Do you know who the Krampus is? He’s Santa’s evil sidekick. No joke, the Krampus is an Austrian myth about a demonic creature that accompanies Saint Nicholas and punishes the children who have been naughty.
Well, he’s Santa’s buddy, he can’t be that scary, right?
The Krampus!
WRONG! That’s the Krampus. Well, technically it’s just someone dressed up as the Krampus, but that’s pretty much him. He’s a full on hell beast. Speaking of dressing up, it’s tradition in Austria for young men to dress up as the Krampus in the first couple weeks of December for a big Krampus celebration. What are they celebrating? I’d assume not running into the real Krampus!
Other than having a name that sounds like a crappy death metal band, the Krampus is also somewhat famous for being the target of World War II Nazi sympathizer propaganda. They apparently used the Krampus as a means of frightening people, generally children one would assume, into being good, loyal little citizen, and reporting anyone who should be on the “naughty” list. You have to give the Nazis this, they weren’t afraid of using demons as a means of social control!
The Krampus never caught on in the U.S., probably because it was supposed to live in the Alps, but then again being at the North Pole never stopped Santa. It’s also possible that Americans just didn’t want to terrorize their children with frightening Christmas demons.
I stand corrected
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