The Popular Story of Blue Beard

by Charles Perrault

"The Popular Story of Blue Beard" by Charles Perrault is a French folktale first published in 1697. The story follows a wealthy nobleman with a dark secret: his previous wives have all mysteriously vanished. When his new bride discovers a forbidden underground chamber filled with horrifying evidence of his crimes, she must find a way to escape his murderous wrath. This notorious tale has become so influential that "Bluebeard" itself entered the dictionary as a term for a serial wife-killer.