Happy Holidays! Krampus is coming!

     I hope you have been good this year because its that magical time of the year where we are rewarded accordingly for our actions.  No I'm not talking about Santa, Im talking about the Krampus!

     What is the Krampus you might ask?  Well the Krampus is a demon-like creature with origin ties in Germany and Austria as well as other nearby regions.  Krampus was the traveling companion of Santa Claus / St. Nicholas.  As Santa and Krampus would travel along from home to home Santa, or St. Nicholas depending on the region,  would leave presents for the good kids.  If Santa came across naughty kids Krampus would be set loose to punish the kids.   Most pictures would depict Krampus hitting the kids with switches and in some extreme cases the kids would actually be tossed into his basket and drowned in the local lakes.

To check out Wikipidia's complete description of the Krampus click on the following link here!  You can also check out the official Krampus site here!

I learned about the Krampus quite a few years ago and totally fell in love with this bit of lore.  Sadly this tradition is one of the few that did not make its way to the US.  I can think of quite a few kids that could stand to learn of the Krampus and what can result from their naughty actions.  Now of course you'll hear parents say how its such a horrible thing to consider teaching kids about such a scary creature but I honestly think its a great idea, especially in this time and age where many parents have have suck a lax approach (or total lack there of) to correcting their kids for fear of being reported for child abuse should they spank them.  Krampus has made a few modern leaps into the US through random TV cartoons like the Venture Bros and T-shirt sites on the internet.

Many towns are preparing to celebrate the Krampus festival on the eve of december 5th where the men of the towns will dress up as the Krampus and parade through the streets scaring the kids of the town.  These Krampus impersonators will travel from home to home scaring the kids to their rooms as they in turn enjoy a drink with the adults.  As the night would progress the growl would turn into slurs.





I've come across some great Krampus videos on Youtube and thought Id share them with you.  The first is a Krampus carol of sorts.



The second I found recently and is called "The Story of the Christmas Krampus".  This cute video takes a little time to explain one of the many stories of the Christmas Krampus.



The final is a video showcasing a collection of vintage postcards with the Krampus.



I wish I could find Krampus Christmas cards as I would surely send them out to my friends and family alike!

So in closing I hope you enjoyed this little bit of information about a very interesting holiday figure that again I really wish had made its way into our own holiday origins here in the US.