30 Tales And Stories From Days Past That Terrified All Little Children

Released in 1831, The Book of Accidents — Designed for Young Children was a cautionary guide for youngsters that graphically depicted the dangers of the big wide world around them. The book includes stories that warn kids about horses (they’ll kick you to death), dogs (they’ll bite you), bulls (you can probably imagine), and the perils of playing with candles, knives, firearms, and even chairs. It’s enough to make you wonder if any kid from that era felt comfortable leaving the house. Yeesh!

Aboriginal Australian tales tell the story of a tusked creature that lurks in the night looking for tasty children. According to the American Museum of Natural History, the bunyip was a "man-eating monster … that once lived in the rivers, lakes, and swamps of Australia" and had a "howl" that "carried through the night air, making people afraid to enter the water." That scary image would strike fear into any child who would dare to indulge in a nighttime swim.

In Max and Moritz: A Juvenile History in Seven Tricks by Wilhelm Busch, little readers are told the story of two misbehaving boys who do terrible things to people in their community. The little miscreants, Max and Moritz, strangle an old lady’s chickens, steal the woman’s chickens, taunt a tailor, fill a man's pipe with gunpowder, put bugs in their uncle’s bed, try stealing from a baker, and then cut the sacks of grain of a farmer.
Eventually, the two terrors get their comeuppance when the farmer traps them in a sack, grinds them up (eek!), and feeds them to the chickens (yuck!), which is apparently a lesson when it comes to “not terrorizing thy neighbors.”

Stemming from Native American folklore and prevalent in scary nighttime stories in Arizona, skinwalkers are thought to be ancient medicine men who have changed into evil creatures who use their spiritual magic to murder. According to Legends of America, "skinwalkers are also able to take possession of the bodies of human victims if a person locks eyes with them." After taking control of the person, the being can then "make its victims do and say things that they wouldn’t otherwise." The story is passed down through generations and warns children and adults alike of the dangers of dark magic.

This Brothers Grimm story tells the cautionary tale of what happens if you are ungrateful when it comes to your parents. According to the story, a man has just roasted himself a chicken for dinner when his elderly father walks up to the house. Not wanting to share his meal, the ungrateful son hides the chicken from sight, and when his father eventually leaves and the son is ready to eat, he finds that the chicken has been replaced with a giant toad. The toad then jumps on the man’s face and sits there, refusing to move or be moved, and the man is “forced to feed the toad every day, or else it would eat from his face.” Quite a terrifying lesson in sharing!

Another famous and twisted tale from the Brothers Grimm is "Hansel and Gretel," about two children who are forced into the woods by parents who can no longer afford to feed them. The two siblings stumble upon a witch’s house “built of bread and covered with cakes,” where they are welcomed and fed by the seemingly nice lady, when in actuality they are being plumped up to become the woman’s next meal. When the children learn of the witch’s dastardly plan, Gretel pushes the old lady into an oven, burning her alive, then frees her brother. This story has probably frightened more than one child into thinking twice before nibbling on someone's house.

This creepy little German tale by Heinrich Hoffmann warns young children of what will happen if they suck their thumbs. In the story, a young boy named Conrad is told by his mother not to suck on his thumbs, or the “great tall tailor” will come with his sharp scissors and remove his digits. Of course, young Conrad doesn't listen and, sure enough, the tailor comes by with his giant razor-sharp shears and, “Snip! Snap! Snip! They go so fast / That both his thumbs are off at last.” More effective than slapping hot sauce on your kid’s thumbs, this story is a surefire way to kick the thumb-sucking habit.

A mysterious creature with origins in Puerto Rico, the chupacabra — which is Spanish for “goat-sucker” — is enough to scare any farm-dwelling child. According to the BBC, the chupacabra is said to be a “bipedal creature four or five feet tall with large eyes, spikes down its back and long claws … [that] people claimed, was responsible for killing and draining the blood of livestock.” You probably won’t see any kids out in the fields at night if they fear bumping into a chupacabra.

Boo hags are skinless female creatures from the Gullah culture who prey on the life source of humans. Boo hags creep into bedrooms with open windows, sit on the chests of their victims, and suck out their breath, leaving them tired, sick, and unable to get out of bed. However, fortunately for kids, they can ward off these terrible creatures by painting their windows “boo hag blue” or haint blue.

Written in 1845, “The Red Shoes” might sound like a feel-good story about beloved footwear; however, this tale takes a tragic turn. A girl named Karen is gifted lovely red shoes that she wears everywhere, including to church services and taking Communion. Apparently, this angers an angel, who curses her shoes so that she can never take them off. Instead, Karen is forced to dance around uncontrollably until she begs an executioner to chop off her feet. Not quite a kid-friendly Sunday school story, but after she repents her sins, Karen is welcome into Heaven … but not the red shoes.

