I love fairy tales. The old fashioned kind, with children being threatened with roasting and giants trying to eat boys named Jack (my father in law’s name). One of my favorite cartoons on TV was “Fractured Fairy Tales”. How to Fracture A Fairy Tale reached out to my twisted sense of humor along with the beautiful cover.
Jane Yolen is the godmother of fantasy and fairy tales. I haven’t read her work before, but since reading this book, I will look for her other tales. This is a collection of traditional and some lesser known fairy tales and folklore from around the world, taken apart and put together again like Humpty Dumpty with humor and at times, darkness.
I found myself trying to figure out which tales are based on ones I know. The author kindly has a chapter at the end about how she ‘fractured’ the tales and what the base story is for some on her stories. Many of her fractured tales I enjoyed much more than the originals.
First, thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications LLC for letting me read the ARC for this book. I can see it would be a great holiday gift for lovers of fairy tales or short stories. This could be a good read-to book for kids but some of the stories are definitely adult-there is an incestuous king and gruesome deaths.
My favorite stories in the collection include “Mama Gone“- a story set in Appalachia which happens to be where I live. It is a beautiful vampire story, as much as that sounds to be impossible. I also loved “The Fox Wife”-based on traditional Japanese folk tales about kutsunes ( I collect Japanese horror and folktales), “Happy Dens or a Day in the Old Wolves’ Home” which tickles my funny bone since I work with geriatrics at the hospital, and “Snow in Summer“-also based in West Virginia with a twist on Snow White.
I highly recommend this book and rate it 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟.
The Book Was Better ! 