This Old Story

Fables and Tales - The Little Mermaid

A young mermaid princess trades her voice and her tail for a chance to walk among humans and win the love of a prince—but the price of failure is death. In Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tale, the sea maiden's longing reaches far beyond romance into questions of sacrifice, identity, and what it means to possess an immortal soul. The story's haunting ending, in which love does not conquer all, has surprised readers for nearly two centuries.

Fables and Tales - Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves

A poor woodcutter stumbles upon a band of forty thieves and their secret cave of treasure, opened by the magic words 'Open Sesame.' But when greed and curiosity draw others into the secret, it takes the cunning and bravery of a clever servant named Morgiana to outwit the thieves and save the household from deadly revenge. This beloved tale from the Arabian Nights tradition weaves suspense, wit, and moral lessons about loyalty, cleverness, and the dangers of envy.

Myths and Epics - Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds

When the earth splits open and the god of the underworld seizes a young goddess gathering flowers, her mother's grief plunges the world into an endless winter. Persephone's abduction by Hades and the desperate search by Demeter form one of the most powerful origin myths in Greek tradition—explaining not only the turning of the seasons but the fierce, unbreakable bond between parent and child. A fateful pomegranate and a compromise among gods determine whether Persephone will ever walk in sunlight again.

Scary Stories - The Vanishing Hitchhiker

A young man driving home on a dark, rain-soaked road stops to offer a ride to a shivering girl in a white dress — but when he arrives at her destination, the back seat is empty. His search for answers leads him to a doorstep, a grieving mother, and a gravestone that changes everything he thought he knew about that night. One of the most widespread ghost stories in the world, the tale of the vanishing hitchhiker has been told across continents and centuries, always ending with the same chilling question: who — or what — was really in the car?

The Green Ribbon (Around Her Neck)

A young man named Alfred falls in love with a girl named Jenny who always wears a green ribbon around her neck and never, ever takes it off. Through childhood, courtship, marriage, and old age, Alfred begs to know why — but Jenny insists he must wait. When the answer finally comes, it is far more unsettling than anyone imagined. This classic American horror tale, popularized in Alvin Schwartz's retelling, explores the boundaries of curiosity, secrets, and the macabre promises we keep.