Once Upon A Lie Podcast: AFTRS Students Reimagine Dark Fairy Tales
Fairy tales have always begun the same way: Once upon a time… But this time, the story starts with a lie.
A new five-part podcast titled Once Upon A Lie, created by emerging audio storytellers from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), dares to unravel the comfortingly familiar childhood stories we all grew up with — and expose the haunting truths underneath.
Bringing together modern audio craft, rich character voices, historical research, and cinematic soundscapes, the series asks a question we rarely consider:
What if fairy tales were never meant to be sweet at all?
A New Generation Reinvents the Oldest Stories in the World
Fairy tales often sparkle with magic, childhood nostalgia, and glittering princess dreams. But before Disney gave them sugary coats and sparkling gowns, these stories lived in a much darker world — one filled with violence, sacrifice, fear, hunger, and moral chaos.
Once Upon A Lie is more than a podcast — it’s a scholarly yet deeply creative dive into grim folklore origins.
Exploring the Forgotten Shadows of Fairy Tales
Across its five immersive episodes, the series explores the legends behind:
Cinderella – originally a tale of blood, betrayal, and brutal justice
Hansel and Gretel – starvation, abandonment, and child survival in famine-ridden Europe
Sleeping Beauty – from beauty and magic to grim themes of power, fate, and bodily autonomy
Little Red Riding Hood – a warning tale steeped in fears of predatory danger
Beauty and the Beast – ancient myths of arranged marriage, captivity, and transformation
Each episode invites listeners to peel back the storybook layers and rediscover what these tales were trying to tell us before animation softened their edges.
Talented Voices Behind the Magic
The project is helmed by AFTRS Graduate Diploma students from the Radio and Podcasting program, under the guidance of industry professionals.
The Hosts & Narrator
Annabelle Moore – host, guide, and modern-day myth explorer
Mark Williamson – co-host and narrative co-investigator
Kelly Monisse – narrator whose performance brings ancient magic and menace to life
Their voices weave history, psychology, and drama — transporting listeners between the past and present.
A Podcast With Theatre-Level Sound Design
What truly elevates Once Upon A Lie is its immersive audio universe — shadows flicker, forests creak, fire crackles, whispers linger, and enchanted worlds breathe around you.
The team embraces layered soundscapes, inspired by cinema, theatre, and narrative audio drama. The result? A listening experience that feels like a live theatre performance inside your headphones.
Sound designer Chris Marsh, one of the industry mentors on the project, praised the bold sound approach:
“Fairy tales offer a playground for sound — and these students dove in with courage and imagination.”
Guided by Experts in Storytelling & Folklore
Featuring Special Guest: Jo Henwood
The podcast features insights from Jo Henwood, co-founder of The Australian Fairy Tale Society. She unpacks folklore roots, historical retellings, and the evolution of stories across cultures and centuries.
Fairy tales aren’t just whimsical children’s stories — they’re cultural artifacts that helped societies survive fear, teach lessons, and reinforce morality.
Mentorship From Real-World Audio Leaders
The project was supported by leading audio and storytelling professionals, including:
Jen Goggin (AFTRS Lecturer)
Lindsey Green (LiSTNR)
Chris Marsh (Sound Designer)
Their expertise shaped the students’ understanding of:
Narrative pacing
Character development
Professional voice direction
Cinematic sound layering
Studio-level podcast production
Goggin praised the series’ quality and innovation:
“Once Upon A Lie satisfied my curiosity and gave me the best kind of escapism — it made ancient stories feel thrilling and alive again.”
Why Fairy Tales Matter — Now More Than Ever
We live in a world of myth-making and image-crafting — fairy tales have simply evolved into viral videos, social media illusions, and cultural fantasies.
This podcast taps into the timeless human instinct behind stories:
To teach
To warn
To comfort
To intrigue
To reflect society back at us
Just as ancient storytellers gathered people around firelight, podcasts bring us together around digital campfires.
The AFTRS team uses folklore as a mirror to explore:
Childhood innocence vs adult realities
The psychology of fear, morality, and cultural control
The universal struggle between dreams and danger
Female agency and patriarchal myth structures
Transformations — physical, emotional, mythical
Through this series, fairy tales become living socio-historical documents.
A Modern Podcast With Ancient Roots
Fairy tales originally travelled by word-of-mouth, carried by families, communities, and travellers. Once Upon A Lie continues this oral storytelling tradition — using modern technology to echo stories across the world.
This blend of:
traditional narrative
creative performance
academic research
digital audio production
turns the podcast into a bridge between centuries.
Episode Themes Breakdown (In-Depth)
Below is a detailed look at how each iconic fairy tale is reimagined:
✅ Cinderella — Rise Through Ashes, Not Magic
Instead of pumpkin carriages and cute mice, the original tale features:
Betrayal and sibling brutality
Supernatural revenge
Foot mutilation in early European retellings
Themes of class, suffering, and resilience
Listeners explore how modern society still hides suffering with glamour — and how Cinderella endures as a symbol of transformation through hardship.
✅ Hansel & Gretel — Childhood vs Survival
Beneath the candy-coated house is a story about:
Starvation and famine in medieval Europe
Parental desperation
Child abandonment
The psychological terror of hunger
This episode draws parallels to modern poverty, food insecurity, and the instinct to survive against cruel odds.
✅ Sleeping Beauty — Beauty, Danger & Power
Instead of simply a “true love’s kiss,” early versions wrestle with:
Fate and prophecy
Powerlessness
Bodily autonomy
The role of women in patriarchal societies
This retelling asks: Who controls women’s stories — and who wakes them?
✅ Little Red Riding Hood — Innocence in the Woods
Historically a warning tale about:
Predators disguised as protectors
Female vulnerability and safety
The danger of the unfamiliar
It also explores modern themes of grooming, trust, and boundaries.
✅ Beauty and the Beast — Love or Captivity?
Once rooted in ancient myths of:
Arranged marriage
Fear of partnership with strangers
Emotional transformation through connection
This episode compares mythic romance to modern relationship expectations and power dynamics.
Why This Podcast Stands Out in 2025
In a world overloaded with audio content, Once Upon A Lie rises because it is:
Academically researched
Performatively bold
Technically polished
Emotionally immersive
Thematically powerful
It is proof that new creators can innovate inside ancient storytelling traditions.
And it showcases AFTRS as a powerhouse for next-generation audio talent.
Where to Listen
The series is now streaming on all major podcast platforms:
Spotify
Acast
Amazon Music
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
And more
Conclusion: The Magic We Thought We Knew
Stories shape us. They teach us who we are meant to be — and who we fear becoming.
Once Upon A Lie doesn’t destroy fairy tales — it returns them to their raw, emotional, human truth, reminding us that magic often emerges from darkness.
It is a podcast for:
folklore lovers
audio drama fans
cultural history enthusiasts
mythologists
podcast listeners looking for depth and artistry
and anyone fascinated by the darker corners of imagination
And in the end, it gives us a new message:
Fairy tales were never lies — we just forgot how to hear them.
