The holiday season for many is a time of celebration, generosity, and tradition. For some, there is a mascot who effortlessly exemplifies all of these qualities, and his name is the Hebrew Hammer. And he's awesome. -[Hebrew Hammer] Happy Hanukkah Maccabee. -[Kid] Thanks Hammer! But for others, there is Santa Claus, a jolly fat man who employs slave labor and breaks into people's houses in the middle of the night. But those who are initiated may be surprised to learn that Santa is actually the good version. Many pop culture icons have another side to them, a shadow, a yang to their yin. Superman has Bizarro. Spider-man has Venom. Link has Dark Link. Even Airrack has an evil twin named Brent Rivera. But in the case of old Saint Nick, his shadow is not an opponent, but sort of an ally. If you want to hear how the ancient entity known as Krampus tortured a generation of naughty kids and how one family in 2015 reawakened him like never before, stick around to the end of this video. ♪ Metal Music ♪ Welcome to ho-ho-Horror History. I can truly never forgive myself for that joke. Earlier this year, I made a Horror History episode on Sam, the Halloween mascot from director Michael Dougherty's 2007 horror anthology Trick r Treat, where I also mentioned another holiday tradition horror film that Dougherty had directed: his 2015 film Krampus. ♪ Toys in every store ♪ In the first video, I talked about how Sam's role was to preserve ancient holiday traditions, punishing those who break the holidays rules. So Krampus, in a way, is a spiritual successor. But instead of enforcing traditions of Celtic folklore, Krampus hails from ancient Alpine and Nordic legends. Typically depicted as a horned goat demon hybrid, Krampus is sometimes covered in black fur, while at other times taking a more human appearance. He's often seen covered in chains and sporting a bundle of birch branches, which are used to imprison and swat misbehaving children. He can sometimes be seen with a bundle or sack, much like Santa Claus himself. But instead of using it to distribute toys, it's usually filled with bad kids so he can transport them to hell. Capturing children inside of his sack is one of the many parallels he shares with Sam. But to understand Krampus and to stay off his naughty list, I'm going to go over his entire history. So let's take it back to the earliest winter celebration. (IMPACT) ♪ Haunting Holiday Music ♪ While the date of Krampus's origin has seemingly been lost time, the holiday traditions that he represents ironically trace back even before Christmas, and Krampus only became associated with the holiday once it became widespread. It's believed that the Romans were one of the biggest celebrators of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. The most popular holiday on the ancient Roman calendar was Saturnalia, A celebration of Saturn, the God of agriculture and time. As with many ancient traditions, this was all about farming rituals. People would offer gifts to the gods in hopes that it would bless their winter sowing season, which is basically just when it was time to get the seeds in the cold ground, as described in the song Sowing Season by Brand New. I'd have to give up my emo card if I didn't mention that. Saturnalia started as just one day, but then they just said, screw it, let's just make it a whole week. So it lasted from December 17th to December 25th. It's a lot like how Christmas in America lasts several months before the actual day, which is super annoying. So that may potentially be the origin of December gift giving tradition. Saturnalia was also a time to let loose with food and drinks, just like every holiday. And businesses and schools were closed so that everyone could participate, and I do mean everyone. It was seen as a time that all social classes could come together and celebrate. Even slaves were given temporary freedom during this time. It seems that this tradition is kind of reflected in Krampus, which features the mom, Sarah Engel, and her family coming together to celebrate Christmas with her less well off sister's family. –[LINDA] They got even more stuff. –[HOWARD] Man, how come rich people get all the free sh*t? Part of the Saturnalia tradition was the celebration of the God Mithra, which fell on December 25th. There are people, I'm not going to say who, but they are out there who believe that when the Roman-Catholic Church selected the date, December 25th, for Christmas, their goal was to replace the Pagan pre-Christianity rituals. The Christians are vehemently opposed to this theory. If you ask the Christian scholars how often they think about the Roman Empire, they'll get nervous and say, I don't know what you're talking about, but it's true that Jesus' actual date of birth is unknown. They