The Grim Peddler, though a dashing young man with stylish suits and the preternatural beauty of a fairy tale princess, plays neither the prince nor the hero of any fairy tale he encounters. He is instead the wicked witch, the tempter, the trickster and the amoral fairy who gives every poor miller's son or sleepy princess the answer to their wish. Unlike the fairy tales we know, however, the Grim Peddler's touch reveals twists on old tales, showing that Sleeping Beauty may have lingered for a far different reason than true love, and the Little Mermaid is not the pure-hearted, self-sacrificing maiden Hans Christian Andersen would have us believe.
 
This volume is creepy fun for anyone who enjoys fractured fairy tales, especially those that pull out the darkest elements. While there is a framing story of The Peddler himself and his companion and servant, who is sometimes a boy and sometimes a cat, the individual chapters begin each story with the Peddler's arrival in a familiar fairy tale moment, from encouraging Sleeping Beauty's prince into the briars to finding Hansel and Gretel lost in the woods.
 
Lee Jeoun-A has a lot of fun figuring out a way to surprise readers by working with their expectations and then turning them on their head. While some add more horror to the tales, as with a Hansel and Gretel who are far from innocent and a fairy tale romance gone horribly wrong, other visions add another layer to a familiar story, as with this version of THE LITTLE MERMAID, where mixing in a little Siren mythology makes the original version all the more poignant.
 
This is not, however, a title for fairy tale fans looking for romance and heroism. Since the retellings focus on the dangers of getting what you wish for, and the ways desire can be twisted, none of these short stories end well. The art is gorgeous --- enchanting and suitably horrific by turns, with a precision of design that keeps the page clean and the story clear.