The fairy tale is undoubtedly the most mysterious literary genre. Mythologists and folklorists, philosophers and linguists, ethnographers and psychoanalysts tried to reveal the secret of its origin. Almost every one of them was convinced that “fairy tales are lies,” each followed a previously developed concept and, willingly or unwillingly, looked down on those who tell fairy tales, and especially on those who believe in them. In the book offered to the reader, attention is paid to the most terrible characters and the bloodiest scenes of the fairy-tale world. It is based on the scary fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm - the very ones because of which “parents did not want to give their children their collection” - as well as individual medieval legends and several fairy tales by Hauff and Hoffmann. The heroes of the book are a red-eyed witch, a toothy Mrs. Holle, an old woman with a twig, a killer of girls, Rumplestiltskin, the Sandman, a colorful flute player, forest spirits, night demons, a black princess, etc. Having abandoned the postulate about the falsity of the fairy tale, the author seeks to understand who exactly stood behind their images.