will admit that much. Christmas is just the day that they celebrate it. But enough with all of this Roman crap. Krampus is clearly a German name, so let's get to that part. Krampus is indeed German, most likely named after the German word krampen, which means claw. This name is fitting for the character because Krampus is often described as a frightening horned creature with sharp claws reflecting its menacing and beastly appearance. I saw some sources, like Encyclopedia Britannica, claiming that Krampus is the son of Hel, the underworld goddess from Norse mythology. However, there's no mention of Krampus in Norse mythology. It's much more likely that he comes from Alpine folklore, especially considering the German name and Austrian traditions that were connected to Krampus. Krampus is said to be a counterpart to St. Nicholas, who was born in the year 270 CE. So it's likely that lore wise Krampus would come into existence around that time. While St. Nicholas was a Christian bishop known for his kindness and generosity towards children, Krampus was the opposite, punishing children who misbehaved throughout the year. St. Nicholas's followers began to celebrate a feast day in his honor on December 6th, during which gift giving became a tradition. So Krampus, not to be outdone, got his own holiday on December 5th, the eve of St. Nick's feast. This would be known as Krampusnacht or simply Krampus Night. Legend says that both St. Nicholas and Krampus would arrive in the evening on December 5th, with St. Nicholas rewarding the good kids with presents and Krampus punishing the bad ones with chains and his birch branches, even collecting the worst of them to drag them to hell. Which is a way better behavior motivator than simply the threat of getting coal in your stocking. If any of you have kids or even younger siblings, I think it's time to start telling them about Krampus because this generation is getting kinda out of control. – Hey, watch it! (kid spits on her)
– OH! Oh sh-- But the next Krampusnacht tradition that would emerge would scare even the bravest of kids and would become an instant classic. (IMPACT) ♪ Krampus Celebration Music ♪ (ROAR) This is Krampuslauf, or Krampus Run, A traditional parade started in Austria where the adults dress up in realistic Krampus costumes and run through the streets trying to scare the children into behaving ahead of the arrival of Krampus and St. Nick. According to history.com, Austrian men would get drunk and run through the streets dressed as the fearsome creature. This account from traveldudes.com mentions 400 gruesome creatures whipping the legs of children and stealing hats in freezing cold temperatures. Some celebrations also feature women dressing up as Perchta, another mythological being in Alpine folklore. A goddess who is associated with the winter solstice, just like Krampus. At first I thought this was just the witch from Snow White, which I guess is actually appropriate. Perchta can appear as either a beautiful goddess who appears as white as snow, or an ugly, haggard old woman, a lot like the evil queen from Snow White. Perchta would team up with Krampus many years later. So I'll go deeper into her lore in a little bit. Krampuslauf became a long standing tradition, primarily in Austria and Germany, which has come back in a major way over the last decade. My first thought was, this is awesome. Why don't we have this in the west? But after doing a little digging, there are some recent Krampus parades in U.S. cities. However, much like our music festivals, they are way tamer than their European counterparts. One might even say that they are... - VERY BAD! Meanwhile, in Austria, you've got stuff like this going on. -[Amyscrypt] I got attacked and pulled down, and so did a lot of other people. -[Amyscrypt] They were attacking kids, they were attacking the elderly. -[Amyscrypt] No one was really safe. And isn't that what Christmas is really all about? But the survival of these celebrations was not without pushback. The Catholic Church attempted to ban any celebration of Krampus in the 1100s due to the creature's resemblance to their concept of the devil, which clearly demonstrates that they believed in him and feared him enough to want to bring down the ban hammer. And that's pretty great. Over time, the celebration of St. Nicholas Feast Day became intertwined with Christmas celebrations, especially in European countries. And since Krampus is the dark counterpart to St. Nick, it too became associated with the birthday party of the world's most famous zombie. Much to the annoyance of the Catholic Church, who was unable to stomp out the legend with their bans. Maybe The Streisand Effect, the phenomenon of attempted censorship of a topic inadvertently increasing