TWISTED FAIRY TELLS

Moore adds twists to popular fairy tales and folklore in this short story collection.

Self-proclaimed historian Charles Wellington III has inherited a “library of original works.” These writings are essentially the true stories behind well-known characters. For starters, Santa Claus is a “gift kingpin.” His business thrives on intimidation, using moblike tactics to scare children’s parents and his elvish workforce. Subsequent tales star the Easter Bunny and Pinocchio. While Haré amasses mutated bunnies for brutal revenge against Billy, a disturbed boy who tortures the furry animals, Pinocchio mistakenly believes the path to becoming a real, live boy should be paved in blood. This first batch of stories takes violent turns, but the collection’s latter half lightens up even as the overall tone stays dark. At the same time, Moore links characters in entertaining fashion. For example, the titular feline of “Puss in Boots” crops up in a later narrative; “Robert ‘Rumpel’ Schneider,” a Rumpelstiltskin origin story, sets up the next tale, “Frog Prince.” The author likewise weaves multiple folk and fairy tales into certain stories, such as “The Fox.” This begins as a version of the Grimms’ “The Wolf and the Fox,” but the clever vulpine protagonist later offers to train the Tortoise in beating the much-faster Hare in a race. A few of the tales sport unexpected endings, with the award for most gleefully unsettling denouement going to “Goldie’s Locks and the Three Bears.” Despite the stories’ frequent contemporary dialogue, Moore writes in a simple prose akin to classic fairy tales: “In her many years, she had never seen a man with her own eyes. Only images from the books that the sorceress had given her to kill time.” In the final entry, Wellington makes another appearance and offers a fitting, surprising finale.

Grim, amusing interpretations of classic literature and characters.