An anti-fairy tale, also called anti-tale, is a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

which, unlike an ordinary one, has a tragic, rather than a

happy ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the main protagonists and their sidekicks, while the main villains/antagonists are dead/defeated. In storylines where the protagon ...

, with the antagonists winning and the protagonists losing at the end of the story. Whereas fairy tales paint a magical, utopian world, anti-fairy tales paint a dark world of nastiness and cruelty. Such stories incorporate horror,

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

, mean-spirited

practical joke A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

s on innocent characters, sudden and often cruel

plot twist A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. It may change the aud ...

s, and biting

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales: A-F''
article "Anti-fairy tale", p. 50
/ref>Catriona McAra, David Calvin, ''Anti-Tales: The Uses of Disenchantment'', Cambridge Scholars Publishing, May 25, 2011,
p. 4
/ref> The term (german: Antimärchen) was introduced by

André Jolles Johannes Andreas Jolles, known as André Jolles (August 7, 1874 in Den Helder, Netherlands – February 22, 1946 in Leipzig, Germany) was a Dutch-German art historian, literary critic and linguist who was affiliated with the Nazi Party. He is be ...

in his ''Einfache Formen'' (1930).André Jolles: Einfache Formen. Legende, Sage, Mythe, Rätsel, Spruch, Kasus, Memorabile, Märchen, Witz. Niemeyer, Halle (Saale) 1930 (Forschungsinstitut für Neuere Philologie Leipzig: Neugermanistische Abteilung; 2
p. 242
Examples of anti-fairy tales include "

The Fisherman and His Wife "The Fisherman and His Wife" (Low German: ''Von dem Fischer un syner Fru'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 (KHM 19). The tale is of Aarne–Thompson type 555, about dissatisfaction and greed. It may be classified as ...

", and "

The Swineherd "The Swineherd" ( da, Svinedrengen) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a prince who disguises himself as a swineherd to win an arrogant princess. The tale was first published December 20, 1841 by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen ...

". A recent example is

Fabien Vehlmann Fabien Vehlmann (born 30 January 1972) is a French comics writer best known for ''Green Manor'' and ''Seuls''. Yvan Delporte dubbed him "The René Goscinny of the third millennium". Biography Fabien Vehlmann, born in 1972 in Mont-de-Marsan, gre ...

's graphic novel ''

Beautiful Darkness ''Beautiful Darkness'' is a young adult fantasy novel written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The second novel in the ''Caster Chronicles'', it was published by Little, Brown on October 12, 2010. The third novel, '' Beautiful Chaos''. was r ...

''.''Why Beautiful Darkness Is The Ultimate Anti-Fairytale''
/ref> The term is also used to refer to remakes of traditional "happy" fairy tales into "unhappy" ones.

See also

References

Further reading