Stephen King’s New Book Is Incredibly Unexpected

And for his next trick, iconic author Stephen King is channeling the work of a few fellow legends. He’s set to release a new spin on the iconic Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, with artwork by none other than the late great Maurice Sendak.

Sendak, best known for his award-winning book Where the Wild Things Are, passed away in 2012. Several years earlier though, he was tasked to create sets and costumes for a Hansel and Gretel opera. It’s those images that King was presented with, and given a chance to use as the basis for his story.

“When I was asked if I might be interested in writing a new interpretation of Hansel and Gretel, bending it to fit (loosely) with set and costume designs Maurice Sendak had created for the Humperdinck opera of the story, I was interested,” King said in a press release. “When I saw the pictures themselves, I resolved to give it a try. Two of his pictures in particular spoke to me: One was of the wicked witch on her broom with a bag of kidnapped children riding behind her; the other was of the infamous candy house becoming a terrible face. I thought, ‘This is what the house really looks like, a devil sick with sin, and it only shows that face when the kids turn their backs.’ I wanted to write that! To me, it was the essence of this story and, really, all fairy tales: a sunny exterior, a dark and terrible center, brave and resourceful children. In a way, I have been writing about kids like Hansel and Gretel for much of my life.”

You see one of the images above and here’s the other, along with the cover.

“Hansel and Gretel is the most profound of all Grimm fairy tales,” Sendak said in a 1997 interview. “Generally speaking, most of Grimm is about heroic children. Hansel and Gretel are the most heroic of them all… It’s the toughest story in the world and people are afraid of it, yet it’s famous because it’s so truthful.”

HarperCollins Children’s Books will release the Stephen King/Maurice Sendak Hansel and Gretel on September 2.

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