Fairytales in their original form tend to be gruesome, and Bluebeard - the inspiration for the upcoming August round of Enchantment - is more gruesome than most.
A young woman marries an infamous local aristocrat, possessed of and named for his blue beard. Soon after the marriage, Bluebeard tells his wife (unnamed in the story) that he must travel for business, and will be gone some weeks. He hands her to keys to every room in his castle, telling her she may access all the rooms except one, on pain of his anger and punishment.
Inevitably, the young wife breaks his interdict, and makes her way to the secret chamber discovering its horrific secret; Bluebeard has murdered his previous wives and hung their remains from hooks on the wall. She drops the key into a pool of blood, and try as she might, she cannot remove the bloodstain from the magical key.
Bluebeard then returns unexpectedly early, but the young woman is rescued by her brothers in the nick of time.
