Curtains to the Darkness
As winter draws in, I become more and more inclined to read fairy tales. Winter is a time for telling tales round the fire, snuggling up on the sofa with a favourite book, and revisiting all those old films, ballets and pantomimes. I've always been a huge fan of fairy tales. I'm not alone. Stories that have stood the test of time and can mean so many different things at different times of one's life will always have avid listeners and readers. But sometimes I wonder if I'm reading the same tales as everyone else. There seem to be a lot of people out there (people I like and admire) who are always talking and writing about the darkness in fairy tales. People like to say that the earlier versions of familiar tales are "much darker". Short story writers are praised for "a wonderfully dark tale". Now, there's nothing wrong with that. I can admire a dark tale as well as the next reader. But it upsets me when all people seem to see i...