He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake! No I don’t mean Santa, I mean his alter ego Krampus; a popular Christmas tradition in European countries such as southern Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. And trust me; you don’t want to make his naughty list! With origins beginning in Norse mythology, Krampus was once believed to be the son of Hel, ruler of the Norse underworld.

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The History of Krampus:

Although there are some minor variations in depictions of Krampus, most share several common physical features. He is covered in black or brown fur, usually that of a goat, ram, or bear, and has the horns of a goat or a ram on his head. He stands upright and has the facial features of a man, although he has cloven hooves instead of feet and a distinctively long, pointed tongue that constantly lolls out of his mouth. Kind of like a dog sticking its head out of a car, only with more general hatred for mankind and less whimsy.His appearance is befitting of a demon. Dark matted fur with cloven hooves and large horns. His tongue is long and pointed and his teeth are sharp fangs. He is described as carrying chains or ruten, bundles of birch branches, to hit bad children with. Other times he is depicted with his sack, or even a washtub, which he uses to carry naughty children to the underworld where he will later torture and possibly even eat them.

Krampus Now

Despite his pre-Christian origins, the legend of Krampus is still very much alive today. The night (December 5th) preceding St. Nicholas’ feast is nowadays known as Krampushnacht or Krampus Night. On this day the young men of the Alpine area dress up and wander through the streets with bells clanging to signify their approach, ready to chase children (and sometimes curious tourists) with their chains and whips.

When it comes to punishment, Krampus doesn’t stop at mere birch rods. That would be too kind. Under the careful tutelage of Pinhead and various Cenobites, Krampus’ retribution repertoire grew ten-fold over the centuries. According to a series of very popular 1800s postcards, Krampus enjoyed: ripping pigtails out, leading children off a cliff, sadistic ear-pulling, putting pre-teens in shackles, forcing children to beg for mercy, and throwing youngsters on an Express Train to The Lake of Fire (making no local stops). And then there’s my favorite: drowning children to death in ink and fishing out the corpse with a pitchfork. It’s like The Grinch meets Hostel.

In the 1960’s, Krampus briefly gave up pulling out children’s fingernails to get a little mud for his turtle. For whatever reason, the imp became wildly popular as some sort of sex-demon on foreign postcards. He got into some weird BDSM and fetish stuff, which isn’t too surprising given his history of chasing and spanking young virgins with whipping switches. Hey, it was a weird time and Krampus was doing a lot of Koke. Eventually he got some counseling and got back to making pre-pubescents gnash their teeth deep in the bowels of suffering.

More recently, Krampus has started his rise in popularity in America, with Krampus festivals across the country, including ones in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New York City.

So, next time someone says “happy holidays” to you, feel free to greet them back with “May Krampus not take your child away in a basket.”