© Getty Images

'Aladdin' - 'Aladdin' is an ancient tale from 'One Thousand and One Nights.' In it, Aladdin actually kills the evil sorcerer, and there are two different genies.

© Public Domain

'Pinocchio' -

Pinocchio was introduced back in 1883, and originally runs away from his creator Geppetto. The police pick up the puppet, and arrest his maker on allegations of abuse. The puppet later kills Jiminy Cricket, and is lynched on a tree.

© Getty Images

'Sleeping Beauty' -

The classic story was first told by Giambattista Basile, who in 1528 published a twisted tale about a king who impregnates the titular princess in her sleep.

© Getty Images

'Puss in Boots' - Puss convinces his master to impersonate the fictional Marquis of Carabas, by stealing his clothes and telling the King that the Marquis was robbed. The unclothed master climbs into the king's carriage, and is offered a marriage with the princess.

© Public Domain

'Little Red Riding Hood' -

In early versions, the wolf chops up Red's grandmother, and stores her skin in the pantry cupboard...

© Getty Images

'Little Red Riding Hood' - ...He even pours her blood into a wine bottle, and feeds Red her own grandmother's remains.

© Getty Images

'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' -

In the original, the queen orders her huntsman to kill Snow White, and to bring back her liver and lungs for the queen to eat...

© Getty Images

'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' -

...When the evil monarch unwittingly turns up to Snow White's wedding, she's forced to dance to death in hot iron shoes.

© Getty Images

'Mulan' -

The original tale of Hua Mulan sees our warrior come home to find her father dead, and her mother remarried a pestering khan also asking her to be his concubine. She becomes overwhelmed and kills herself.

© Getty Images

'Rumpelstiltskin' - Originally, the ending of 'Rumpelstiltskin' was pretty gruesome. After being fooled by the miller's daughter, the imp gets so frustrated that he tears himself in two.

© Shutterstock

'Rapunzel' - The witch finds out that the Prince has been visiting Rapunzel, and the witch cuts off her hair and banishes her to the wilderness...

© Public Domain

'Rapunzel' -

...The prince returns to the tower, only to have his eyes poked out by the evil witch.

© Getty Images

'Alice in Wonderland' - 'Alice in Wonderland' has been seen as being a bit dark and druggy throughout. Professor Will Brooker says each generation interprets the book differently, "in the 1930s it was psychoanalysis, in the 1960s it was psychedelia, and in the 1990s paedophilia."

© Getty Images

'The Goose Girl' -

In 'The Goose Girl,' a maid swaps identities with a princess to marry a prince. She even kills the talking horse to hide the evidence.

© Getty Images

'The Goose Girl' -

She is eventually stripped naked and thrown into a spike-filled barrel, and rolled around until death.

© Getty Images

'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' -

In early interpretations of this tale, the Pied Piper takes the kids on a military campaign, and never returns them to their parents.

© Getty Images

'Cinderella' - The glass slipper scene is pretty weird in the original. The step-sisters actually cut up their feet to fit in the shoe, spilling blood on it. During Cinderella's wedding to the prince, doves fly down and peck the sisters' eyes out.

© Getty Images

'Hansel and Gretel' - Hansel and Gretel is pretty creepy already, but it may have been inspired by true tragedy. Apparently, a revered baker was labelled a witch by a jealous rival, and she was buried in her own oven.

© Shutterstock

'The Frog Prince' - In early versions of 'The Frog Prince,' the titular frog has to have his head cut off in order to turn into a prince. The princess eventually throws him into a wall in order for the spell to work.

© Shutterstock

'Peter Pan' - J.M. Barrie's story has some mature themes. Wendy is brought to Neverland to act as a mother to the Lost Boys. She eventually falls for Peter, who sees her more as a "faithful son."

© Public Domain

'The Three Little Pigs' - Early versions of this humorous tale have the wolf eating the piggies after he blows their house down, with only the third piggie surviving.

© NL Beeld

'The Little Mermaid' -

In Hans Christian Andersen's original story, the Little Mermaid suffers with every step she takes as a human. The prince marries someone else, which actually kills the mermaid.

© Getty Images

'The Ugly Duckling' - In the original tale, the Ugly Duckling is harassed out of the pond, only to live with geese and ducks who are eventually slaughtered. She moves in with an old woman, whose animals harass the poor duck even more.

© Public Domain

'Beauty and the Beast' -

In the original 'Beauty and the Beast,' Belle arrives at the castle only to find a begging Beast who pleads for marriage. Belle keeps refusing, until the Beast nearly keels over from heartbreak. Her tears fall on his body, turning him into a prince.

© Getty Images

'Little Jack Horner' - This tale dates back to the Tudor era, with gruesome details like the king ordering a bishop to be hung, drawn, and quartered.

© Public Domain

'Br'er Rabbit' - Br'er Rabbit has been linked back to Cherokee or African folklore. Some academics see the American version as an allegorical tale of slaves working against their masters.

© Public Domain

'Chicken Little' - 'Chicken Little' originally follows a paranoid chick warning of the apocalypse. In early versions, the foxes invite the animals round, where they are ambushed and eaten.

© Public Domain

'Bluebeard' -

The story of Bluebeard follows the blue-bearded goon whose wives keep disappearing. Eventually, it's revealed that he's kept their corpses hanging from hooks in a locked room.

© Getty Images

'The Fox and the Hound' -

In the book, the Fox leads one of an owner's dogs onto a railroad, where it's fatally struck by a train. Another dog is trained to chase the fox until the fox dies, and the dog partly recovers, before being put down by its owner.

See more: Timeless children’s books to read with your kids

© Getty Images