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Dark Fairy Tale Books You Need to Read

After reading all those cloying fairy tales with happy endings, one could easily get sick of them. That’s why the dark fairy tale was born, the evil twin of the classical fables! No sweet happy endings, no unrealistic stories. No naive princesses and creepy princes. No fairy tales that would never happen in the real world. Instead - strong female characters, men with shady past, epic journeys and most importantly - the magic so dark and blood-thirsty it could destroy the whole universe. Immerse yourself in the darkest of all dark fairy tale books!

Dark fairy tales are a mix of original fables, or stories stylised as them, and horror. Dark fairy tales are violent, sexy and have mostly unhappy endings. 

What are dark fairy tale books?

#6
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

a study in drowning Fantasy Books Set by the Sea
Cover image © HarperTeen

Effy and Preston are students at a prominent university, trying to solve the mystery of ‘Angharad’. It's an epic poem by Emrys Myrddin telling a story of a titular girl that falls in love with the Fairy King, an immortal, legendary being. Effy believes in the story created by Myrddin. Everything because of the Fairy King that haunts Effy himself. The girl is cursed by perceiving the supernatural parts of the world, taken straight from the legends.

Preston, on the other hand, is a down-to-earth and rational novice scientist. He tries to discover the truth about who the real author of ‘Angharad’ is. Effy agrees to cooperate with Preston, slowly ruining her perception of the world centred around Emrys Myrddin and his works.

With magical atmosphere and dark, mystical folklore, 'A Study in Drowning' is one of the dark fairy tale books that is a must read. Especially paired with unforgettable dark acedemia aesthetic! 'A Study in Drowning' is one of these books about mysterious grimoires I've written about recently and it's totally amazing.

Furthermore, 'A Study in Drowning' is set by the blood-thirsty sea what only adds to it more magic. The same with the dark cliffs surrounded by a dank mist and a mension taken straight from a fairy tale... But the mentioned complex folklore and set of beliefs from 'A Study in Drowning' make this book so unique.

Let yourself immerse in this mafical world and feel like in a Grimms' dark fairy tale again...

Discover my full inventory of the most mysterious forgotten fairytales in my Archives...

Trigger warning

'A Study in Drowning' contains deeply uncomfortable descriptions of grooming, emotional and sexual violence, both in the academic and job envrionment.
If you are somehow sensitive to these topics, please consider twice if you want to read 'A Study in Drowning' by Ava Reid.

#5
The School for Good and Evil
by Soman Chainani

School for good and evil book cover
Cover image © Harper Collins

Sophie and Agatha are best friends living in a small village called Gavaldon. Once a year, a pair of the Gavaldon’s children is kidnapped by a mysterious School Master to the School for Good and Evil, a fabulous academy training both heroes and villains. Sophie believes that she and Agatha will be chosen this year.  

Since Sophie is beautiful and beloved by the whole village, everyone is sure Sophie will be kidnapped to the School for Good and will become a princess she always wanted to be. Agatha, however, is a lonely, spectral outcast, living in a creepy cemetery with her mother and ugly cat. She seems like a real-life witch, so Sophie and all of the villagers consider her the next villain of the School for Evil.  

When the landmark day comes, the unthinkable happens – Sophie become chosen to be a student in the School for Evil, and Agatha – the School for Good. What at first seems like a mistake, soon will expose the misconception everyone used to have about the girls whose souls aren’t the one their façades would suggest. But the School Master is right all along about Agatha’s Good and Sophie’s Evil, what they both will have a hard time discovering and understanding.

#4
A Court of Thrones and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas

ACOTAR by Sarah J Maas Beauty and the Beast Retelling Fairy tale retellings book list
Cover image © Bloomsbury Publishing

Probably one of the most impactful and popular fairytale retellings, inspired by 'Beauty and the Beast'. After killing a magic wolf that turns out to be a Fae, a human Feyra is kidnapped to the palace of Faes. Feyra broke the magic law to save her family from hunger and now, she must complete the sentence of Faes. Feyra moves to the villa of Tamlin - blonde and handsome, but masked, High Fae. The poor village changed to the luxsurious palace seems like a solution to all of the Feyra's problems.

However, humans hate Faes and Faes hate humans - that's been the condition in their shared continent for centuries. Thus, Feyra will have to do all her best not to kill her Fae hosts in sleep and not to be killed by them. Entangled by a romantic tension with Tamlin, Feyra soon discovers that the Fae world is different than she expected.

Dark and sensual, ACOTAR is a perfect example of a dark fairy tale book. Everything thanks to the strong heroine and the obscure world she has to save, the two handsome princes and their courts… Between snow-topped summits and grassy hills, somewhere inside the dark, enchanted forest, the libidinous faes spin the tale taken straight from a fairy tale. 



Make sure to discover the full list of the best fairy tale retellings of mine!

#3
Fables & Other Lies by Claire Contreras

Fables & other lies Book Cover
Cover image © The Wicked Pen

Penelope is a blogger and a photographer. She was kicked out of her childhood house when she took a photo of a manor of her family’s greatest enemy. However, the thing is that Penelope doesn’t remember visiting the island Dolos, where the Calibans’ villa is located… 

Years later, now as a prosperous businesswoman, Penelope returns to her homeland for her father’s funeral. Pan, the tropical Dominican island Penelope was born and raised in, is a tropical paradise. The island is controlled by her family, the Guzmans.