awareness about that subject, should actually be called The Krampus Effect. The character managed to survive until the 1890s, where a new holiday tradition took place. Krampuskarten literally just translates to Krampus Cards. These holiday cards showed the December demon in a series of snapshots where he is kidnapping various children, and it allowed word of his power to spread around the world like never before, using the postal service. This is another interesting, perhaps coincidental, parallel that Krampus shares with Sam. Sam's legend was spread early on, thanks to a series of Halloween greeting cards created by Michael Dougherty. So make sure to send your family and friends a Krampuskarten this holiday season. But I guess the increased awareness about Krampus was not enough to deter bad behavior In one village in Austria during the 1930s. This was in the middle of a great depression for the country, and food was hard to come by. A little girl standing in a breadline was rushed by a crowd of desperate, hungry people who stole her bread and shoved her to the ground. When she arrived home, her parents were angry at her for coming up empty handed. And when she tried to show some optimism by presenting her Santa Claus doll, her parents ripped it in half, causing her to lose her true Christmas spirit and chuck the toy into the fireplace. -[Omi] They too had given up. -[Omi] And eventually, so did I. -[Omi] And for the first time, I didn't wish for a miracle. -[Omi] I wished for them to go away. -[Omi] A wish I would come to regret. -[Omi] And that night, in the darkness of a howling blizzard, I got my wish. There's a reason I've been pointing out all of Krampus's similarities to Sam throughout this video. And that's because by the time of Mike Dougherty's take on Krampus in the 2015 film, Krampus's role in the story has been expanded not just to punish naughty children, but to punish anyone who has lost sight of the true spirit of the holiday. In that sense, he becomes a lot more like Sam, but for Christmas instead of Halloween. Although there is no rule that says Sam can't come out around Christmas time, and he does, maybe Sam vs. Kram is somewhere in our future. Narratively, for Krampus, this could be seen as him getting stricter with his rules over time. At first, he gets people's attention by kidnapping naughty kids, but then he expands out to include adults and anyone who disrespects the rules of the holiday. So those who fail to uphold the tenets of celebration, generosity, and tradition become victims. To put this in Death Note terms, it kind of follows the pattern of how Kira started out by only killing criminals, but eventually expanded to include those who did things that are not crimes but could also hurt others. We can also see how Krampus has evolved with the times in order to continue mirroring his lighter half, St. Nicholas. Old St. Nick had undergone some changes in the late modern period. Dutch settlers brought the celebration of St. Nicholas to America, calling him Sinterklaas, which was eventually Americanized to Santa Claus. It seems that his waistline was also Americanized. As he got more popular, he enlisted the help of some elves to accelerate the toy making process. These would be known as Santa's Little Helpers. So Krampus got some minions of his own. But true to his nature, Krampus's helpers were demonic looking versions of symbols and objects typically associated with Christmas cheer. They included a trio of mischievous gingerbread man: Lumpy, Dumpy, and Clumpy. As well as an army of evil toys, such as the monstrous and hungry jack in the box known as Der Clown, a bloodthirsty teddy bear known as Teddy Klaue and a rogue robot toy known as Tik Tok. Unlike my M3GAN Horror History episode, this is not some kind of allegory about how the app TikTok is corrupting the minds of the youth because TikTok didn't even exist yet. There's also an evil angel puppet named Perchta who seems to be another form of the Christmas witch Frau Perchta Seen during the Krampuslauf runs, Frau Perchta would come around after Christmas time each year to punish those who neglect their household duties, primarily women who didn't get all their flax spinning done. She would come to your house and set fires to the half spun fiber. If your house was messy when she arrived or you didn't leave out a traditional bowl of porridge for her, she was said to slit your stomach open with a long knife hidden under her robes, disembowel you in your sleep, and replace your guts with rocks and straw. Now you understand why people dress up as her to try to scare kids during the Krampuslauf Runs, This chick is one bad witch. I was gonna say something else. In addition to all of those layers, Krampus also worked with a team of troll