Once Upon A Time: the Dark Fairy Tales Challenge

[StillStunned]

Once upon a time, there was Pandemonium...

And once upon a time, there was a Fairy Tales writing exercise...

Now this summer, get ready for the Dark Fairy Tales 2025 challenge!

Close the door and huddle down in front of the fire, and tell us your tales of princesses, witches, ogres, bold farm lads, magical mirrors, giant beanstalks and pussy in boots. Will the princess escape from the giant's clutches, or will she decide that bigger is better? Is the witch a GILF with a magic broomstick? When the big bad wolf huffs and puffs, what will he blow? Will the goose lay golden eggs, or... Actually, no, I can't think of a way to make this one sexy. But I'm sure someone here can.

Stories submitted and published: 1-25 September 2025
Anthology posted: 30 September 2025
And they lived happily ever after...

Rules & Guidelines​

1. Stay more or less on theme: dark, erotic, disturbing, traditional or modern - above all, try to capture the spirit of the fairy tale.
2. You can write in any category and any length, as long as you keep in mind Rule #1
3. Please include "Dark Fairy Tales 2025" in the Notes to Admin field. Please use this exact wording so Laurel can identify the entries. If you don't put this phrase in the Notes to Admin field, your story will not be included in the event. We recommend you copy and paste it!
4. Please use "Dark Fairy Tales" and "Dark Fairy Tales 2025" as story tags.
5. Specifically for classic fairy tales: remember the 18+ rule! Essentially: if you're retelling a classic fairy tale, remember the characters' age. If they're considered mature in the commonly accepted version (the tale ends with the hero and heroine marrying, for instance), that's pretty much safe. If the tale hinges on the characters being children (being abandoned in the forest by their parents, etc.), don't age them up, just try and think of something else. Err on the side of "Let's not bother Laurel with this".

 

[Djmac1031]

Please include "Dark Fairy Tales 2024" in the Notes to Admin field.

2024 or 2025?

 

[StillStunned]

2024 or 2025?

Dammit. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I might have something in the early stages. It will fit dark, erotic, and probably disturbing. I'm just curious if you think Bram Stoker wrote fairy tales?

 

[StillStunned]

"Once upon a time, there lived a lonely vampire in a cold castle in the dark hills of Europe's heart..."

Anything can be a fairy tale if you tell it right.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I have an untold Greek myth in my head that could be fairy tale-like. Annoying a goddess can have dark consequences. Getting caught between rival goddesses is worse.

-Eddie

 

[FreyaGersemi]

I definitely need to remember to write something for this!!!!

 

[StillStunned]

I definitely need to remember to write something for this!!!!

I'll try and bump this thread once a month as a reminder.

 

[Bazzle]

To help or hinder...I have twisted and darkened in a Bazzle way these three fairy tales

https://literotica.com/s/sarah-white-a-smoking-fairy-tale

https://www.literotica.com/s/ashley-a-smoking-fairy-tale

https://www.literotica.com/s/nicole-a-smoking-fairy-tale

I will see if there is a fourth in me!

 

[NotWise]

I don't know if I'll be in the event, but I've been reading East of the Sun and West of the Moon. There are a lot of ideas there: heroic quests for the maidens hand, princesses enslaved by trolls, the lad picking the wife of his choice (but in a Lit story he'd probably try them all out first), the girl finds another guy if the quest takes too long (shades of the Odyssey, but probably interesting in LW).

The famous images from the book are in the public domain, so a story might even repurpose an illustration.

 

[LiterallyLiterate]

I wonder if someone with hair as long as Rapunzel’s would be into shibari? Perhaps she ties herself too tight and has to call for help in her lonely tower in the forest? Anyone or anything might decide to give her a hand, or something.
I’ll see if I find something to write, but feel free to steal the idea if anyone else likes it.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Ooooooh, all sorts of Laurell K Hamilton spinoffs suddenly pop into my head

 

[Erozetta]

I'm in.

 

[StillStunned]

Last night I was thinking about what defines a fairy tale, and I remembered a lot from long ago - not the ones made famous by Grimm, Andersen and Disney, but some more mysterious ones. The use of threes is a recurring element, and brothers and sisters representing natural phenomena.