“Little Red Riding Hood” is the classic tale of a girl who ventures through the forest to bring treats to her grandmother’s house before being confronted by a hungry wolf. The story is as well known today as when it was first published in 1697; however, many people might be shocked by the original ending. In the old story, instead of the brave huntsman swooping in to free the grandmother and Little Red from the belly of the wolf, the wolf actually prevails and successfully eats his victims. Not quite the same heroic tale to tell your kids at night, is it?

The title of this Brothers Grimm tale should be enough to scare kids off; however, it was a cautionary tale that was apparently told to little ones to let them know what happens when you take playing pretend a little too far. According to Children & Youth in History, in the story, several children think it would be fun to play the roles of cook, cook’s assistant, and butcher in a pretend butcher shop. However, tragedy falls on the young child who plays the role of the pig in the scenario. The poor pretend animal has his neck sliced open by the pretend butcher, while the assistant collects his blood for sausages. This story is enough to make any child go vegetarian.

In Inuit myths, the Qallupilluit are scaly water-dwellers who scour the Arctic Ocean looking to “lure children out onto the ice pans.” According to CBC, these terrifying creatures “kidnap [kids], stuffing them into their amautiks — a hooded parka worn by Inuit women — to drag them under the water.” While it's enough to give you shivers, it's also a cautionary tale to help frighten kids away from dangerously thin ice.

“The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf” is a twisted story about a young girl named Inge who is “a poor child, but proud and presuming, and with a bad and cruel disposition.” After being sent to a rich family’s house — which doesn’t improve her cruel ways — she is told to take a loaf of bread back home to her downtrodden family. Not wanting to mess up her new fancy shoes in the mud and water, Inge tosses the loaf on the ground so that she can walk over it. The result of her selfishness is punishment and torture by an evil spirit. She is taught some painful lessons, to the dismay of young readers.

The children’s story of “Tailypo” focuses on Old Jake and his dogs Iknow, Youknow, and Calico, as well as a strange creature who enters his cabin one night. Old Jake is woken by a beast who is “short and stubby, with pointed ears and bright yellow eyes that seemed to burn with some strange fire.” The man lunges at the beast and cuts off its tail, which he then eats because he is famished. However, the beast returns, screeching, “Tailypo! Tailypo! Give me back my Tailypo!” It presumably then kills the dogs, and with its sharp claws, retrieves its “Tailypo” from Old Jake’s belly. If you ever wanted to give your child nightmares for life, this would be the tale to tell!

Baba Yaga is a Russian myth about a terrible witch who lives in the forest. According to Britannica, Baba Yaga and her sisters (who are also named Baba Yaga) are “guardian[s] of the fountains of the water of life” and have iron sharp teeth as well as bones for legs. Yikes! These wicked witches eat children who come to them seeking the elixir of life — so beware, kids, because you might run into a deadly witch while seeking a potion to save others.

Another cautionary tale by Heinrich Hoffmann, “The Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches” tells the not-so-subtle dangers of playing with, well, matches. While her mother and nurse are out for the day, Pauline is left at home to amuse herself and is soon tempted by the forbidden fire starters. Even warnings from her two cats that she will “burn to death if you do so” do not stop her from striking the matches and tossing them aside. Sure enough, Pauline is set ablaze, and “Nothing else but [her shoes] was found / Among her ashes on the ground.”

“The Tinder-Box” by Hans Christian Andersen is a tale of a young soldier who is offered money by a witch to fetch a magical tinderbox. After discovering that the tinderbox has the power to summon huge dogs that grant your wishes, the soldier promptly cuts off the witch’s head and keeps the trinket for himself. He then uses the powers of the tinderbox to get more riches, steal a princess, and ultimately slaughter a bunch of people in their village, including the king. A questionable story that was written for children, it still probably shouldn't be read by children these days, because yowza.

“Blue Beard” by Charles Perrault is an unsettling story about the apparent dangers of being too curious. A very wealthy man with a terrible secret, Blue Beard is “frightfully ugly” and has been married several times, even though “nobody knew what had become of” his earlier wives. After marrying his neighbor’s daughter, he soon leaves his new bride at home so he can go on a country journey. He gives her the keys to the estate, but forbids her to enter one little closet, or she can “expect [his] just anger.” Curiosity gets the best of her, and to her shock, she discovers in the closet the bodies of Blue Beard’s former spouses. Sounds more like a crime documentary than a fairy tale.

