Anthropologist Jamie Tehrani argues that the fairy tale was not invented by the French writer Charles Perrault, the author of Mother Goose Tales and the first person who wrote it down. Historian Robert Darnton explains that most of Perrault’s stories came from the oral tradition – most likely through his son’s nurse, where he borrowed the name Mother Goose.īut the story of Little Red Riding Hood had much deeper roots, and it went through a number of versions. Long before it was first written down, 'Little Red Riding Hood' was a folktale told for centuries. No wonder the fairy tale was changed – it’s for children, after all! Photo: user uploaded image The versions circulating in 17th-century France, when Charles Perrault first wrote down the story in his collection called Mother Goose Tales, featured a cannibalistic granddaughter and a pedophile wolf who tells Red to strip down before she climbs in his bed. And that’s only the beginning of the horrible things that happen in 'Little Red Riding Hood.' Unlike the modern version, where a naive and trusting girl who can't tell the difference between a wolf and her grandmother escapes in the end, in most older versions, Red is eaten alive. Little Red Riding Hood’s full story is pretty dark. And even popular collections of fairy tales like the one from the Brothers Grimm include stories like “The Girl Without Hands” and “The Death of the Little Hen.” In the Hans Christian Andersen version of The Little Mermaid, the mermaid commits suicide.

Cinderella’s stepsisters cut off parts of their feet before the ball. Fairy tales are full of creepy and terrible things, and the original 'Little Red Riding Hood' is no exception.

Red riding hood charles perrault