The time of Penelope’s return coincides with the famous Pan carnival. This all-week-long party has a misogynistic tradition. Every year, the chosen man selects one of the women to spend a night with him. Unfortunately, this year is the turn of the Calibans’ heir… And obviously, he chooses Penelope to be his toy tonight. 

It is the chance of a lifetime for Penelope to return to Dolos. She will experience herself the Caliban curse everyone of the superstitious islanders believe in. In the dark Calibans’ manor, Penelope will encounter the supernatural events she won’t be able to understand.

Pathetic 'Feminism' in Fables &  Other Lies

Set on a fictional Dominican island Pan, ‘Fables & Other Lies’ is a novel stylised as a Latin gothic. The obscure atmosphere, paired with an unforgettable tropical setting is a surprising mix that actually works. Furthermore, Dominican folklore is an unusual choice in the fantasy genre that is often based on Celtic beliefs and legends. 

And while the fantasy aspect of this novel is totally acceptable, I couldn’t stand the repulsive patriarchal ideas throughout ‘Fables & Other Lies’. As a devoted feminist, I can’t ignore that the relationship I am supposed to support (between Penelope and River Guzman) is based on the most disgusting, patriarchal motif I can think of. Their romance starts when River chooses Penelope as a candy in a candy shop, not a human being. And I am supposed to ship them? Please.

I will not even mention the pathetic thoughts of Penelope that pretend to be feminist but all they are is sad. If you are such a feminist, Penelope, that you have the ideas about inequality in the patriarchal society, why do you agree to build your romance on such a humiliating custom? Forgive my rant on Penelope and Claire Contreras but I am genuinely angry. I hate when one speaks like a feminist but knowingly acts misogynistic. Because Penelope is aware how hurtful the carnival tradition is, she even mentions it. But then, she falls in love with a man who supports this event and takes part in it. This act would crush chances of any man who would flirt with me. Unforgivable. 

#2
Anathema by Keri Lake

Anathema Book Cover
Independently published, Keri Lake

Maevyth Bronwick was a foundling left in the border of The Eating Woods. The Eating Woods is an obscure and dangerous forest. It gained its name because if anything gets into this forest, it never comes back.Thus, no one knows why nor how Maevyth survived a visit in The Woods. Now, she lives with her sister and adoptive grandmother. Maevyth’s family lives in a small, superstitious village. Any different one is safe there - in a community of fanatical followers of the Church. In the other world, an assassin Zevander Rydainn searches for magical artefacts that will save him from a curse. He discovers that a human, Maevyth, is a key for Rydainn’s release from the malediction. 

With supremely complex world-building, ‘Anathema’ is the most gothic novel you’ll ever read. Although it is advertised as a romantasy, ‘Anathema’ is more a passionate gothic than a romance. Perfect for long, windy autumn evenings, ‘Anathema’ is utterly obscure and eerie. A must read!

#1
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Long Live Evil Book Cover
Cover image © Orbit

Dangerously sexy and as wicked as the Wicked Witch of the West… ‘Long Live Evil’ is a book perfect for every fangirl who has ever loved a villain more than a hero.

Every reader knows that a well-written villain is so much more delightful than any hero. Villains have so much depth, they have hilarious black humour and the best cynical comebacks. Most importantly, they are viciously seductive. And I bet every single one of you has that one villain you would either be or be with. 

So has Rae. She is the biggest fan of the Emperor - the main villain of the fantasy saga. However, Rae suffers from a fatal illness. She is slowly dying when she encounters a chance for a new life. Rae visits the land from her favourite epic fantasy books. She discovers with surprise that Rae personates Lady Rahela, the Beauty Dipped In Blood. Lady Rahela is a villainess, not a heroine from Rae’s favourite book series. Now, Rae can finally follow her dreams about being the story’s villain. She assembles all the desperate villains of the story and begins her own villain arc!

Hilarious and deadly vicious, ‘Long Live Evil’ by Sarah Rees Brennan is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I had a great time reading those cynical, wicked lines of the rotten hearts. You have to read it!

 ———• ☾ •———

I would kill for a chance Rae gets! If you read my blog, you know that I am obsessed with many villains. My favourite character is obviously Sophie of the Woods Beyond from ‘The School for Good and Evil’ (whose love story I once wrote a post about). She is a total diva who makes ‘The School for Good and Evil’ the best book series ever. I would do anything to become just like her - killingly confident and powerful.

What is more, I obviously have definitely too many villain book boyfriends. This obsession started when I was a young reader!That’s because I still have a crush on such characters as Johnny Desperado from ‘Vampirates’ series by Justin Somper, Gavin from ‘Fablehaven’ by Brandon Mull, Tugdual from ‘Oksa Pollock’... I absolutely adore those men. And obviously, ‘The School for Good and Evil’ is also full of my book boyfriends: of course Hort of the Bloodbrook (technically, he is a villain), Rafal, Rhian… I could name to the infinity. I bet that you could, too!

Enjoyed by ranking of the best dark fairy tale books?
Try also those book lists of mine!

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