Don’t be fooled by Tinkerbell and her pixie dust—the real fairies were dangerous. In the late seventeenth century, they could still scare people to death. Little wonder, as they were thought to be descended from the Fallen Angels and to have the power to...

An elegantly packaged new edition of a classic Chinese folk tale collection that responds to the contemporary fascination with the ancient culture of the Far East. This elegantly presented edition of Richard Wilhelm & Frederick H. Martens' classic...

*Includes "The Little Mermaid," now a major motion picture from Disney starring Halle Bailey and directed by Rob Marshall*Dive into centuries of mermaid lore with these captivating tales from around the world.A Penguin ClassicAmong the oldest and most...

A new collection of subversive French fairy talesThe wolf is tricked by Red Riding Hood into strangling her grandmother and is subsequently arrested. Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella do not live happily ever after. And the fairies are saucy, angry, and...

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST POETRY BOOK OF THE YEAR In the beginning, the world is spoken into existence with one word: "Earth." There are no inhabitants, and no sun--only the broad sky, silent sea, and sovereign Framer and Shaper. Then come the twin heroes...

"From the Bible through Dante and up to Treblinka and Guantánamo Bay, here is a rich source for nightmares." --The New York Times Book ReviewThree thousand years of visions of Hell, from the ancient Near East to modern AmericaA Penguin ClassicFrom the...

Why have societies all across the world feared witchcraft? This book delves deeply into its context, beliefs, and origins in Europe's history The witch came to prominence--and often a painful death--in early modern Europe, yet her origins are much more...

Here retold in all their original dramatic power are some of the most exciting and influential of all world myths, drawn from a fascinating range of ancient cultures. Epic struggles and heroic adventures, passionate jealousies and psychological...

From Mallory Ortberg comes a collection of darkly mischievous stories based on classic fairy tales. Adapted from the beloved "Children's Stories Made Horrific" series, "The Merry Spinster" takes up the trademark wit that endeared Ortberg to readers of...

This brilliant, readable synthesis of the history of mythology and the function it serves to humanity is the launch title of the groundbreaking publishing event, The Myths . “Human beings have always been mythmakers.” So begins Karen Armstrong’s concise...

From wicked queens, beautiful princesses, elves, monsters, and goblins, to giants, glass slippers, poisoned apples, magic keys, and mirrors, the characters and images of fairy tales have cast a spell over readers and audiences, both adults and children,...

Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok. In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true...

Each region of India is a land in its own right, with diverse languages, customs, and cultural traditions. Yet shared social systems, firmly grounded in Hindu religious beliefs, provide the cohesive force that unites over a billion people of different...

"Myths, according to Freud's view, are of the psychological order of dream. Myths, so to say, are public dreams; dreams are private myths. ""There is no one quite like Joseph Campbell. He knows the vast sweep of man's panoramic past as few men have evern...

A rich, wondrous anthology of the Western magical tradition, from the Old Testament to Doctor Faustus and Paradise Lost, now in a Penguin Classics black spine edition   “. . . as when iron is drawn to a magnet, camphor is sucked into hot air, crystal...

The walking dead from 15 centuries haunt this compendium of ghostly visitations through the ages, exploring the history of our fascination with zombies and other restless souls.   Since ancient times, accounts of supernatural activity have mystified us...

The original version of the Grimms' tales in English for the first time—in an acclaimed, illustrated editionWhen Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, followed by a second volume in 1815, they had no idea that...

Selected Tales contains some of the most timeless and enchanting folk and fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm, translated with an introduction by David LukeThese folktales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are among the most memorable stories...

The definitive translation by Dick Davis of the great national epic of Iran—now newly revised and expanded to be the most complete English-language editionA Penguin ClassicDick Davis—“our pre-eminent translator from the Persian” (The Washington Post)—has...

Now a major motion picture starring Salma Hayek, John C. Reilly, Toby Jones, and Vincent Cassel: a rollicking, bawdy, fantastical cycle of 50 fairy tales told by 10 storytellers over 5 daysBefore the Brothers Grimm, before Charles Perrault, before Hans...