like creatures called Yule Lads, which each played a role in terrorizing Krampus's victim. (IMPACT) ♪ Mysterious Music ♪ The Yule Lads originated from Icelandic Christmas folklore, mountain dwelling monsters who came down into town around Christmas to eat disobedient children. Traditionally, each of them is associated with a different prank with varying levels of severity. They include Ketkrókur, the meat hook, because he was known for snatching human meat. Þvörusleikir, the Spoon Licker; Huroaskellir, the door slammer, who gets a joy out of making people grumpy; Kertasníkir, the candle beggar, who eats candles, leaving his victims in the dark; Gáttaþefur, the doorway sniffer, who can smell baked goods and steals bread and cookies; Bjúgnakrækir, the sausage swiper, who steals smoked meat. Giljagaur, the gully gawk, who puts a potato in your shoe, which is a very minor inconvenience compared to the meat hook guy. Gluggagægir, the window peeper, who's essentially Krampus's spy and Stekkjarstaur, the sheep harasser, who steals sheep's milk and also leaves a potato, which could be a good thing if you like potatoes more than you like milk. However, while working under Krampus, the Yule Lads take on much darker intentions. -[Omi] He and his helpers. -[Omi] I could only listen as they dragged my family into the underworld -[Omi] knowing that I would be next. -[Omi] But Krampus didn't take me that night. -[Omi] He left me as a reminder of what happens when hope is lost, -[Omi] when belief is forgotten and the Christmas spirit dies. The little girl is given a bell with Krampus's name on it to remember what happened that night. Many decades later, in the 2010s, that girl has a family of her own, including her son Tom, her daughter in law Sarah, and two grandkids, Max and Beth, who refer to her as Omi, the German word for grandmother. After so many years, Omi thought she was in the clear. But this year, maybe the first year that Max is old enough to grapple with the idea of Santa Claus possibly being a fallacy; the family's Christmas spirit is at an all time low. Max gets into a fight at a nativity recital at the local Mucho Mart While his sister laughs and records him. This is the bad behavior that catches Krampus's eye. But the evil Xmas entity would take notice of the entire family when Max's letter to Santa is exposed by the visiting cousins. -[Max] I just wanted Christmas to be like it used to be. -[Max] But forget it. -[Max] I hate Christmas. -[Max] I hate all of you. Which is actually still not as bad as what Kevin McAllister told his family in Home Alone. -[Kevin] I don't want to see you again for the rest of my whole life. -[Kevin] I hope I never see any jerks again. Maybe if Krampus had been the one to break into his house, he would have had more success than the duo of bumbling burglars. Anyway. Max tears up his letter to Santa, and it's sucked into a whirlwind. It's almost as if releasing this letter into the night's air is a catalyst for the blizzard that immediately rolls in, knocks out the power, and deadlocks the family in place together in their own neighborhood. The next morning, December 23rd, Max notices a creepy snowman in the front lawn almost spying on them, and they receive a couple of unmarked Christmas presents at their doorstep. The neighborhood seems like it's almost entirely empty as Beth walks down the block to visit her boyfriend. But on the way there, the sky goes dark and she hears sleigh bells overhead. But this is not the Christmas legend that she is familiar with. (THUD) (breath trembling) (creature growls) –[Beth] Oh my God… (SCREAMING) Beth tries to escape to a parcel delivery van, but finds the driver frozen to death inside, so she hides out underneath it. We pretty much know what all the family members did to provoke Krampus's wrath, But what did this delivery driver do? He seemed innocent enough, like he even braved the awful weather to deliver their package. Most delivery drivers would have just dumped it in the sewer and marked it as delivered. – [Bender] Too much work. Let's burn it and say we dumped it in the sewer. Whatever happened to respect for essential workers? In any event, Beth seems to be in the clear, until she notices that Krampus has left behind a little present. (SCREAMING) Back at the house, another ominous snowman has appeared. And that evening, Tom and Uncle Howard discover hooved footprints while out looking for Beth, Howard is attacked by a creature burrowing under the snow and nearly pulled into the ground right then and there, presumably to take him to hell. Tom is able to save him, but the bite wounds are severe. Fans tend to refer to this creature as the Snow Beast. It's hard to tell exactly what it is because it's never seen, but it seems to operate similar