As a dark retelling of the fairy tale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” House of Salt and Sorrows follows the original story’s premise but includes horror elements—such as ghosts and deals with supernatural beings. In a retelling, the basis for the story comes from another story, with the author’s own twists. Erin A. Craig adapts the premise of 12 daughters secretly dancing each night into a fantasy murder mystery. Craig creates an ominous tone through characters like Viscardi (who initially presents as a dragon man) and Kosamaras (the Weeping Woman who cries black tears) and vivid nightmares and illusions (which are believed to be effects of the Thaumas family’s curse). She subverts scenes from the original story such as the discovery of a magical door (which, in the novel, is found in a Grotto, which later turns out to be an illusion), the magical balls themselves (which are also revealed to be illusions), a king’s proposal of marriage as a reward for solving a shoe-related mystery (which Ortun, a duke, proposes and his daughters refuse), and a happy ending (which comes at the price of several deaths and Cassius’s temporary demise).

The Thaumas family is rumored to be cursed due to their history of tragedies.