Original Grimm's fairy tales that are too scary for kids

The human endeavour is only to be happy. When reality is gruesome, we tend to keep kids in an elusive state by weaving tales that take them to a land with infinite possibilities; to somewhere where magic is real, and fairies dance with us. But these tales we grew up listening to, or reading, actually have pretty dark and murky origins. Some were even bizarre. Such stories include rape, incest, cannibalism, torture and other heinous crimes we can never dare mention to kids who dream of a better future. Hold on tight as we present to you some of the original versions of the Grimms Brothers' fairy tales. Friendly warning: these stories may scar your childhood!
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In a much murkier Grimm’s version, one of Cinderella's stepsisters cuts off her toes in an attempt to fit in the glass slipper. The second sister cuts off her heel. Two doves sent by Cinderella's mother from Heaven alert the prince of blood coming from the shoe to inform him of the falsity. Finally, after the shoe fits Cinderella, Prince Charming marries Cinderella. At the wedding, the doves return and poke out the eyes of the stepsisters and drive them to beg on the street.
Image: Disney

In the original version, the Big Bad Wolf arrives at Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house early and eats both the grandmother and Red Riding Hood. When a woodcutter finds the Wolf, he makes an incision on the its stomach and rescues both of them alive. Red Riding Hood then fills the beast's stomach with stones. The moment he wakes up and wants to run away, the Wolf collapses due to the heavy weight of the stones and dies. Image: Pexels

The popular children's version of Hansel and Gretel is a lot innocent compared to the Grimm's one. It is said that the story actually points to the parents who deserted their children during a major European famine in the 14th century. In the story, the evil mother abandons her stepchildren in a deep forest to let them die as the couple was unable to feed them any further. In the forest, they discover a cottage which belongs to a cannibal witch. The children, after devouring the feast thrown by the old woman, outwit her and kill her.
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Snow White is a German fairy tale which paints a much darker story than the one we know. In Grimm’s original version, the evil queen turns out to be Cinderella’s real mother who sends assassins to kill her and get her liver and lungs for her to eat, so she could become younger and fairer. Later in the story when the prince and Snow White get married, the evil queen is also invited to the event and is forced to dance until she dies of the hot iron shoes she is made to wear.
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A poor miller told the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. Tempted, the king locked the girl into a chamber forcing her to spin all the straw into gold before next morning. An imp comes to help her and they make a strange deal: he’ll weave the straw into gold if she gives him her firstborn. But when the time comes, she couldn't give her child up and the imp agrees to yield if she can guess his real name. The girl overhears the imp singing his own name and as she tells him that, in a fit of rage, he tears himself in two.
Image: Republic Pictures

The basic setting of Rapunzel in the Brothers Grimm's version is the same as that we know of. Rapunzel is a beautiful young woman with very long, golden hair, trapped at the top of a tower by her mother, who happens to be a witch. But things get murkier in the Grimm's version. Rapunzel is visited by a prince who impregnates her. The moment the mother gets to know about this, she chops off Rapunzel’s hair and throws the prince off the window. His eyes roll out of his sockets during his fall and Rapunzel is transported to a place along with her children to live the life of a beggar.
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A sliver of flax under the princess' fingernail kills her. Unable to face the ridiculous reality, her father, the king, lays her body on a bed in his estate. Later, another king who was out hunting, finds the sleeping princess and struggles to wake her up. As he fails in his attempts, the king rapes and impregnates her. The unconscious princess gives birth to two babies and is only revived when one of the babies accidentally takes out the flax from her finger. The king who violated the princess is married to another woman but also strangely, madly in love with the princess. To get to the princess unhindered, he burns his wife alive.
Image: Wikipedia

We all know how the ugly frog turned into a handsome prince when the princess kissed it. But the original story does not actually involve a kiss. In fact, the frog metamorphoses into a prince by a wicked slam on the wall.
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