The Lost Tale of the 12 Corpse Brides

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Fairytale… or HORROR STORY?

No bride is safe. The amount of death in this sick (and dirty) tale is DOUBLE that of the infamously murderous Bluebeard, and it keeps on happening in the strangest way. It will make you question whether “happily ever after” is really what the characters deserve, or if they actually deserve to be haunted forevermore. This old, but newly rediscovered fairy tale is dark, full of death and dirty dirty deeds, with many many enchanting beings. There’s more missing women than in Bluebeard’s murder lab, for sure. So, follow me if you dare into this slippery, saucy, and disturbing tale.

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Editing: Kristen 🔮

This twisted fairy tale, "The 12 Brides" is from "The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales" by Franz Xaver von Schönwerth

#darkfairytale #animation #creepystories #creepy #grimmsfairytales #onceuponatime

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[steel]

Fun fact: "Wealthy Widow" was one of the single worst demographics to be a part of in the middle ages. Because greedy or horny noble men didn't need permission from anyone to marry a widdow, not even her's, and once married all of her property became his even if she had a son already. There's stories of literal medieval mad-max style races to be the first knight to drag widows kicking and screaming to the nearest bribed priest.

[MarxistMomentum]

I wish there were a Tim Burton stop motion movie about this fairytale in the same style as Corpse Bride.

[brainflash]

Are we sure none of the mermaids got knocked up? The widow might have plenty of grandkids already. Are there any tales of offspring betwixt man and mer? They have to reproduce somehow.

[uafgames]

Honestly, the mermaids killing the brides for this one dude makes me feel as though they deserve the banishment. You can share with your sisters, but you can't share with one more woman? C'mon!!!

[JL-ztdn]

Sounds like the mother was the one getting rid of the previous brides bodies since the son wasn't in his right mind to even question the fact he had a new bride every time or about their whereabouts, the mermaids must've had a sirenlike hold on him since he didn't even bother asking why his lover was changing every time during those 12 years.
The mother probably believed her son was the one killing each bride since in her eyes he didn't like them, and her obsession with wanting grandkids pushed her to keep sending for new brides until her son finally found one he liked, so the mother was sending each bride to their death with the small possibility one would be chosen by her son, but the last bride was the one break this cycle in the end... She should still be wary of her new mother-in-law though.

[MysticSparkleWings]

This could actually work as a prequel to [a version] of the "Twelve Dancing Princesses." Though they wouldn't technically be princesses since their father wouldn't be a king...unless they make the lake island their own micro-kingdom?

Still, the nature of the 12 daughters could work as _either_ each one is the daughter of one of the twelve mermaids, _or_ all twelve belong to the new bride, with 11 being the reincarnated previous brides that were killed and one that is entirely the new bride's, maybe the youngest. OR do a mixture—11 mermaid daughters, the 12th daughter is from the new human bride, and perhaps the 12th mermaid that was supposed to take the new bride's place is the one that sets them all off on the nights of dancing because she's bitter she didn't get her turn.

[persephonethebookdragon]

A Messed Up Story For You: The Lindworm

This Fairytale involves a cursed prince, Bride Deaths, AND our main character whipping the bad guy into shape, literally!! :3

[PanthorPapa]

I wonder if the women possibly always had their faces covered and it was supposed to stay covered until after their wedding night or something. Like with a veil or something else, the mermaid is described as beautiful but it could have nothing to do with her face, instead meaning her fancy sheer clothes and nude body.

[DoubleKay]

Please talk about the story of “Bluebeard” and the stories that inspired “Corpse Bride”. I have heard Jon Solo’s take on them, but it would be cool to hear yours.

[flaetsbnort]

I imagine that the witch was like "FINALLY someone comes to me, I've been warning about the lake's mermaid problem for over TEN YEARS"

[themagicconch.]

I don’t understand how this was told to children 😅 I’m a grown up and I’ve got all the lights on

[CharlotteXMoon]

Maybe you should write a book on the dead brides coming back for revenge because that would be something to read indeed

[anthonymarziano]

I think you way you narrate the stories is so relaxing, and fun

[laynemartin]

The girl with the green ribbon has always stuck with me. The struggle between curiosity and trust

[cramerfloro]

I found this story on Zeno, among Schönwerths „Tales from the Upper Palatinate“ (Sagen aus der Oberpfalz), in the tenth book, on water and waterspirits.
In the introduction to this chapter, Schönwerth explains the difference between fish- or snake-tailed mermaids (which are locally known as Mirfral), who eat people and are thought to come from italian influence, and waterwomen or nixies (Wasserfral), who have a fully human body, and are more similar to elves or fairies. In the tale of the twelve brides, the creatures in the lake are called waterwomen.
In most parts of Germany actually there are slightly more legends on the human-like waterwomen and nixies than the fish-tailed mermaids

[cu_ri_o]

I don't know, man. Blue Beard is still worse. He actively killed those poor women, the guy in this Story was just clueless af 🤷🏻‍♀️

[lupindraco]

Either way the mom is the villain for not just moving back to the main land or just hire people to keep her company.

[BasicallyBaconSandvichIV]

I like this one, a sweet little fairy tale, hardly scary at all. Not great for the brides, sure. But I can see this being told to children even now. I think that even young me wouldn't be scared, and I got scared and deeply upset by Pixar movies and educational programs! And that is even with your creepy atmosphere by the way.

[alexiaivan]

This reminds me of a myth from my country, the myth of the flyer, which appears in the poem ‘The Evening Star’, by Mihai Eminescu. It is quite tragic, but nonetheless interesting.