a cheerful one

[kip_w]

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I've scanned the second of the fairy tales from that German 1873 edition. They aren't quite as scary as the 18th century versions, but with Gustav Dore's art, they reach some pretty Gothic levels of horror. Witness this cheery fellow:



That's Mister Giant to you, in the story of Tom Thumb. The picture I took this example from is probably the scariest thing in the book. Click on it to see all the current pictures in the "Es war einmal..." flickr set, including a rather lovely study of a lantern beam at night.
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Comments

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

That's brilliant! Does he do Rumpelstiltzkin tearing himself in half?

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Surprisingly, that's not in there. I'm sure he'd do a vigorous job on it. His History of Holy Russia is all full of graphic violence, played for laffs -- overstated in a way reminiscent of "Sam Peckinpah's Salad Days" on Monty Python.

(Of course, every time I see that name, I think I'm seeing a reference to my own epic verse, Rumplestiltstein.)