A Tale Dark & Grimm (2010)

“Before Disney cleaned them up, the Grimm tales were already horrifying. This book reminds us of that.”


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Lets start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

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Non-Spoiler Rundown

Before Disney got their hands on these stories and turned them into singing crabs and fairy godmothers, the Grimm tales were savage. Like, blood-on-the-floor, heads-rolling savage. A Tale Dark & Grimm is Adam Gidwitz basically saying: “You think you know Hansel and Gretel? Nah, let me drag you through the real nightmares.”

Instead of one witch and a candy house, Hansel and Gretel basically take a road trip through the Brothers Grimm’s greatest hits — demons, curses, death, betrayal, the works. And the whole thing is narrated by this cheeky, fourth-wall-breaking voice constantly warning you, “Maybe cover your little brother’s eyes for this next part.”

I grew up with this book (and its sequels) right alongside Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Those were the first times I realized horror could be fun and devastating at the same time. This book made me laugh, made me cringe, and made me go, “Wow, Disney really sanitized the hell out of everything.”


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⚠️ A Word of Warning

This series is graphic. Like, way more graphic than you think a kids’ book could get. Heads roll, blood gushes, demons grin, and bodies get torn apart. The author doesn’t cut away, either — he goes into detail.

In the opening story, Hansel and Gretel’s heads are literally chopped off by their own father. The narrator describes their little bodies falling to the ground, the blood spurting, and then their heads being carefully reattached.

Witches don’t just threaten to eat kids, they describe how they’ll cook them.

A woman gets turned into a living corpse, bones sticking out, still moaning for help.

And of course, the Devil makes an appearance — and he’s not some goofy cartoon villain, he’s sharp-toothed and terrifying.


It straddles this line between horror and dark comedy, but if you’re not prepared, it’s shocking how far it goes. Basically: if you only know the watered-down Disney versions, this book might rattle you.


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Pros

The Narrator – Dripping with sarcasm, like your creepy uncle who’s way too excited to tell you a ghost story.

The Twists – Hansel and Gretel don’t just survive a witch. They stumble into everything the Grimm brothers ever thought up.

The Gore – Heads fly, children get cursed, the Devil shows up, and yet somehow it all ties into lessons about loyalty and forgiveness.

Pacing – No story drags. You’re constantly yanked from one nightmare to the next.


Cons

Not for the squeamish – If you don’t like seeing kids get beheaded, maybe just stick with the singing teapots.



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Final Thoughts

A Tale Dark & Grimm is the anti-Disney fairy tale. It remembers that these stories weren’t bedtime fluff — they were warnings, horror wrapped in folklore. The narrator makes it funny, but never lets you forget that Hansel and Gretel are suffering through some brutal stuff.

Growing up, this was one of the books that helped me appreciate horror as both terrifying and meaningful. It’s gory, it’s dark, but it actually has something to say about family, betrayal, and forgiveness.

⭐ 10/10 — Childhood horror perfection.


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Spoiler Warning ⚠️

Alright, time to dig into five of the nastiest, weirdest, most unforgettable tales from this book.


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Spoilers – The 5 Most Memorable Stories

1. Faithful Johannes
We open the book with a dude so loyal to his king that he basically speedruns himself into a tragic ending. He gets cursed, turned to stone, and the only way to bring him back is for the king to chop off his kids’ heads. Guess who those kids are? Hansel and Gretel. Yep. That’s the opening. Not a fun little forest stroll, not a gingerbread house — a beheading scene featuring the children we’re supposed to root for. That’s when you realize: oh, this book isn’t playing nice.


2. Hansel and Gretel Run Away
And honestly? Can you blame them? After their parents literally kill them once (don’t worry, they get better), Hansel and Gretel go, “Yeah, we’re done with this family gig,” and hit the road. From that point, they become these nomads wandering through Grimm’s world, tripping into one nightmare after another. It’s like a horror anthology starring two traumatized kids with trust issues.


3. The Devil and the Three Golden Hairs
Gretel absolutely owns this story. She tricks the Devil’s grandmother and pulls off this con like she’s running Ocean’s Eleven. The Devil gets humiliated, Gretel walks out alive, and honestly, it’s the kind of moment where you just cheer for her brains and guts. It’s scary, but also funny in that “haha, she outsmarted Satan” kind of way.


4. The Seven Ravens
Hansel gets cursed into becoming a raven, because of course he does. Gretel, being the ride-or-die sibling she is, goes on this bleak journey through forests and strange lands to save him. It’s one of the darker, sadder sections — less gore, more hopeless atmosphere. But it hits hard, because it shows how much they actually need each other after everything they’ve gone through.


5. Return to the Kingdom
After surviving witches, demons, curses, and parents who clearly don’t deserve “World’s Best Mom & Dad” mugs, Hansel and Gretel finally come home. But it’s not some happy Disney ending where everything’s forgiven and they sing a family duet. They confront the truth, they face their past, and they decide what kind of future they want. It’s not perfect, it’s not tied with a bow, but it feels earned — which is way more satisfying than “and they lived happily ever after.”