Whether on top of the Christmas tree, at the bottom of the garden, or in school plays, today fairies are considered sweet, dainty creatures with wands and butterfly wings. But, as Diane Purkiss shows, they have far more wicked origins as troublemakers, child snatchers, seducers, and changelings, representing society's deepest fears and desires regarding birth, sex, and death. From these dangerous beings of ancient myths and medieval folklore to the sanitized "wingy thingies" of Shakespeare and the Victorians, and even modern myths of alien abduction, this is a riveting chronicle of the need to believe in fairies.