Bookish Thursday - The Witche's Apprentice Prompt Response

I have been doing book reviews for a while now for WOW-Women on Writing. Recently they have added a bit of a twist to the reviews by offering a chance to answer a prompt based on the books. They still offer a chance for a guest post by the author too. 

So today's offering is a response to the prompt 'Why fairy tales still resonate with readers today'?

I can't speak for everyone, but for me, I love fairy tales. I love reading, listening to, or watching remakes of fairy tales. Disney has made billions off them, after all. But why?

For one thing, they strike a chord inside. While the setting may be a creepy castle, a haunted forest, or a modern day city, the premise of the story we can relate to. We know how that situation feels or at least have a close idea of how we would feel or handle the events. We can identify with certain characters in the story. Or in some cases, we know people in real life who fit the bill of the villain. 

Most of all I think the reason is because we KNOW the story. It's familiar. It's comfortable. We know how it is going to end. Regardless of how the setting and time period may be changed, we can still recognize the original story. 

For me it is 'Beauty and the Beast'. I will actually go out of my way to read a retelling of the story. From the moment I read the story in my 'Best in Children's Books' in the early 60's, I was in love with the tale. And the reason I enjoy reading them is because I know the story, I like the fact that underneath the 'beast' is someone worth loving. 

But for me, I think the thing I like most is seeing how the author may or may not throw in any twists to the base story. Can I still recognize the base story and have they made some interesting changes to the story? 

Yeah...

Give me some Beast any day!