Series
Twisted Fairy Tales
A series of fairy tales, not quite as you remember your mother telling them. Written by Melissa Mead, one of DSF's most popular writers.
Fool's Gold
"Of course it's fool's gold! You gave me dirty hay, not straw. What did you expect?" Rumplestiltskin left his dissatisfied customer swearing at his pile of pyrite and started for home. Dirty hay had nothing to do with it, but it could be dangerous to say that the gold wouldn't…
by Melissa Mead
Little Red Robin Hood
Once there was a girl whose name was Robin, but everyone called her Red Riding Hood because of the red hood and cape she wore when she visited Grandmother. It was a bit ratty, but the nicest clothing she had left. Grandmother, a sorceress, had no real grandchildren, as far as…
by Melissa Mead
White as Snow, Red as Blood
Snow woke in a glass coffin with the taste of bitter apple in her mouth and a stranger's face staring into hers. A face with alarmingly pointed teeth. She sat up, pressed her hand to her stinging neck, and stared at the two dots of blood on her palm. The stranger broke into a…
by Melissa Mead
A Hairy Predicament
Mother Gothel heaved another load of hair-compost over with her pitchfork. Curse that couple anyway, with the mother's rampion cravings and their begging the Fae to give their daughter "an endless fall of golden hair." They'd gotten their wish, and then begged Mother Gothel to…
by Melissa Mead
Hazel Tree
Once there was a beautiful girl whose mother had died. Her father remarried, to a woman with two daughters of her own. The stepmother banished the girl to the kitchen, and made her do all the hardest housework. (Oh, you know this story already? Glass slippers? What glass…
by Melissa Mead
Subject AT-171
"Let's take a walk while our porridge cools off," announced the largest of the three bears in a voice that carried through the clearing. All three bears left the cottage and settled in the blind to wait. The girl crept out of the woods soon after. "The poor thing's so thin!"…
by Melissa Mead
Sweet Justice
"May I help you?" said the store owner to the old woman. "Do you sell industrial-strength candy, young man?" "We certainly do!" Hans came out from behind the counter, beaming. "We also carry five grades of structural gingerbread, from Light Gold to Dark & Spicy. If you'll follow…
by Melissa Mead
Snake Sister
You don't understand. I wanted the snakes and toads. Yes, it feels rather crawly and unpleasant, but it was worth it to avoid my younger sister's fate. The tale-tellers claim that as soon as poor, pretty Bella came home spitting pearls and poppies, Mother hustled me out the door…
by Melissa Mead
Swan Song
I still don't talk much. After six years, I seem to have lost the habit. My fingers have never really healed from the years of weaving nettles. The servants think I'm still in shock from my near-burning, and that that's why I seem so unhappy. No one except Raban, my youngest…
by Melissa Mead
Puss
"I'll bet you can't transform yourself into something really tiny, like a mouse," said Puss. He winked. "I can do better than that," said the Ogre, grinning. It became a flea, and hopped into Puss' fur. "Oh, brilliant!" said Puss. "Hold on; I need to catch a mouse for Master."…
by Melissa Mead
A Little Sleep
The princess searched the throne room, the stable, the scullery... no spindles anywhere. Her father had been most thorough. It had taken her a year of questioning every old woman she met just to find out what a spindle was, and longer still to extract the details of the curse…
by Melissa Mead
Three Wishes
A woodcutter was walking through the forest one day when he heard something howling. It sounded terribly close by, but if he didn't go into the forest and do his work he and his wife would have nothing to eat that day. Soon he came upon a fallen tree, and found a golden Coyote…
by Melissa Mead
Big Bad's Hot Date
BB's date showed up early. He barely stopped himself from howling his admiration. That might be fine for non-anthropomorphic wolves, but Lupina deserved classier behavior than that. This was going to be a date she'd never forget. No mere beast would be able to match it. "You…
by Melissa Mead
Scramble!
Humpty Dumpty (according to the name written on the back of his shell) sat on a wall. The King's men, climbing up behind him, snickered. An egg as a lookout! And it was facing the wrong way--inward, as though watching over its fellow eggs instead of guarding them from outsiders.…
by Melissa Mead