Posted in r/horrorlit as well but thinking I might have better luck here.
In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt is one of my most favorite things I’ve ever read and I would consider it an original dark or adult fairy tale. It has left me with an itch I have so far been unable to scratch. It is unlike anything I’ve read before but is extremely familiar in its world-building and characterization. There is horrific and disturbing imagery and themes concerning selfishness and punishment. There is no moral really (it doesn’t veer into being a fable) and the required suspension of disbelief comes totally naturally as it’s written in such a beautiful and frank way. This one is definitely more along the lines of literary fiction as well so not opposed to that.
When I was a very young child my favorite book was a retelling of The Little Mermaid with the original Andersen ending (the one where she’s ordered to kill the prince and his bride and commits suicide instead). I’m looking for these sorts of stories but “scaled up” to an adult level, preferably those that will genuinely scare me, but still have that sort of standalone and timeless feel like the classic fairy tales.
I’ve read Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher and enjoyed it a lot, though I’m hoping for things that are more horror and original. Thornhedge is a novella so it’s short and the world and magic is nice but not very unique, which left me wanting more.
I also read a good chunk of Wicked by Gregory Maguire but the writing didn’t grab me and I put it down and never picked it back up.
by elston-gunn41
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T. Kingfisher also wrote:
Nettle & Bone
The Seventh Bride
The Hollow Places
The Raven and the Reindeer
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Here’s a few more darker fairy tales for adults:
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesch
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Louise Murphy
Deerskin by Robin McKinley
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (short stories)
Transformations by Anne Sexton (poems)