Supernatural Fairy Tales (7 page)

Dickens, Charles.
A Christmas Carol.
United Kingdom: 1843 .

Carroll, Lewis.
Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland.
United Kingdom: 1865.

About the Author

The inspirations for Dorlana books and short stories are classic fairy tales, the supernatural, the roaring 20s, and ancient Egypt.
All of her eBooks are .99 cents!

Young Adult Supernatural Fairy Tales by Dorlana Vann

Silverweed: a supernatural fairy tale
: a
Little Red Riding Hood
inspired YA werewolf novel.

The Princes of Tangleforest
: Inspired by the classic fairy tale
Rapunzel
and sprinkled with the question: What if the school’s misfits discovered a way to use mind control in order to become the popular group?

Supernatural Mysteries by Dorlana Vann

Jaclyn's Ghost
: Ghost, Mystery, and Fashion. Can this diva solve her own murder, or will she be stuck in limbo forever?

Passage to Mesentia:
The assassination of her archeologist parents thrusts Lillian Steward from her comfortable life into a dangerous quest for an ancient Egyptian artifact.

Visit Dorlana’s website:
http://www.dorlanavann.com
for more information.

About the Cover

A big THANK YOU to the creative team of Liz Shipe & Perry Heideman of
Reconstructing Grimm
for the cover image. Art director, Liz Shipe, and photographer, Perry Heideman, along with many volunteers, recreate fairy tale scenes in urban settings. They do amazing work and have produced scenes from
Snow White
,
Peter Pan
,
Little Red Riding Hood
,
Wizard of Oz
, and more.

What Are Supernatural Fairy Tales?

When I first started my blog
Supernatural Fairy Tales
, about 5 years ago, I used it as a means of inspiration. I challenged myself at the beginning of the month by having to pick a classic fairy tale and a supernatural element, and I had until the end of the month to write a short story (sometimes a poem) and then post it to the blog. (Except for
His Soul Inspiration
which was written for and published in
Enchanted Conversation
.)  My basic formula: fairy tale + paranormal element = supernatural fairy tale.

Recently, I’ve changed directions and have been more focused on novels, so I pulled these short stories from the blog and organized them. I realized that over the years I had written 23 short stories. I’m happy with most of them, but then there were a few that went into the “outdated” or “yikes” pile. What was left easily fell into two categories: light and dark. And from those two groups, I realized most of my favorites were in the darker pile.

I ended up with 9 stories that I’ve included in this anthology,
Supernatural Fairy Tales
. These short stories are not retellings of the original tales but were inspired by them. They are paranormal themed stories about vampires, ghosts, mermaids, witches, and more, in genres ranging from romance to thriller. And fair warning: they don’t always have a happy ending.

Below are all the titles with the story inspirations and the reason I picked them for the anthology. 

If You Feed a Wolf
– Inspired by
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
This is one of my favorites because it was experimental. I just let myself be free to write without a real plan. As far as what I took from the original story: it reminded me of how I feel in dreams - so some of the things that happen in this story are taken from my actual dream journal.

The Vampire’s New Suit
– Inspired by
The Emperor’s New Clothes.
I just like this one because it's fun.

Blueberry Eyes
– One of my very first supernatural fairy tales. I'm not going to say which fairy tale this one was inspired by because it would give away the ending.

The Gift
– Inspired by
The Ghost of Christmas Past
from "A Christmas Carol." This one was one of my favorites because I wrote the entire story backwards - line by line - It was my daughter's idea to write it that way because I was stuck. I also like it because it is my first and only western - and it has a touch of steampunk and ghosts.

If it weren’t for Bad Luck
– Inspired by
Rumpelstilzchen.
You see, I have this theory about luck...

Muse
 – (Also published in
The Inferno
under the title
What You Know
.) Inspired by
Prince Ariel
from, "The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy." I had to do a lot of research on birds for this one. One of my darker pieces.

His Soul Inspiration
 – (Originally published in
Enchanted Conversation
) Inspired by
The Little Mermaid,
this is my last supernatural fairy tale short... to date.

Quiet on the Nightingale
–
 
(Also published in
AllRomance eBooks
Newsletter) Inspired by
Jorinda and Joringel.
  A little sexy but mostly fun.

Forbidden Beach
– (Also published in
Silverthorn Press
) Inspired by
Thumbelina,
 this short story is probably the truest to the fantasy genre of my stories and also the creepiest.  

A four chapter Excerpt from Dorlana’s newest YA Supernatural Fairy Tale:

The Princes of Tangleforest

(Rapunzel + Mind Control =
The Princes of Tangleforest)

Chapter 1

Although the girly-girl-filled lunch table buzzed with excitement over the cute new guy with the mess of blond waves, Julia Webster tried to ignore him. Even if she hadn’t watched Tanner Dobbs ride up on his skateboard this morning, she would’ve guessed he was a skater—graphic tee, baggy shorts, Vans. Plus, it was easy to conclude, after watching him walk into third period with a confident stride and nonchalant attitude, he believed he was cool. And the one thing she knew for sure: his type never liked her type.

One of the girls at her table said, “He’s coming this way.”

