Back to Show
Monstrum
The Dark Origins of Hansel and Gretel
Season 2
Episode 2
Hansel and Gretel is one of the most famous fairy tales of the Western world, and contains one of the most notorious witches. In this episode you’ll learn about witch trials in Germany, the role famine and poverty play in creating monsters, and how the Grimm brothers evolved oral folklore into legendary tales. The real story of Hansel and Gretel is even more scary than you think.
Support Provided By
9:01
Let's look at how mascot horror twists cheerful childhood icons into unsettling threats.
9:07
Why is Korea’s most famous monster, Dokkaebi, really not scary?
9:11
Bats have long been symbols of death and darkness. But why?
10:27
How did Van Helsing go from academic in Dracula to action hero icon?
14:27
Was the 1952 Flatwoods Monster sighting an alien, a Cold War experiment, or mass hysteria?
8:36
Lore of the ghostly whale skeleton, Bake-kujira, reveals an ominous twist of the marine giants.
10:33
Let’s talk about the eerie and unsettling legend of changelings.
7:11
Rooted in Greek culture, the Christmas monster Kallikantzaros is a goblin-like creature.