While Santa Claus is a jolly fellow who goes around and delivers toys, he also has a dark
side, and his name, is Krampus!!
From causing all sorts of mischief to freaking people out during the holidays, here is the
Christmas beast who just might surprise you!!
Who is Krampus?
Contrary to Santa Claus who rewards good behavior and brings toys and other wonders to good
little children, Krampus is a Christmas demon who goes out and finds the bad children and
either makes them behave with punishment, or, sometimes even deliver worse fates.
The story of Krampus originates in Central European Folklore and is well known in Austria,
Bavaria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and several other places.
Although to be honest, he is believed to be much older and has pre-Christian origins.
This half-goat, half-demon figure loves to intimidate and hit people with sticks!!
If that wasn't terrifying enough, Krampus wasn't a person, it is a demon.
According to some tales of the creature, it's actually the son of Hel, the Goddess of Death
from Norse Mythology.
So that would make Krampus a Demigod of sorts.
The Christmas holidays in many Alpine regions start on December 5th which is Krampusnacht!
Everyone beware!
There are parades, balls, chocolates and cards with his name on them and people go about
dressed with cowbells and chains so they can run through town and creep people out!
If you’re not careful you might get hit, or pushed or whipped with something in the
street!
He is a great warning story for children, better behave or you might get kidnapped,
drowned or beaten!
Elders and parents would use this to get their kids under control and it’s clearly very
effective, and nice to have a bit of fun!
You can see how the story of scary Santa might spread!
8.
Bringing Out The Demon Almost all takes on Krampus agree that he
in fact a demon of some form or another.
That's actually really rare in terms of folklore and legends.
But it also goes to show just how much this idea has impacted the world at large.
It’s kind of fun as an adult to think of jolly St. Nick having a buddy willing to do
his dirty work for him and cause a bit of mischief, but it is strange to have a demon
being associated with the mostly pure and joyous holiday!!
In fact, people have liked it so much that Krampus has become a big part of many cultures
in Europe not just in story, but in acts.
There have been many parties and celebrations around the holidays with Krampus as a focus,
where men and women would run around in devil or horned outfits in order to try and bring
out the "demon" in them.
Luckily, these groups usually chase after tourists and aim for the legs, but in any
case, be careful!!
In theory, it is harmless fun.
However, multiple groups have opposed this kind of celebration.
This includes the Church, and many religious and right-wing groups.
After WWII, the trend of Krampus began to spread once again as people turned to folklore,
and it has even made its way into American culture with TV shows and movies being dedicated
to the monster.
Also any fans of The Office here??
Remember Dwight’s Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas where he dressed up like Belsnickel?
Well, Krampus is kind of similar!!
And now for number 7, but first, do you have any Krampus stories??
Let us all know in the comments below, I’d love to hear them!!
And be sure to subscribe and click the bell if you are new here!!
7.
The Hired "Help" In the United States, most people (up until
recently) didn't know about Krampus, and for a very simple reason.
In the States, the story of Santa goes that if you were a good little boy or girl Santa
would come down the chimney and give you presents.
And he is helped by cute little elves!!
If you were naughty, Santa would know, and give you coal instead.
This was a simple yet effective way of discouraging children to misbehave.
After all, what child doesn't want a gift?
And what are you supposed to do with coal anyway??
But in Europe, Santa isn't so forgiving, or pure, not fully anyway.
In fact, in the European stories about Santa Claus or St. Nicolas, he actually had a rather
limited view of the world.
He would restrict his focus to the good little boys and girls, and only give them things.
As for the bad children, he would let Krampus deal with them.
Easy, right?
That's right, the lore soon became that Santa's "Helper" was Krampus, (NOT a cute little elf)
and Santa doesn’t really care what kind of punishment Krampus might give you!
You are on your own!!
He’ll use a reed or long hairs from horses and whip you until your punishment is done.
A piece of coal is starting to sound good right now!
This paints a very different picture of Santa, doesn't it?
6.
Darker Punishment While Krampus may not be as feared as other
monsters in folklore, that may just be because the "punishment" that Krampus doles out is
based upon who is telling the story.
The simple punishments involve what I just told you about the horsehair and all that,
but that doesn't mean that's all he can do.
In some tales of the Krampus legend, Krampus doesn't attack children, but steals them away
by grabbing them and putting them into a sack or a basket.
Who knows where he might take you?
Some believe he actually takes the children to his underground lair in the underworld,
ensuring that the naughty children suffer all sorts of tortures for their misdeeds.
