The Bloody Chamber was first published in 1979, though many of the stories within the collection are reprints from other sources, such as magazines, radio and other collections. Only two are completely original to this collection, though many were revised or changed slightly from their previously published versions for this collection.
The stories' various origins are listed below
- "The Bloody Chamber" made its début in The Bloody Chamber.
- "The Courtship of Mr Lyon" originally appeared in the British version of Vogue.[5] It was revised for this collection.[6]
- "The Tiger's Bride" made its début in The Bloody Chamber.
- "Puss-in-Boots" was intended for a 1979 anthology The Straw and the Gold, edited by Emma Tennant, but the anthology was never published.[5]
- "The Erl-King" originally appeared in Bananas.[5] It was revised for this collection.[6]
- "The Snow Child" was originally broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 programme Not Now, I'm Listening.[5] It was revised for this collection.[6]
- "The Lady of the House of Love" originally appeared in print in The Iowa Review.[5] However, it was originally written as a radio play entitled Vampirella which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1976.[7] The story was revised from the previous printed version for this collection.[6]
- "The Werewolf" originally appeared in South-West Arts Review.[5] It was revised for this collection.[6]
- "The Company of Wolves" originally appeared in Bananas.[5] It was revised for this collection.[6]
- "Wolf-Alice" originally appeared in Stand.[5] It was revised for this collection.[6]
