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Synopsis

Twenty-one darker, deeper, more adult takes on some of our favorite childhood fairy tales, from acclaimed contemporary fantasists

Long ago, when we were children, our dreams were inspired by the fairy tales we heard at our mothers' and grandmothers' knees--stories of princesses and princes and witches and wondrous enchantments, by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, and from the pages of 1001 Arabian Nights. But, as World Fantasy Award-winning editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling remind us, these stories were often tamed and sanitized versions. The originals were frequently darker--and in Silver Birch, Blood Moon, they turn darker still.

Twenty-one modern Grimms and Andersens--masterful storytellers including Neil Gaiman, Nancy Kress, and Tanith Lee--now reinvent beloved bedtime stories for our time. The Sea Witch gets her say, relating the story of "The Little Mermaid" from her own point of view. "Thumbelina" becomes a tale of creeping horror, while a delightfully naughty spin is put on "The Emperor's New Clothes." Author Caitlin R. Kiernan transports Snow White to a dark, gritty, industrial urban setting, and Patricia Briggs details "The Price" of dealing with a royal and unrepentantly evil Rumpelstiltskin.

Rich, provocative, and unabashedly adult, each of these tales is a modern treasure, reminding us that wishes have consequences and not all genies have our best interests at heart.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1999) - essay by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow
• Kiss Kiss - (1999) - shortstory by Tanith Lee
• Carabosse - (1999) - poem by Delia Sherman
• The Price - (1999) - shortstory by Patricia Briggs
• Glass Coffin - (1999) - shortstory by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• The Vanishing Virgin - (1999) - shortstory by Harvey Jacobs
• Clad in Gossamer - (1999) - shortstory by Nancy Kress
• Precious - (1999) - shortstory by Nalo Hopkinson
• The Sea Hag - (1999) - novelette by Melissa Lee Shaw
• The Frog Chauffeur - (1999) - shortstory by Garry Kilworth
• The Dybbuk in the Bottle - (1999) - novelette by Russell William Asplund
• The Shell Box - (1999) - novelette by Karawynn Long
• Ivory Bones - (1999) - shortstory by Susan Wade
• The Wild Heart - (1999) - shortstory by Anne Bishop
• You Wandered Off Like a Foolish Child to Break Your Heart and Mine - (1999) - shortstory by Pat York
• Arabian Phoenix - (1999) - shortstory by India Edghill
• Toad-Rich - (1999) - shortstory by Michael Cadnum
• Skin So Green and Fine - (1999) - novelette by Wendy Wheeler
• The Willful Child, the Black Dog, and the Beanstalk - (1999) - novelette by Melanie Tem
• Locks - (1999) - poem by Neil Gaiman
• Marsh-Magic - (1999) - novelette by Robin McKinley
• Toad - (1999) - shortstory by Patricia A. McKillip
• Recommended Reading - essay by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

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