This was actually really fun. I knew that most fairytales actually have sinister endings or “scenes” in them, and understandable they’re changed. I liked being able to actually hear them, so different from what I remember from my own childhood.

The narrator is listed as Dennis Kleinman, and this was the most perfect narrator. I can’t imagine any other voice in my head, other than who was picked.

Really fun book, (probably not for kids).

🌌 Hauntingly Beautiful & Historically Rich
A Must-Have for the Vibe & the Art
Okay but the vibe and illustration inside this book make it a must-have!
I love, love, love the introduction:
“Well these kinds of fairytales were often intended as teaching tools for young children.”
“The world had plenty of its own very real dangers… Cloaking these dangers in fantastical stories only made them more meaningful.”
The introduction points out how early male anthropologists dismissed these vital folk tales as “fairytales” in a condescending way, downplaying their cultural importance. And it makes you wonder: how much have male storytellers and anthropologists contributed to reshaping (or diluting) these stories over time?
💡 In many of these originals, girls are capable, independent, and able to save themselves. Sometimes their motivations are wildly different from what “Disney” or modern retellings tell us. (Example: in The Little Mermaid, she wanted to see the world and gain a soul so she could go to heaven, not for the prince per se. The prince was just a side note.)

🩸 Not Always as “Scary” as the Title Suggests
While the tales do include gruesome details, the title oversells the horror. Many aren’t particularly scary, even considering the age of the children they were told to. I personally prefer the originals because they hold rich lessons, especially around community, family, teamwork, and survival.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience
The audiobook was enchanting. The narrator’s accent when pronouncing names and story origins was spot-on. At normal 1x speed, it works perfectly for younger or older listeners. Each story is short (2–6 minutes), making them excellent bedtime (?) tales.

🖤 The Art: Gothic, Macabre, Stunning
Every story comes with an illustration that’s a standalone work of art. Even “happy” endings are paired with gothic, macabre visuals that perfectly fit the haunting tone. I wish Neil Evans has more credit and we learn more about him than just on the cover of the book.

💭 Final Thoughts
I love that the originals weren’t afraid to be honest: incest, corrupt priests, abusive parents, greed, cannibalism, terrible husbands. Life’s ugly truths were woven in. It’s sad how retellings normalised domestic violence and diminished women’s and girls’ abilities to achieve and survive without a male saviour.
These mostly European folk (a nod to the few Nigerian, Mexican, and Egyptian, Mongolian, Inuit, Brazilian, Philippines, and Japanese tales) tales deserve a place back in storytelling, though maybe with some adjustments for the most gruesome acts (looking at you, parents chopping off their kids’ heads and hands). We coddle children now, but the world is still dangerous. Stories can be softened without losing their power as tools for teaching resilience.

Thank you, NetGalley and Cider Mill Press, for the ARC and ALC.

I absolutely love dark fairytales. I had heard many of these before, and at least minimal lore on all of them, but hearing them all in a compilation was great. The transitions between stories, while being different chapters, could have been smoother in the audio version. There were a few times I found myself shocked we had moved on to another story, but over all it was great.

This was my very first time hearing about the Scary Book of Fairy Tales. Being able to hear "The Real Endings to 50 of Your Favorite Stories" was pretty cool. Stories from all over the world. Stories I've heard as a kid. Some that have beautiful and cute endings but these? These stories are dark and full of gore.

It was jaw dropping to hear these stories, to here where they originated from, and how multiple countries may have variations of the same or similar stories. These stories made my skin crawl and stomach turn.

The last story?! This is the very very first time I've ever heard the full story of this one. It gave me the shivers.