to the Graboid from the Tremors franchise. That night, as the family drifts off to sleep around the fireplace, their only source of warmth, the flame dwindles down, allowing one of the gingerbread men to descend to the chimney on a metal chain and abduct Howard's son, Howie Jr. This happens right after the battery dies on an iPad that had been playing Christmas music. It kind of makes me wonder if that needed to happen before the evil gingerbread man could attack. Considering how many characters in Trick r Treat become vulnerable the moment that they ruined a Halloween tradition, it could be that the warm fire and Christmas music were the things protecting the family until they both went out. It brings to mind Macy, who became the target of a horde of dead schoolchildren the moment that she extinguished the final Jack o Lantern. Beth was punished for choosing boyfriend over family and leaving them. And now Howie Jr. Happened to be the closest victim when the flame and music went out. Or maybe it has something to do with him trying to take a bite out of the gingerbread man. Like, you're not supposed to eat the cookies. You're supposed to leave them out for Santa. But to be fair, that gingerbread man was kind of begging to be eaten. The family is unable able to save Howie Jr. Practically burning the house down in the process. As the clock rolls over to December 24th, Christmas Eve, Omi explains to Max's cousins, Stevie and Jordan that Krampus judges them not just on their behavior, but also by what they believe in their hearts. As the two of them head to the upstairs bathroom, they're attacked by the contents of the unmarked packages that Krampus left for them the previous day. Jordan is devoured by Der Klown, who seems to have grown larger since abducting Beth, but the adults are able to save Stevie and fend it off, only to come face to unsettling face with Perchta. (shrieking) (all screaming) (shrieks) (IMPACT) ♪ Holiday Music ♪ The adults in the attic not only have to pry Perchta from off of Sarah, but they're charged by Teddy Klaue and continually jabbed by the robot Tik Tok. That name still sounds weird every time I say it now. Downstairs, the gingerbread trio stages an attack on Howard, who is able to fend them off with the help of his dog. But when the family reconvenes in the living room, something can be heard skulking above the ceiling. (creatures growling) Der Klown falls through from above, and another massive battle with the army of toys ensues. But before Aunt Dorothy can fire off the finishing shot, the family finds out just what was hiding in those creepy snowmen that have been piling up outside the house. -[Omi] Elves. These are the Yule Lads that I mentioned earlier. Once they break through the wall, it's pretty much game over. One of them steals the baby. Then Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Howard are yanked out of the house via chain not long after realizing that they'll have to ditch the house in order to have any chance to survive, they make a break for the broken down snowplow out on the street, but Omi stays back to finish what she started with Krampus all of those years ago. Everyone knows that old Saint Nick comes down the chimney to give, that is, give presents to children. So you'd expect that his opposite half would come down the chimney and take. And that's exactly what he does. Take the life of the girl who it had given a warning to so many decades before. Who needs Santa Claus when this fabled bringer of fear possesses a huge pair of actual claws to open up his satchel of tricks and let the evil toys within pounce on the old woman. Outside Max watches as his family is picked off one by one by The Snow Beast, burrowing around under the icy powder, proving that it would have been impossible to escape at any point. Only he and Stevie make it to the snowplow, and when the elves abduct her, he finally finds himself face to face with Krampus. An interesting detail here is that when he finally gets a good look at the creature that's been haunting his family, it doesn't seem to present its true face. It's almost as if it's wearing the skin of an old man, resembling something a little bit closer to the traditional Santa Claus. Director Michael Dougherty may have indirectly addressed this in a 2022 interview with Slash Film: We wanted to go with something that looked ancient, you know, something that looked like it walked out of the dark ages in a sense. The fur pelts, the heavy coats, the rusty chains. But we also wanted to acknowledge that everybody's interpretation of Krampus is different. So we like the idea that we never fully reveal Krampus. You see a face, but is that his real face or not? Krampus gives Max his ripped up letter back, making it clear that it was