A woman decides to eliminate her stepson so her daughter can inherit all of her father’s riches. The particularly disturbing part is that murder in fairy tales very often happens within families. On the covers are the most innocent of titles: Grimm’s Fairy Tales in their English version or Children’s and Household Tales in the original German editions published two hundred years ago. Evil stepparents are a dime a dozen in fairy tales, but the Grimms originally included some evil biological mothers as well. Kind of. The Juniper Tree. In fact, not many of the original authors of our favorite fairy tales did. This is mostly a stylistic thing for the brothers but there may be some attempt to frighten or scare the moral of the story into the reader as these were meant as cautionary tales of children or adults not acting as they should. The Brothers Grimm, a pair of German siblings who created some of the original tales in the 19th century, didn’t shy away from any gory details. This is mostly a stylistic thing for the brothers but there may be some attempt to frighten or scare the moral of the story into the reader as these were meant as cautionary tales of children or adults not acting as they should. That's because fairy tales were intended not just to entertain children, but also to educate them about the consequences of evil deeds [source: Evans]. Murder A bone flute — Credit: asgitner (via Wikimedia) A lot of the fairy tales that are popular come from the Grimm brothers stories. The volume had many footnotes and references, and none of the often-seen illustrations or engravings. Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, for one, argued that the creepy stuff helps children to grow emotionally, by allowing them to grapple with fears that are a … The original Grimm’s Fairy Tales began as a scholarly collection of widely-known stories, which very often included sex and depraved violence. The Dark Side of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. With fantastical stories of witches and fairies, goblins and elves, or heroic princes and their villainous counterparts, folklore and fairy tales have long been an ingrained tradition in story-telling for children. We know the classics by heart, but our beloved Disney-diluted iterations couldn’t be further from their true, markedly more sinister origins. There are so many different editions of the Grimm fairy tales with illustrations by famous artists, but I suspect that Arthur Rackham might be the one you are thinking of. What is Grimms' Fairy Tales About and Why Should I Care? Fairy tales—at least as we know them—are a childhood staple. Jack Zipes, author of The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, is the only person who has ever translated the first edition of their tales into English.