So a couple might have three daughters called Dusk, Midnight and Dawn, or three sons called Morning, Afternoon and Evening (or perhaps Second Breakfast, Lunch and Tea). They might give their daughters bells to wear: copper for Dusk, silver for Midnight and gold for Dawn.

Anyway, this is just a long way of saying that I want to write a fairy tale called "The Chimes of Midnight".

 

[StillStunned]

NMK, but I could see a Rumpelstiltskin story about turning a golden shower into actual gold.

 

[NotWise]

Last night I was thinking about what defines a fairy tale, and I remembered a lot from long ago - not the ones made famous by Grimm, Andersen and Disney, but some more mysterious ones. The use of threes is a recurring element, and brothers and sisters representing natural phenomena.

So a couple might have three daughters called Dusk, Midnight and Dawn, or three sons called Morning, Afternoon and Evening (or perhaps Second Breakfast, Lunch and Tea). They might give their daughters bells to wear: copper for Dusk, silver for Midnight and gold for Dawn.

Anyway, this is just a long way of saying that I want to write a fairy tale called "The Chimes of Midnight".

Most of our "fairy tales" are European folks tales. They have been studied, dissected and classified into a relatively small set of distinct themes. There are also African, Asian, Indian, and indigenous folk tales that could inspire a broader range of Lit stories.

 

[StillStunned]

Most of our "fairy tales" are European folks tales. They have been studied, dissected and classified into a relatively small set of distinct themes. There are also African, Asian, Indian, and indigenous folk tales that could inspire a broader range of Lit stories.

Indigenous? For me, European stories are indigenous.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Does this need to be explicitly fantastical, or is a modern analog acceptable? I've been kicking around a Little Red Riding Hood-esque LW tale for a while, and this might give me the push to get it done. However, there are no supernatural elements, and the characters are only loosely tied to the originals: a LW who keeps getting into trouble with strangers, a huntsman who lives up to his job title, etc.

 

[MrPixel]

"Once upon a thyme, in a far-away herb garden..."

And... uh... that's all I got. Carry on...

 

[StillStunned]

Does this need to be explicitly fantastical, or is a modern analog acceptable? I've been kicking around a Little Red Riding Hood-esque LW tale for a while, and this might give me the push to get it done. However, there are no supernatural elements, and the characters are only loosely tied to the originals: a LW who keeps getting into trouble with strangers, a huntsman who lives up to his job title, etc.

Modern fairy tales are fine by me. And if you can spin it as a fairy tale, give it a go. As long as you can convince your readers.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

Now this summer, get ready for the Dark Fairy Tales 2025 challenge!

Does the story have to be "dark"? I'm not very good at doing dark. I can do crazy, deranged, whacked out, and silly, but all in a (usually) fun and happy way. I don't see any of those adjectives listed in the original post.

 

[StillStunned]

Does the story have to be "dark"? I'm not very good at doing dark. I can do crazy, deranged, whacked out, and silly, but all in a (usually) fun and happy way. I don't see any of those adjectives listed in the original post.

It's probably just my mind that translates "fairy tale + erotica = dark". I suppose "mature" might be better. But there's something sexy about "dark fairy tales", so I'm going to leave it as it is.

 

[PennyThompson]

Ooh, so there's this amazing taxonomy system for fairytales that I've gotten lost in before, the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index. It's a system for categorizing and collecting common themes and tropes in folklore.

Here's a great non-academic guide for understanding and using it!

It's not perfect. It was invented by a bunch of european dudes in the 1900s, it's fairly eurocentric and it intentionally ignores a lot of gay and queer folklore tropes. But it's a cool framework for thinking about different fairytale beats!

 

[StillStunned]

In my day it was called the Aarne-Thompson "Types of the Folktale". I used it extensively for my Master's thesis half a lifetime ago. I still have my copy somewhere.

 

[NotWise]

Indigenous? For me, European stories are indigenous.

Perhaps, but that isn't true outside Europe, and most of the world is outside Europe.

Persian fairy tales (1001 Arabian Nights, for instance) would make great starting points.