I received an ARC of this audiobook from NetGalley.

thought this was gonna be a twist on fairytale endings, but is instead just a collection of original fairytales, so ... be aware of that going in.

for the most part, this collection tells of fairytales that we’ve all heard of – cinderella, snow white, rumpelstiltskin, goldilocks, etc. – which was largely underwhelming, though entertaining, since i haven’t heard them in so long. the more interesting ones were ones that i was previously unfamiliar with, from a variety of cultures (italian, romanian, russian, german, french, egyptian, nigerian, japanese, mongolian, brazilian, mexican, etc). granted, they generally don’t have original lessons or premises, but the new (to me) way in which they were presented had me far more interested than the standard ones in disney adaptations.

also dennis kleinman is the narrator and CHEF’S KISS i loved his voice and the way he told the stories sm. i would like him to narrate my life story someday thanks xx.

Tim Rayborn's The Scary Book of Fairy Tales commits the cardinal sin of assuming its readers have been living under a particularly fluffy rock for their entire lives. Apparently, Rayborn believes he's the first person to discover that Cinderella's stepsisters had their feet mutilated and that Hansel and Gretel involves attempted child murder. Breaking news, Tim: some of us actually read the Grimm Brothers before they were sanitized into Disney content.

This book reads like someone who just discovered Wikipedia's "Dark Origins" section and decided to monetize their shock. "Did you KNOW," Rayborn seems to gasp on every page, "that fairy tales used to be VIOLENT?" Well, yes, Tim. Those of us whose parents didn't wrap us in bubble wrap and feed us exclusively bowdlerized bedtime stories are well aware that the original tales make Game of Thrones look like a church picnic.

The author's revolutionary "discovery" that traditional fairy tales contain dark elements is about as groundbreaking as announcing that water is wet. You can find these exact same stories in any respectable Grimm collection, complete with all the gore and psychological trauma that apparently scandalized Rayborn so deeply. Even many children's picture books maintain the original violence – a fact that makes one wonder if the author has actually set foot in a bookstore lately.

The marketing team's decision to slap a "Horror" label on this collection is particularly baffling. Horror fans expecting genuine frights will find themselves more likely to die of boredom than terror. Speaking of dying of boredom, I made the unfortunate decision to experience this as an audiobook. What should have been dramatic retellings of these allegedly shocking tales instead became the most effective insomnia cure I've encountered in years. The narrator's delivery had all the emotional range of a GPS system, somehow managing to make child abandonment and cannibalistic witches sound as thrilling as a grocery list. I found myself checking multiple times to make sure the playback speed hadn't accidentally been set to 0.75x. These tales have all the spine-chilling intensity of a lukewarm cup of chamomile tea.

Save your money and buy a beautifully illustrated edition of the actual Grimm collection instead. At least then you'll get the authentic experience without the condescending narrator acting like he's just invented fire.

Final verdict: A solution in search of a problem, marketed to an audience that probably doesn't exist.

This contains a lot of varied fairy tales/folk tales from around the world, and I think this would be a marvelous read for late elementary or middle schoolers who are wanting to know more about the origins of some of their favorite fairy tales!

Thank you NetGalley, Tim Rayborn and Neil Evan’s for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOW- so glad I picked this one up! I listened to the whole thing while working on projects. I read a lot of these classic fairytales growing up and forgot how harrowing and brutal some of the endings were. But as explained in the beginning, these stories were for teaching life lessons. We tell children that Santa won’t bring them presents if they aren’t well behaved- similar to how some of these tales warn of not speaking to strangers or roaming about in the woods.

I loved the narrator for this, his voice somewhat reminds me of the narrator for the Haunted Mansion ride- a perfect choice for the eeriness of some these tales.

Overall this is a fun listen.
Thank you for allowing me to review your work.
Valkyrie

Feel like the Brothers Grimm had something? Feel like you miss how The Little Mermaid suffered and died a horrible death – and that should have been how the Disney movie ended. Well, you will enjoy this one. The author has taken 50 of your favorite fairytales and given them gruesome, unhappy endings. Well, for some of the characters. I would argue that others have pretty happy endings in a twisted way. Gold stars to the ending of Hansel and Gretel. If you love scary things and fairy tales, this is for you.

On an aside, the artwork in this one is gorgeous and really brings out the macabre of the stories.

The narrator did so well in this - and brough the right amount of whimsey and creepiness. This is a great listen for you horror fantasy lovers out there.