Julia wasn’t surprised that, out of the entire cafeteria, he migrated toward her table. Tanner had been through half of his first day, so he must have noticed the strangeness of Tangleforest Senior High. She figured the colorfulness of the students at her table gave him a sense of adolescent normality when nothing else in the school even came close to the norm.

After a loud group-gasp from the girls at her table, her head automatically jolted up and found the source. The Princes stood between Tanner and the safety of their table. Didn’t take them long, she thought.

No matter how much the Princes had changed the other students, they remained the same. First in command was Zachary Davis: Julia’s ex and the son of Dr. Davis, Tangleforest’s own celebrity psychiatrist. Zachary was wealthy, tall, slender, and his nerd roots ran deep: smart, sci-fi loving, black glasses, and a goofiness that couldn’t be suppressed, no matter how popular he became. And the only reason he no longer sported a cowlick was because before they had broken up, Julia had convinced him to let her cut his hair super short. 

Next to Zachary sat Julia’s former best friend, Darla. Darla wore her hair in pigtails, which bugged Julia to no end.
Pigtails!
She was shorter than Julia, skinny-skinny, and was now the most pursued girl in school. However, Darla only had pitiful eyes for Zachary.

And then there were the Pittman twins:  Scrawny Johnny—red straggly hair, and Big Sean—brown flat top. Up to that year, they had spent their school career being shoved into lockers and underwearless, just in case of a wedgy attack.

Julia watched as Zachary tried to touch the new guy’s arm, but he jerked away, giving Zachary a, “What the hell?” glare.  Probably either sensing something off, or more likely, he had a predetermined opinion of nerds and didn’t want to be associated with them on his first day.

Julia took a bite of her salad and felt Tanner’s arm brush against hers as he sat down right beside her. The entire table went on immediate ignore; a rule they had all accepted in order to keep from being too disappointed. They knew, sooner or later, the Princes would have their “little talk” with Tanner, and he would then look down his nose at them, like they were at the bottom of the food chain. As Julia imagined the outcome, Tanner didn’t turn out like one of the nerd Princes at all. Instead, as she thought about him walking into the lunchroom in slow motion, he actually looked pretty hot, dressed in a black suit with his hair slicked back, dark shades and a cool swagger.  

“Why do you have that goofy look on your face?” Julia’s new “best friend” Ashley asked. Ashley, the girl whose face had the word “bitch” printed across it in all of Julia’s yearbooks.

“Oh,” she said. “Nothing. Just thinking about my next hair design.”

“Hair, hair…
hair.
I’ve never seen anybody so obsessed with hair. I mean... I am, but that’s different. I’m obsessed because mine is so fabulous. You actually want to touch
other people’s
gross, nasty hair.”

“Um… Ashley, you’re in cosmetology classes, too.”

“Yeah.” She rolled her eyes in disgust. “But I’m not actually going to get a J.O.B. cutting hair.”

“I’ll bite. What are you going to do?”

 “I’m going to college.”

“All right. And major in…?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll be getting my M.R.S., and then my attorney husband can do all the working, and I’ll do all the shopping.”

“Maybe I
should
send you over to the Princes’ table.”

Ashley flipped her hair. “I don’t see why my career goals have to be like everyone else’s.”

Julia never considered being a wife as a career, but she knew she wouldn’t want Ashley doing her taxes or her therapy. “Touché.” Julia sighed.

“Too what?” Ashley asked.

“Never mind.” Julia shook her head. “All right.  The only problem I see with your plan is that you have to make the grades to get into college and then law school. Right now, you might
qualify for community college.”

“Whatever,” Ashley said, “because
right now
I would settle for any place where those so-called
Princes
won’t be. Once I get out of Nerdville, I’ll be popular again.” She smiled and gleamed up at the ceiling. “The girls will resume their places as my shadows, and all the boys will want to date me again because I’m me and not because…” She glanced at the new guy and then back to Julia. “Well… you know why. I still can’t believe any of this has happened. You don’t understand. You’re
used
to not getting any attention. It’s so bizarre-o not having boys…” She turned her attention fully on the guy sitting next to Julia. “Hi.” She smiled showing her orthodontist’s daughter’s teeth. “What’s your name? Where did you move from?”

“Ashley!”

“What, Julia? Sorry, but come on… he’s dreamy.”

“Tanner Dobbs,” he answered. “I’m from Dallas.”

“City boy… I like that.”

The fact that Ashley had broken the table silence rule didn’t surprise or really bother Julia because the idea of being able to talk to someone about something other than clothes and boy bands was appealing. However, what did bother her was the fact that Tanner had probably already come to the false conclusion that she was cool. And even if, by some miracle, the Princes decided to leave him alone, she knew Tanner would soon discover that her make-up and black clothes hid more nerd than ninety percent of the school population, and that would be the end of that. Besides, she didn’t need the aggravation or another rejection. Therefore, the best thing for her to do was to not even try.

Chapter 2

Tanner had attended a lot of different schools; they all had one thing in common—clearly defined groups in the lunchroom. Not this school. The girl sitting next to him dressed punkish, and another girl at the table looked Goth, and there were the cheerleaders.  Ashley, the girl who had asked him the questions, reminded him of the chicks at his other schools who had been part of the so-called “popular crowds.” Also strange, it seemed as though all the students, except for this
one
table, had a similar appearance and attitude: studious.