Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood is a story that teaches children not to talk to strangers.  The girl's grandmother is eaten by a wolf, who then tricks the girl, but gets thwarted when the axman arrives.  The grandmother is safely taken out of the wolf, and the wolf is killed.

When there is a wild animal involved in a story, the characters are most likely going to be eaten or mauled. In children's fairytales, they take it down a notch by making the characters come back without even a scar.  The original Austrian version of this fairytale makes sure to include graphic details that make it somewhat more realistic and rated (at least) R.


The original story goes like this: Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother gets eaten by the wolf.  The wolf then uses the grandmother's intestines as a string on the door latch and her teeth, jaws and blood as rice, chops, and wine for Riding Hood to consume.  After Riding Hood eats her own grandmother, she gets into bed with the wolf, without any clothes on (who the heck knows why she was naked).  Once she is in the bed, she notices something "hairy" and the wolf eats her in one gulp.  There is no axman to save her.  The wolf actually wins.

If I heard the gruesome version as a child, I would be scarred for life and never talk to strangers!

Rapunzel

Rapunzel is a story about a girl with abnormally long hair who lives in a tower with a witch.  One day, she is rescued by a handsome prince who climbs her hair and sets her free.  They both live happily ever after.  This is a typical ending that occurs in all the delightful versions of fairytales.

An older version was not so kind to the characters in the stories, but this makes it all the more entertaining to read.

Rapunzel, who is given away to the witch in exchange for some plants her mother is obsessed with, goes to live in a tower far away from the world.  As she grows, her hair grows.  The witch uses Rapunzel’s hair as a means to get into the tower.  A prince happens to witness this strange event after hearing a lovely singing voice from above.  Once the witch leaves, he climbs Rapunzel’s hair and they meet for the first time. The prince goes to the tower every night after this first meeting and the two teenagers have some fun.  Rapunzel, not knowing what it meant to be pregnant, wondered why her clothes were getting to small for her.  When the witch found out about the prince, she tricked him into entering the tower, pushed him out of the window.  He landed in a thorn bush which injured his eyes and blinded him.  Rapunzel was then sentenced to a life of loneliness in a deserted place. 

Surprisingly, this gruesome story actually has a happily ever after.  The prince, still blind, comes across Rapunzel, who recognizes him immediately.  Her tears, which randomly have magical powers, heal the prince.  The prince, finally being able to see, finds his out he is the father of twins.  They are able to get back to his kingdom to live happily ever after.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

The delightful rendition of this fairytale tells of Goldilocks entering a stranger’s house, eating the food, and sleeping in the beds.  At the end, she is awoken by three bears, but manages to run away unscathed.

The two gruesome renditions of this fairytale are more violent and surprising, making it very entertaining.  In one version, Goldilocks is awoken by the three bears who rip her to shreds and devour her.  In the other version, Goldilocks survives, but at a high cost.  When frightened by the bears’ return, she jumps out of the window.  The story leaves the reader not knowing exactly what happened, but says that Goldilocks either breaks her neck due to the fall, or was arrested and sent to the “House of Correction”.