mother can literally make her obedient, meaning she can’t move, talk, or even take a sip of water without her mother allowing it. While Cordelia doesn’t know quite how to interact with others socially, she does know this is not normal, no matter what her mother says.

The unfortunate truth is Cordelia’s mother, Evangeline, is a Sorceress and she’s on a mission to find a new sponsor after using up the last one.

Soon she finds herself at Hester’s doorstep, as Hester’s brother, the affable squire, is Evangeline’s newest target.

This tale is dark, twisty, and full of some delightful characters. I highly recommend it.

The miller’s daughter, 18-year-old Serilda, is known for her outlandish tales. The townsfolk think of her as a liar, but she prefers being described as a creative storyteller. When things start to go awry, no one believes her tales. The village folk know she’s cursed with her magic-touched eyes and choose to steer clear.

Serilda is quirky and such a fun character who I enjoyed following on this adventure. It’s hard to say much without spoiling some of the fun twists in the story, so I’ll just say there’s a haunted castle, legends, mysteries, ghosts, magical creatures, and dark secrets ready to come to life. I really enjoyed this duology and can’t recommend it enough if you like dark fairy tale retellings.

This series is a delightful blend of real-world and classical fantasy. It’s a fun take on Beauty and the Beast and one of my favorite retellings. Despite having read it multiple times, the world always sucks me in.

Harper, our Belle-type character, has cerebral palsy, but do not mistake her for anyone’s damsel in distress. She is tough and sticks up for what is right. Much against her will, she finds herself transported from Washington, D.C., to the magical fantasy world of Emberfell and trapped in Prince Rhen’s curse. 

Her abductor is none other than the Prince’s royal guard, Commander Grey, who is another of my favorite characters in this cursed world. Together, will they break the curse, or will things take a turn for the worse?

If you’re not familiar with the Grimm’s fairy tale, The Goose Girl, it follows a princess and the wicked maid who stole her identity. Little Thieves takes a new angle on the story and focuses on the so-called wicked maid.

Vanja Schmidt was abandoned to Death and Fortune as a child and grew up working as a maid. She’s also the 13th child of a 13th child and is ready to take fate into her own hands. This is her story, full of theft, twists, found family, and so much more . The story is told with a delightful mix of “once upon a time” and current (to the story) events.

This is a magical, slow-paced fantasy blending Rumplestilskin and Eastern European folklore into an epic new legend.

Miryem’s father is a moneylender, but his compassion and generosity are putting her family in a bad spot. When Miryem takes matters into her own hands, she finds herself in the unwanted spotlight of many powerful people, including the king of Staryk, a fey-like being who might just be more ice than person.

While perhaps the least dark tale on this list, there’s still plenty of darkness lurking amongst the people in this world, whether they’re human, Staryk, or something different.

This was a delightfully chaotic blend of Grimm’s fairytales set in the small town of Grimm’s Hollow, located next to the deadly Forest Grimm. Clara’s grandmother can see people’s futures, and Clara’s has always been the same; she’ll die an early death in the forest.

While the town has usually gotten by, things take a turn for the worse after someone makes an evil wish on the town’s magical book. After this event takes place, the book goes missing, taking the prosperity of the village with it. Crops are faltering, wells are drying up, and villagers are disappearing. One might even say the town is cursed.

Clara’s mother was one of the first to go missing, and she’ll do anything to get her back—even rush to meet her fate in the forest. But just what madness will Clara find there, and can the lost people ever be the same again?

This is a super creepy atmospheric read set on a rainy island surrounded by sea. After four of the Thaumas sisters’ die, their small island community is convinced the family is cursed. Of the eight remaining sisters, Annaleigh is the second oldest and finds herself desperate to prevent any further deaths of her family. When she begins questioning the facts about the most recent death, she isn’t convinced it was merely an accident.

Eager to liven things up, their young stepmother suggests they forgo the standard year of mourning. With the mourning lifted, the sixteen-year-old triplets start to plan a ball for their birthday. While all her sisters are focused on dresses and dancing, Annaleigh is preoccupied with ghostly visions and the terrifying yet accurate drawings her youngest sister is making of their dead sisters.