Galloway, P. (1995). Truly Grim Tales. Toronto: Lester Publishing.
Priscella Galloway retells eight of the Grimm’s fairy tales under extremely different lenses. The stories are rearranged to be so different from the original versions one is left in the dark sometimes until the final page. The stories also occur in landscapes different than the one described in Grimm’s world. There is a land where people suffer from a disease cured only by a compound found in the bones of a nearby pigmy tribe (this is a revamped Jack and the Beanstalk), or where animals have become gargantuan as a side effect of atomic war (an SF retelling of Little Red Riding Hood). This book is a really interesting read and unlike the original, moralistic Grimm’s tales, these ones have no clear-cut hero and villain and the reader is forced to see things from very fresh perspectives. As the title suggests these tales often do not have a happy ending and are probably better suited for those who are familiar with the brother's Grimm and are nearing the double digits in age.
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