Thursday, April 1, 2010

The Darker Side of Fairy Tales - Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling's Series

Fairy tales have long captivated the hearts and imaginations of children and adults of all ages. It is because we see magic, princesses obtaining their dreams, and hope. Fairy tales haven't often had this Disney-fied appearance, however, as anyone who has read the original Grimm Brothers tales knows. These stories were originally meant for adults as morality But somewhere in between the sparkles of Cinderella's dress and the bloody tales of exactly how Cinderella's sisters got their foot to fit in the magical shoe, there is a world ripe for authors to recreate and remold. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's series of short stories collect just those, the stories in between, some of which still have happy endings, some of which do not, and do more to teach us about ourselves. I had "Silver Birch, Blood Moon" for years, and just recently getting around to reading it, I found stories by currently well-known authors with tales of their own such as Neil Gaiman, Anne Bishop and Patricia A. McKillip. Pick up one of these wonderful anthologies and let yourself be swept back into your childhood, but this time, remember to keep the lights on.

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