It's because of these darker stories that some consider Krampus a true monster, and
thus have had the creature featured on many television shows and films.
In fact, the United States made a horror movie about Krampus, featuring the demonic monster
of these much darker stories.
Released in 2015, it tells the story of a family who can't help but bicker and fight
around the holidays.
When one of the children gets incredibly disheartened, he declares he hates Christmas, and that unleashes
Krampus upon his town and his family.
One by one the family is besieged by parts of the legend of Krampus, including many of
them being captured and brought to the underworld.
It's revealed that Krampus is actually watching the entire world, waiting for someone to lose
their Christmas spirit so that he can "change" their perspective.
5.
The Look of A Demon As a demon, Krampus is often represented as
having horns, usually goat horns.
He has dark skin or fur, hooves, and clawed hands.
Another thing that Krampus is often depicted as having is fangs and a forked tongue.
He also usually has one cloven hoof and one human foot .This was likely done to truly
embody the demonic visage, and to truly terrify kids so that they wouldn't want to see this
scary creature.
But there’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to showing what he looks like, sometimes
he looks like more like a bat, a goat, even like the abominable snowman or a combination
of all of them!
But why go so dark?
Krampus is the Ying to Santa’s Yang.
It is the duality of the creation.
Santa Claus is often depicted as an immortal man with a white beard, red suit, and being
fully human.
So, to scare children, they had to create Krampus in such a way that it would be the
true opposite of Santa in both intent and appearance.
It is fair to say that they succeeded in this regard.
4.
Krampus Had Christmas Cards When it comes to facing a creature that is
meant to be terrifying, people have very different reactions.
Some embrace the fear, some deny it, and some decide to pull a swerve and use it in an ironic
or "funny" way.
For Krampus, you wouldn't expect this to happen, because of it being a demon that abducts children,
which def is crossing the line!
But actually, it happened quite a bit.
So much so that people actually started sending each other Greetings and Christmas Cards with
Krampus on them.
What's more, these cards weren't exactly family friendly at times.
But the inside of the cards would have a rather festive greeting or even a poem in them to
show the "intent" was meant to be lighthearted.
As the legend of Krampus grew more complex, or in some cases dared to be a bit "kinder"
in their interpretations, the cards evolved with them.
Some had Krampus going after women rather than children, and some actually had Krampus
be a cute creature somewhat likened to Cupid or other Nymph-like creatures.
3.
People Take The Celebrations Too Far Like I mentioned before, despite Krampus being
a rather dark figure in Christmas lore, many people in Europe and certain other places
actually hold parades and "celebrations" to "honor" Krampus and what he represents.
While this dark idea of celebration is not wrong in certain aspects, it is wrong when
you consider that to "honor" Krampus, many people dress up like the beast and actually
"perform" some of its acts.
Granted, they don't try and take away children or drown them in rivers (Thankfully), but
they do embrace the more "simpler" aspects like hitting people with sticks!!
One tourist went to a Krampus celebration in Salzburg and ended up with welts!!
The narrow streets made it easy for the Krampuses to attack pedestrians.
That would be so scary to be chased down in the street, yikes!!!
2.
Psychologists Warn Against Krampus When you tell a scary story, you do it with
the intent to scare or frighten, and you know that there is a risk that the story will truly
stick with the person you're telling it to.
Because of this, some psychologists have actually warned parents about trying to tell their
children about Krampus in one form or another.
Whether it's showing them pictures, or taking them to the festivals and celebrations, it
could have a negative impact on them that could last a very long time, as well as make
them have very negative thoughts about Christmas.
It may seem like an eye-rolling thing to do, but children are impressionable, and at young
ages, certain fearful things can stay with them longer than happy memories.
What do you think?
Let me know in the comments below!!
1.
Krampus Makes Money When something is popular, you often try and
capitalize on it by creating various merchandise about the property.
At first glance, you might think that Krampus would be "off limits" because of its scary
nature.
But in fact, Krampus is actually something that makes people a lot of money.
There are various masks, toys, costumes, and more that are sold of the Krampus character.
Austria is especially well known for making collectible horns, chocolates, and figurines
to commercialize on this character since people are so worn out by the Holidays!!
Bah humbug!!
What do you think about Krampus??
Let me know in the comments below!!
Be sure to subscribe and scare your friends this Christmas with your Krampus stories!!
See you soon!
Byeeee