Grimm Guide

"I thought of making myself a beautiful wooden marionette. It must be wonderful, one that can dance, fence and turn somersaults." - "The Adventures of Pinocchio" - C. Collodi

"The Other Side" was very loosely inspired by the late 19th-century children's novel "The Adventures of Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi. The story features the mischievous wooden marionette Pinocchio and his father Geppetto. The work is a classic of children's literature and has taken on several forms in pop culture, namely the Disney adaptation from 1940.

"'Let me out, let me out,' the spirit cried. And the boy, thinking no evil, drew the cork out of the bottle." - The Spirit in the Bottle

"The Bottle Imp" is inspired by the Grimm Brothers tale "The Spirit in the Bottle." The story follows a poor woodcutter and the woodcutter's son. The woodcutter saves all his earnings for a long while with hopes of providing his only son with an education, which he does for a time. But soon enough, the money runs out, and the boy is forced to abandon school. He instead goes with his father into the forest to cut trees and earn money. One day, while in the forest with his father, the boy walks off by himself and hears a voice calling for help. After a while, the boy finds that the voice is coming from a bottle buried underneath a tree. In the bottle is something that looks like a frog. The creature pleads with the boy to let him out of the bottle. Obeying the creature's request, the boy draws the cork from the bottle, and out comes a spirit nearly half as tall as the tree itself. The spirit laughs and explains to the boy that he was in the bottle as punishment and that he must strangle the unfortunate soul who sets him free. The boy manages to coerce the spirit back into the bottle and quickly cork it. The spirit is furious but pleads with the boy to let him out, promising that if he does, he will be rewarded richly. After some thought, the boy decides to release the spirit. The spirit remains true to his word and provides the boy with a gift that resembles a bag. The spirit explains to the boy that the bag has the power to turn any metal into silver and to heal any wound. All he has to do is rub the metal or the afflicted area with the bag. The boy thanks the spirit and goes off on his way. He provides for his father for the rest of his life and goes on to become the most famous and wealthy doctor in all of the land.

"Whilst he thus gazed before him, he saw a snake creep out of a corner of the vault and approach the dead body."

The Three Snake-Leaves - The Brothers Grimm

"Over my Dead Body "was loosely based off The Brothers Grimm tale "The Three Snake-Leaves." In the original story a poor young man proved his extraordinary bravery in battle. The king of the land awarded him by proclaiming him the second most powerful man in the kingdom. The young man quickly became taken with the king's daughter and wished to marry her. But, the princess had long ago taken an oath that she would take no man as her husband unless he promised to let himself be buried alive with her if she was to die first. The young man agreed and the two were wed immediately. After a period of bliss the princess took ill and shortly thereafter passed away. The young man stood beside his promise and was buried along with his wife in a large tomb. The young man sat waiting for his death and noticed a snake crawling toward his wife. He took out his sword and cut it into three pieces. Soon after another snake emerged carrying three leaves in its mouth. The snake placed the three leaves over the freshly cut snake and it immediately mended the wounds and brought the snake back to life. They young man sat in amazement and then picked up the leaves and placed them over his wife's mouth and eyes and she too immediately sprung back to life. The two of them were then let out of the tomb. The townspeople rejoiced at the miracle and the young man gave to one of his servants the three leaves. It soon became clear that something had changed in the princess, for she had lost all of the love she once had for her husband. She requested a voyage with her husband and while at sea she plotted with the skipper and murdered the young man and threw his body overboard. The young man's servant witnessed it all and took a small boat, retrieved the young man's body, and put the leaves over his eyes and mouth. The young man was brought back to life and the two of them hurried back to the kingdom. There they found the king and told him of his daughter's wickedness. When she returned to the land both her and the skipper were put to death.