Hans Christian Andersen’s stories are among the most popular in children’s literature. The little MermaidThe Ugly Duckling and The Little Match Girl are some of the most popular. If you have reread the storybooks of your childhood when you have reached adulthood, you will have realized that many of them contain really dark moments. In childhood we listened to these stories attentively, with the certainty that they were stories and these were not real. Innocence protected us and yet, images like Tom Thumb and his brothers abandoned by him in the forest or poor Cinderella mistreated by his stepmother have been burned into our subconscious.
Despite those terrifying scenes, the stories generally ended well and we all enjoyed them. Our parents and teachers spared us the most terrible stories, however many of the writers of children’s stories left writings that are truly scary. Join us to learn some stories by Hans Christian Andersen that will terrify you.
Hans Christian Andersen and his profile as a writer
In this selection of stories by Hans Christian Andersen that are truly terrifying, we have chosen four: The last day, story of a mother, Elf Hill and The Traveling Companion. But, first of all, let’s get to know something about the life of this author and perhaps with this we will understand why some of his stories are so dark.
Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish poet and writer, was born in 1802 and died in 1875. His childhood was spent in the midst of great poverty and on occasions he even had to live under a bridge.. He attended a school for poor children and at the age of 14 began working as an apprentice. At that time, disease and poverty took their toll on society and, years later, he wrote the story “The Little Match Girl” with his mother in mind. He quit his job and went to Copenhagen to succeed as an opera singer, but only received ridicule, so he enrolled in dance school.
One of the Hans Christian Andersen quotes that best reveals his personality, is “Each day of our life teaches us something new.” The stories of Hans Christian Andersen began to see the light thanks to the fact that King Frederick VI took an interest in him and paid for his studies until 1827, when he returned to Copenhagen and began to publish his writings. Despite soon becoming known as a writer and even getting a royal appointment, he did not achieve the fame as a playwright that he craved. He fell in love with several women and also with men, but it was not reciprocated. In 1875, already an old man, he fell from his own bed and was badly injured. He did not recover and died on August 4 of that same year.
The 5 scariest Hans Christian Andersen tales
1. The last day
We begin our journey through the most terrifying Hans Christian Andersen tales with The Last Day. In it, Hans Cristian Andersen begins his narration with the following sentence: «Of all the days of our life, the holiest is the one in which we die;…»
He then asks us to reflect on that moment, on the last hour of our earthly existence. It narrates the death of a man, how death collects his soul and the terrifying journey, with a spiritual transformation included, which he travels until he reaches heaven. The descriptions of what awaits us after death are terrifying and not at all suitable for children.
2. The ugly duckling
This is a must-have among the terrifying and sad Hans Christian Andersen tales. The author of The Ugly Duckling reveals in this story a personal experience. The protagonist is a duckling who is rejected by everyone in his family, for being “ugly”, different from the rest. The poor man lives in sadness, even thinking about suicide as the best way to end his sorrows. But one fine day he meets a group of swans. He thinks they will reject him too, but he is so sad instead that he ventures out to follow them. To his surprise, he discovers that it was not a common duck, but a baby swan.
3. Story of a mother
The next of the terrifying Hans Christian Andersen tales is The Story of a Mother. It narrates precisely the moment in which A mother is watching over her sick child when death comes, taking the form of an old man, and snatches her child from her. The woman goes out to chase death, pays her tribute to the night and it shows her the way. A lake stays with her eyes, brimming with tears, as compensation for telling him where the greenhouse of the grim reaper is.
There, among millions of plants, she discovers the one that beats with her baby’s heart, but at that moment death arrives. Finally the mother yields to divine designs and lets death take her son. A very sad story, which hides a teaching that fits the way of seeing life in the century in which it was written.
4. Elf Hill
Another of Hans Christian Andersen’s stories is The Hill of the Elves. The narrative explains the preparations for the betrothal of the daughters of the king of the Elves with two norse elves sons of the Elf of Dovre. The boys are rude and very different from their father. The most astonishing and terrifying part of the story are the descriptions of the palace decoration and the delicacies that are going to be served: “…the walls, rubbed with witch’s grease, so that they shined like tulip leaves.” «…on the spit, a great abundance of frogs, snail skins stuffed with children’s fingers…» A terrifying tale that is worth discovering.
5. The travel companion
Juan’s father dies, leaving him alone. He takes the money from his inheritance and goes to see the world. In a church he finds some men about to desecrate the coffin of a deceased. He owed them money and since they can’t collect, they have decided to take revenge. Juan gives them his inheritance in exchange for leaving the corpse alone. As he leaves the church, a leprechaun decides to accompany him on his journey. They come to a place where an evil princess lives who kills all her suitors. But he has dreamed of her and decides to try to win her over by guessing her thoughts.
The description of the place where the princess lives with the remains of the suitors she has murdered is terrifying. The princess had been bewitched by an evil wizard who had turned her into a witch. Fortunately, the story ends well for Juan and the princess, and their good deed at the beginning of the story is rewarded.
stories to read
There are many stories by Hans Christian Andersen that are really ideal for reading to children. They all contain a lesson and, although sometimes in some of them it is more appropriate for the way of seeing life in the 19th century than the current one, in others it is fully valid. In Supercurioso we have seen the origin of some of Hans Christian Andersen’s stories. We recommend you read the article in which we tell you about The Nightingale, which has to do with Andersen’s own life and perhaps you will be interested in knowing it.
What are your favorite Andersen stories? Among the stories to read to children, which one would you recommend? If you like to know the true stories hidden in the stories, to read these stories with knowledge of the facts, you may also be interested in reading about the story of Christopher Robin, the protagonist behind Winnie the Pooh. We are in a next super curious article!