It's that time of the year when we're bombarded with images of Santa, that chubby and jolly elf that leaves us presents and fills us with holiday cheer.
But Santa also has an evil sidekick, a half-goat half-demon called Krampus. And if you make the "naughty" list, Krampus will hit you with his stick and carry you off in a bag to hell.
Krampus, who pre-dates Santa, is a creature from Norse mythology, the son of Hel, the goddess in charge of the Norse kingdom of the dead. The legend of Krampus, though, eventually got sucked into Christmas traditions in Austria, as well as Bavarian Germany. There, Krampus acts as Santa's sidekick and the two make a sort of good cop, bad cop scenario. Santa rewards good children with treats and Krampus punishes naughty children by hitting them with his stick and whisking them away in a bag.
Krampus arrives on December 5, the night before St. Nicholas Day in Germany and Austria. So basically, if a kid proves wicked, Krampus takes care of that child before Santa arrives with presents.
The Krampus tradition faded in the 1960s and 1970s, but he's starting to make a comeback, perhaps as a retaliation against the commercialization of Christmas and Santa. Many children that grew up terrified of Krampus are now terrifying their own children with tales of the creature, and in places like Germany and Austria, there are Krampuslauf, which involves the beast running through Bavarian markets, reminding children of his presence.
"This is a tradition that our great-grandparents were already doing that must be handed down to the next generation," says said Günter Tschinder, a member of the Höfleiner Moorteufel an Austrian group that participated in a Munich Krampuslauf recently. "But properly handed down, as it was 40, 50, 60 years ago, not with a lot of commercialization, like from Hollywood films."
Krampus is even becoming popular in the U.S., with parties thrown in his honor during the holiday season. He even has his own comic book series and has appeared on many popular television series, such as Grimm, Supernatural and Lost Girl. Next year, Krampus will star in his own horror film.
This year, many people threw away their red suits and hats and donned demon masks and suits of fur for the holidays. Krampus represents the opposite of the cheerful holiday season and many embrace that aspect of the myth. Of course, it's also an excuse to drink and be merry in an entirely new and morbid way.
"A lot of this is people who don't want to put their Halloween costumes away. ... It's another version of Carnival and Mardi Gras," says Earle Havens, Johns Hopkins history professor. "With the masks, your identity is hidden and you can get away with a lot of disorderly activity."
[Photo Credit: Wiki Commons]