A popular story to tell the kids around Halloween is “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which follows a schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, around the small town of Sleepy Hollow. But the horror of the story is what haunts the town, and that is the ghost of a Hessian soldier who was decapitated by a cannonball at the Battle of White Plains. At night, the Headless Horseman rides in search of his noggin or the head of a new victim. We'd rather just go trick-or-treating!

In the Inuit culture is a story to keep little children “honest and respectful.” If a kid ever tries to steal from anyone, a gruesome, three-clawed hand will pop out and “hold the little thief until someone comes and witnesses the crime,” according to Inuit Myths. The creepy story certainly might make children think twice about stealing, knowing that the Kukilingiattiaq lies waiting to grab hold of them.

The tale of Jasy Jatere, the God of Siesta, is from the “Guarani people, who are spread across Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia,” according to Ancient Origins. Jasy Jatere looks like a child with golden hair, but if little children refuse to take their midday nap, he “lures them into the forest with a whistle, where he imprisons them or feeds them to his cannibalistic brother, Ao Ao.” We wouldn’t expect many kids would want to skip a nap after hearing this terrifying tale.

The 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is probably one of Disney’s most classic tales, but the original story, “Little Snow-White” by the Brothers Grimm, would probably have your little ones hiding under the covers. In the old tale, the Evil Queen (who is actually Snow-White’s mother) wanted the huntsman to stab Snow-White and bring back her liver and heart so that she could “cook them with salt and eat them." If that isn’t traumatizing enough for children, to punish the Evil Queen for her wickedness, Snow-White puts iron shoes into a fire, then makes the Queen wear them and won't let her "stop until she had danced herself to death.” An act of revenge that was maybe too much for the Disney brand, wouldn't you say?

What might seem to be a common and harmless folktale for kids, “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” is actually quite violent and seriously scary. The Norwegian tale follows the three goats as they attempt to cross a bridge that is occupied by a big, fearsome, and hungry troll. After letting the first two smaller goats pass, the troll lies waiting for the largest of the three. Instead of catching his meal, he is rushed by the largest billy goat, who “flew at the troll, and poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body, and bones, and tossed him out into the cascade.” Not such a harmless tale after all.

To cure little ones of stomping and frolicking around the home, in the past they might have been told "The Story Of Romping Polly.” In the tale, an old aunt warns her niece, “Rude boys push, drive, and hurry / But little girls should never be / All in a heat and flurry.” Unfortunately, the niece promptly ignores the advice. After a particularly careless “romp,” she breaks her leg clean off, scaring her younger brother, who finds the “limb all wet and gory.” This story is enough to put an end to any child’s excessive romping.

From the horror-ridden cautionary tales by Heinrich Hoffmann, comes “The Cry-Baby,” which warns what will happen if you cry too much for no reason. In the story, a mother tells her tear-heavy child, “Oh, why are you always so bitterly crying? / You surely will make yourself blind.” Despite the warning, her daughter continues to bawl, which causes her to lose her eyesight in a horrific manner. “And now from their sockets her eyeballs are falling; / See, there they are down on the ground.” Talk about crying your eyes out!

The Hilaire Belloc poem “Matilda, Who Told Lies, and Was Burned to Death” is a sort of boy-cries-wolf story with a fiery ending. Matilda is a young girl who constantly lies. She calls the fire department with fake reports, and when they show up and spray down the whole house, Matilda’s aunt has to pay for them to leave. That is, until Matilda’s home is actually on fire, and no one will come to save her as she shouts out the window. “They only answered ‘Little Liar’! / And therefore when her Aunt returned, / Matilda, and the House, were Burned.”

For many people, Christmas brings to mind images of happy elves, bright lights, and a jolly Santa Claus delivering presents to good children. But what about all of the kids who landed on the naughty list? According to Britannica, a demon-goat-like creature called Krampus, who is known as the “devilish companion of St. Nicholas,” or in Norse mythology as “the son of Hel, the Norse god of the underworld,” would stuff naughty kids into his sack and drag them to a fiery fate. The story serves as a warning to kids that Santa isn’t the only one checking his list to see who was naughty or nice.

The story “Sun, Moon, and Talia” was the inspiration for the 1959 Disney film Sleeping Beauty</em>; however, the original story was way darker than the animated classic. In the older tale, while Talia was under an evil spell that put her in a deep sleep, she was assaulted and impregnated by the king. Once the queen found out about the infidelity, she had the babies stolen and “told the cook to kill them, and to make them into several tasteful dishes for her wretched husband.” We can see why this part was left out of the film!