The Big Book of Grimm

    (Paradox)
™ and © 1999 Paradox Press

If your perception of fairy tales is one of cute, frivolous, innocuous stories for children, this edition in the Big Book series from Paradox Press will come as a shocking revelation. Writer Jonathan Vankin, who also produced The Big Book of Scandal and The Big Book of Bad, transcribed the original unsanitized folk tales that the Brothers Grimm collected in the mid-1800s. Then, as with the other books in this series, he collaborated with a diverse collection of artists to present these stories in all their original horror.

Between “Once upon a time” and “They lived happily ever after” are some of the most grisly and depraved tales that a sane mind could conceive. For example, one of Cinderella’s stepsisters cut off her toe in an attempt to fit into the gold slipper. Child abuse, incest, cannibalism, severed limbs and gouged-out eyes are recurring incidents. The fact that such brutal stories were once considered appropriate fare for children testifies to the extraordinary change that has occurred in Western culture.

— George Haberberger
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