Wihelm Busch stories are the only ones that I remember really scaring me. They were cruel as hell. Heads cut off with scissors, a nose twisted off, kids thrown into the mill (Max und Moritz, well that was presented in a light-hearted way compared to many others), various limbs removed, cursed to live under water by / with a cruel and ugly (male) mermaid-type thing https://www.zootier-lexikon.org/images/Amphibienprogramm/Leh... , etc...