As the legend goes, kindly old St. Nicholas can tell whether children have been naughty or nice and rewards or punishes them accordingly. Good kids get presents. Bad kids get a stocking full of coal.
But according to folklore from the Alps, bad children might get a menacing visit from the devilish Krampus.
The origins are hazy, but the pagan legend has appeared in the Eastern European Alps for centuries.
The nightmarish creature is often depicted as a cross between a human and a black goat with an extremely long tongue, a pointed beard, heavy fur, fangs, horns, and claws.
In most drawings, he looks like Satan.
Krampus arrives on the night of December 5th, known as the Krampusnacht.
The beast carries chains, often with bells attached, so children can hear him coming.
He hits misbehaving boys and girls with a birch tree branch… if you’re lucky.
But children who are especially bad will be kidnapped, tossed in Krampus’ sack or basket, and carried off to Hell!
When Santa visits, it’s polite to offer him milk and cookies. When Krampus comes around, you’re supposed to offer him schnapps.
In different eras of the 20th Century, Krampus was banned, and the character’s appearance was softened over the years to look less demonic.
Yet in some regions people still create grotesque masks that rival elaborate Halloween costumes.
The legend has some admirers in the US where film and television depictions of Krampus have appeared since the 1980s.
To this day in Austrian towns, some people wear ghoulish masks on Krampusnacht and scurry around swatting people with birch branches.
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