When you consider Grimm’s fairy tales, pre-Disney, it’s no surprise authors have turned cute into kink.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm never intended to write for children. The first edition of their “fairy tale” collection was scholarly, with footnotes and no pictures. They portrayed sex and violence that even today’s R-rated films wouldn’t touch.
As time passed, parents read the Grimm tales to their youngsters (probably to scare them into good behavior). The brothers released updated editions that cut back on some of the gore. Their stories became even more grossly sanitized thanks to Walt Disney.
Let’s be honest, though: the Grimm brothers were kinda sick, but they weren’t the only ones. What you’ve seen in Disney has very little to do with actual fairy tales. For instance, Sleeping Beauty isn’t woken with a kiss; she’s raped into awareness. The Little Mermaid commits suicide to save her prince. Cinderella’s evil stepsisters have their eyes pecked out by birds.
Erotica 101: Meet the first woman of erotica, Anaïs Nin >>
Basically, fairy tales were really for adults, and modern-day author Nancy Madore has taken the violence in a different direction: she’s made the fairy tales into porn. Enchanted is the first book in her erotica series, and it’s written by a woman for women.
Madore doesn’t use profanity, and she doesn’t use stereotypes. She takes fairy tales and retells them — with a considerably saucy side. Take, for instance, “Beauty and the Beast,” in which the lovely virgin Beauty discovers wild sex with a wild animal.
What about “Goldilocks and the Three Barons?” She’s no longer looking for porridge, people, and she certainly finds a couple items that fit just right (wink, wink).
Is love like a fairy tale possible? >>
Madore isn’t the only one turning Grimm into “God, yes!” There are whole anthologies of fairy-tales-turned-porn, and they are hot. I mean, who knew seven little men could be so good with their fingers?
A few more must-reads for your more whimsical appetites:
Wickedly Ever After by Anna Evans
Of course, Cinderella’s wicked stepmother is into bondage, but who would have suspected her of being submissive?
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales by Selena Kitt
A retelling of several of the most famous fairy tales with a kinky twist.
Her Mad Hatter by Marie Hall
Alice is all grown up and seeks a sensuous partner in the Mad Hatter, who’s known throughout the land as celibate… but for how long?
The Forbidden Room by Annie Eppa
She marries a royal and moves to his castle where she is free to wander anywhere but one room. An erotic retelling of “Blackbeard.”
The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
Sleeping Beauty is awakened and taught the rules of submission by her prince in shining armor.
It’s sort of funny looking back on “children’s entertainment” of my generation. Take, for instance, Return to Oz — an ’80s film in which Dorothy gets electroshock treatment. Or The Labyrinth: don’t tell me David Bowie’s tights left anything to the imagination.
Is our sexuality built on such oddities? Maybe that was why the Grimm brothers censored their tales when kids became their target audience — they knew the dirty darkness would have a lasting effect. Maybe that’s why fairy-tale porn interests us as adults.
We grew up with these stories, albeit the Disney versions. Perhaps, somewhere in our psyches, we always knew the truth about Aurora and Ariel. We always yearned for something darker, and now, as adult readers, authors have given us just that: fairy-tale porn!
