CORALINE & THE BROTHERS GRIMM: The Spookiness in Fantasy Stories

I don't read or watch horror books or movies. I'm too much of a scaredy cat. I was the kid who would hide behind the couch at the shark scene in Finding Nemo, or the grandma with the gun in Ratatouille. As a kid with an overactive imagination, I would have night terrors and sleep under my bed. After all, the monsters couldn't stay under the bed if I was already there, right?

However, even though I still don't enjoy horror movies or books, I do enjoy a spooky story or podcast from time to time.

My appreciation for the unsettling and scary came from two different sources. "The Original Folk and Fairy Tales" by The Brothers Grimm, which I read as a child, and "Coraline," a novella by Neil Gaiman, which I read in my late teens.

Today, we are going to explore not only the spooky elements of these stories but also why it is important to include the spooky and scary in fantasy stories. After all, stories should serve not only as inspirations, but also as lessons....

THE BROTHERS GRIMM: LEGENDS ARE LESSONS

Stories often had two purposes back in the day: To pass down history and to serve as warnings. The Brothers Grimm fairytales were just that. They were not meant to be fluffy, with all sunshine and rainbows; instead, they were folk tales passed down through families that served as cautionary stories for people about the harsh reality of the world, the consequences for disobedience, and the constant threat of danger.

As such, they all are, if not scary and spooky, at the very least unsettling. Since we are so accustomed to the Disney-fied versions, we often forget just how nightmare-inducing many of them can truly be. After all, did the Disney versions of these fairy tales include:

1. Cinderella's stepsisters mutilating their feet to try to fit them into the slippers.

2. The Evil Queen wanting to consume Snow White's innards to steal her youth and beauty.

3. The princess throwing the frog prince against a wall out of disgust, which is what turns him back into the prince.

   
   

All of this is disturbing and not the glamorized versions we remember from those movies we watched growing up. Not what you would want to read your child before bed, unless you want them to have nightmares. Though...I must admit (to my mom's probable horror) that I did read the original Grimm fairy tales as a child. However, as I mentioned earlier, it is not just senseless scare tactics for the sake of it. They aren't just campfire stories meant to scare everyone spitless. Every terrible twist and turn comes with valuable insights and warnings against:

1. Vanity

2. Jealousy

3. Judging a book by its cover

As Queen Elinor in Disney/Pixar's Brave wisely said:

"Legends are lessons; they ring with truths"

And that couldn't be more right in the case of the Brothers Grimm. I know for a fact that I am now too scared to go up and talk to a stranger in the woods, thanks to Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel & Gretel, or obsess over jealousy to the point of going insane, thanks to Snow White.

If someone tells us as a child, "don't do this", we tend to get curious. After all, even if they tell us the consequences, we don't believe them. I mean, mom's just being dramatic. There isn't really anything wrong with it; she's just trying to keep us away from the oven. It isn't until we have something terrible happen to us, such as getting burned on the stove, or we actually hear or see something terrifying happening to another person, that we really don't want to do it.

They say curiosity killed the cat, and I would like to add that a good scare can pair curiosity with a healthy dose of caution.

CORALINE: THE MODERN-DAY GRIMM TALE

Although the Brothers Grimm fairy tales are timeless classics of literature whose lessons can be applied to this very day, to us they seem like ancient fantasy. While some of you might have the pleasure of being told not to go into the woods after dark, a lot of us live in urban areas. We no longer have princes, princesses, or castles.

That is where my love of Coraline comes in.

Although it is still considered an "older" book, it effectively brings the spookiness and applications of the Brothers Grimm into a more modern setting. It is about an average, everyday girl who has to face terror not from the woods, but in her own home. I love it so much because it seems like a story people nowadays would tell their children to keep them in bed at night, in the same vein as the original stories. It really is a modern-day Brothers Grimm fairy tale.

And, in true Brothers Grimm fashion, there is always a point to the unsettling events of Coraline. Again, the spooky happenings happen for a reason.

Here are just a few things that we can glean from the terrifying happenings in this children's book:

1. True courage isn't the absence of fear but acting despite it. 

2. Appreciate your flawed family rather than be tempted by an imitation that may appear perfect but lacks substance. 

3. The importance of recognizing whether something is an imitation or real.

4. Innocence, intelligence, and goodness can overcome evil.

Just as in the tales from the Brothers Grimm, Coraline uses its creepy aesthetics to teach a lesson. To warn children in a fantastical way not to trust what seems too good to be true. To appreciate what you have, even if your life might not be perfect, and to explore the reality that life will probably never be as perfect as we might imagine.

Again, it is not written to scare people just for the sake of it. It has intention and focus. After all, how can you be a courageous character without a terrifying fear to face?

CONCLUSION 

I am not telling you to go and write a spooky story. You don't have to write a Coraline-style story, or even venture into the unsettling nature of historical folk tales and myths. But if you are a fantasy writer and you want your characters to climb to the heights of courage, bravery, and so forth, then consider what they must face. If you have a villain, or if there are monsters in your story, consider what they might be.

We all know the saying that a hero is only as good as his villain. Think back. What good villains do you remember? Chances are, they are the ones that had you hiding under your blankets at night after you read the book, or diving behind the couch as you watched the movie. They send shivers of terror up and down your spine and leave you thinking: "Wow. That was a good villain. They're terrifying!"

The terror of evil is what makes the courage and light of our heroes shine all the brighter and their triumph all the more satisfying. And while you don't have to write a spooky story to have those elements (take The Lord of the Rings with the Nazgul and Shelob, for example), we can definitely learn a lot from them.