Christmas is a time of magic and wonder but for the Northern Hemisphere it darkness, cold and the thinness of the veil between the living and the dead. It is a time of great power when the unquiet spirits of the world take to the night before the Winter Solstice. It is Yuletide – a time stretching from December and the pre-Christian Christmas and into New Year.

This chapbook contains AI illustrated images to accompany each tale with legends, myths and folklore from Austria, Germany, Iceland, Canada, Poland, Australia and England. It include the anxiety rivalry between the Oak and Holly kings; the goblin-like Kallikantzaori who dwell beneath the World Tree becoming enraged if disturbed; The Yuletide sister witches of opposing appearance and offering blessings or a cure; or the Krampus who steals and beats misbehaving children; the sorceress Lussi who rides a white stag with a horde of sprites alongside her with the Wild Hunt; or perhaps, The Yule Lads from Iceland who kidnap lost and badly behaved children for the their witch mother Gryla to eat.

These are are darkest of tales few of us hear at Christmas. Explore if you dare!

We’ve all read fairytales as children – swooning princesses cast under spells by evil witches, unwary bargains made the Fae beings, mermaids longing to be human and experience true love, and the evil stepmother who tries to kill her stepdaughter out of jealousy. These were cautionary stories of good and bad social and moral behaviour. But there is a much darker side to many of classily loved fairytales.
Dark Fairytales explores this shadowy landscape of Fae beings granting the desires of humans who later come to regret their bargains. Stories of a girl who is gifted fine new shoes but then she nor other around her can’t stop dancing until her feet are ruined and she stands among the dead. Snow White is a story of royal intrigue, attempted murderer and revenge.

Dark Fairytales is a collection of 10 new microfiction and short stories inspired by fairytales. Each story has an Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated image specific to each story.

Prepare yourself for the dark and savage world of fairytales as you’ve never known them!