Fairy-Tale Files, published once weekly, feature three variations of a fairy tale chosen by one of Fairy Tale Review’s editors.

In “The Stinky Cheese Man,” one story in a collection of “fairly stupid tales” from Jon Scieszka, the title character is afraid to be around anyone else because he thinks they will want to eat him (as in the Gingerbread Man), but in reality, everyone is just trying to get away from his horrid smell. 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet The Nutcracker features a more traditional gingerbread man, albeit an army of them, meant to fight against the Mouse King and his henchmen.

The city of Smithville, Texas broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest gingerbread man: he weighed in at 1,308 pounds and stood more than 20 feet tall. 750 pounds of flour, 49 gallons of molasses, and 72 dozen eggs were used in his creation. 

This edition of Fairy-Tale Files is brought to you by Fairy Tale Review Prose Editor Joel Hans.