Folk Tale and Fairy Tale
A folk tale is a short narrative that has been orally transmitted through successive generations within any given community and that has typically evolved over time. Although folk tales usually begin as oral tales of unidentified origin, they are generally committed to writing at some point. Folk tales may include fables, fairy tales, legends, myths, tall tales, ghost stories, or stories about giants, monsters, devils, and saints (Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill)
A fairy tale is a brief prose narrative intended to entertain or instruct that typically relates fantastic or magical occurrences involving a hero. Fairy tales are characterized by a number of common elements. They often begin “once upon a time” in an unspecified setting, feature flat (unchanging or superficial) characters, and involve magic, talking animals, disguises and/or physical transformations, and prohibitions or taboos. Fairy tales employ stock characters, such as cruel step mothers, fairy godmothers, fairies, and they usually address a simplified conflict between good and evil.
--from The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms