Fairy tales have always fascinated me. At first glance, they’re bedtime stories—simple, whimsical, full of wonder. But if you dig into the originals, you’ll find they were often brutal warnings disguised as entertainment. The Brothers Grimm weren’t afraid of blood. Hans Christian Andersen made you ache with melancholy. Even Perrault’s "Little Red Riding Hood” is less about happily-ever-afters and more about danger lurking in the woods.

That’s what I love most about fairy tales: the contrast. Magic and menace live side by side, hand in hand. They remind us that light only feels bright because of the shadows it pushes against.

As both a reader and a writer, I’m drawn to those darker edges. They’re the reason I wrote Icebound, my own reimagining of The Snow Queen and Snow White. My goal wasn’t to make it grim for the sake of shock, but to rediscover that sharpness fairy tales once carried—the way they could thrill you, unsettle you, and, maybe, comfort you at the same time.

With October rolling in, I think it’s the perfect season to revisit these darker tales. Which classic fairy tale first gave you chills? Was it the wolf, the witch, or something else entirely?

If you’d like to dive into my own contribution to the tradition, Fabled, Book 1: Icebound will be free on Kindle from October 3rd–5th. Maybe it’ll remind you that sometimes, fairy tales bite back.

Fabled, Book 1: Icebound STORE LINK: https://a.co/d/4FOOAMP