Comparing Hanseldee And Greteldum, By Thomas C. Foster

In the eighth chapter “Hanseldee and Greteldum” of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, it is explained how writers incorporate literature targeted to kids due to the fact that they are widely known and recognized. Foster describes it as kiddie lit, and explains that the story “Hansel and Gretel” has more drawing power than any other. Foster’s observation proves to be true; he points out two examples that take from the story of the two lost children, but that neither work explicitly states that it is based upon Hansel and Gretel themselves. This is additionally apparent in the 1984 supernatural horror film Children of the Corn, which is an adaptation from Stephen King’s short story “Children of the Corn.” Burt and Vicky, a couple, are passing through Nebraska while

Burt and Vicky stumble upon a service station where they ask an older man for help, but they are refused. The couple leave and eventually find a diner only to realize it was long ago abandoned. They set out yet again to find help, but encounter Sarah, a young girl hiding from two child cultists who have taken over the town. Vicky stays with Sarah while Burt goes into town looking for help but he has no luck. Vicky is then attacked by the cultist children and is taken to a clearing where she is raised onto a cross and prepared for sacrifice. Still looking for help, Burt enters a church and he is introduced to the idea of He Who Walks Behind the Rows, the children’s idea of an Abrahamic God that their cult is loyal to. After explaining the cult’s mission of sacrificing all adults, one of the children attack Burt. It is at this part that this film most depicts the story of “Hansel and Gretel.” Burt and Vicky set out, much like Hansel and Gretel themselves. But where Hansel and Gretel find a gingerbread house, Burt and Vicky find a murdered boy and a ghost town ran by children