his wish that triggered all of this. He realizes he is now the one being left alive to tell the tale to a new generation. Max receives the same bell that was once given to Omi to remind her not to take the holiday for granted. But before the sleigh and the horrible creatures that came on it take off into the night. Max comes upon it and sees one more frightful twist on the Christmas stories that he's accustomed to. Most cliche Christmas movies have a scene where someone hears Santa Claus landing on the roof with his reindeer. But those do not sound like reindeer. Krampus, as usual, has his own twisted variant known as Yule Goats. Like many of the creatures that assist him during the Christmas season, Yule Goats have ties to ancient Pagan religion. Thor, the Norse God of thunder, was said to have a chariot pulled by these magic goats. But just like with Krampus, the Christian church feared these creatures and declared them as demonic. Tales were spread of the demonic Yule Goats roaming Scandinavia for food and scaring children. Like some of the others, the Yule Goat is still a part of some Nordic Christmas celebrations today, most notably in Sweden, in the form of a giant decorative goat made of straw that pranksters like to try to burn down every year. The Yule Goats pulling Krampus's sleigh are huge, aggressive monsters with black fur, ram like horns, and an intimidating roar. By the way, listen to the music being played by the Yule Lads right here as they prepare to take off. ♪ Traditional Krampuslauf Music ♪ It sounds a lot like the traditional Krampuslauf music that I played earlier. ♪ Traditional Krampuslauf Music ♪ That's a very cool detail that I never would have noticed had I not made this video. Max finds the elves restraining his cousin Stevie, and in the last push of desperation tries taking back his wish and asking that he be taken instead of his family. He throws the Krampus bell and in the spot it landed in the ground cracks and opens up a huge fissure leading straight to hell. It seems that he's finally going to make good on the old stories of the Half goat, half demon that drags misbehaving kids to an appointment with Satan himself. When Max realizes that Stevie is gonna be thrown into the pit for his own transgression, he begs the malefic entity to please take him instead. After touching a cold claw to the child's tears, it seems that maybe Max has learned his lesson, and the horned hell bringer may actually back down. But then this happens. (Krampus laughter) The child's misery is amusing to them. There is no redemption when it comes to Christmas wishes as it turns out. Stevie is hurled into the pit, and Max follows not long after. But somehow, Max wakes up the next day, Christmas morning, almost as if the horror of the last two days was only a dream. He comes downstairs for presents with his family, who are all alive. But something seems off, and Max realizes it when he opens one present containing the Krampus bell, causing everyone to realize that the nightmare that they thought they had awoken from was reality. A glance out the window reveals the truth. They've been captured inside one of the creature's many snow globes, in a room filled with the many families that he's punished over thousands of years. The message when it comes to Krampus is a simple one. You better watch out, because ending up on the naughty list is easier than you might think, and the consequences are much worse than you'd expect. An eternity of suffering in a personal hell, stuck inside a house with family members you can barely stand to spend three days with every year. Like Sam, Krampus is not necessarily a villain, but rather an enforcer of holiday tradition. If you don't break the rules, he won't be a problem for you. Except for the delivery driver. That guy was just unlucky. And now that I think about it, the baby. What could the baby have done to deserve eternity in hell? And why wasn't the delivery driver there with them in the snow globe? So many questions. Over the years, we've seen Krampus adapt with the times, surviving religious bands and merging with other holidays to stay relevant. Through postcards, storytelling, traditional parades and festivals, and now movies. Krampus seems to be more popular than ever, thanks to a boom of Krampus movies in the 2010s, including Rare Exports, Krampus: the Christmas Devil, Krampus: The Reckoning, Krampus: Unleashed, Krampus: The Devil Returns, Mother Krampus, and maybe the king of them all, Krampus. And also my video on Krampus, which you just watched. To get the full picture, though, you have to also see my video on Sam from Trick r Treat. You'll find that video on the left. Remember to subscribe to CZsWorld for new horrors every week. Ring the sleigh bell for all notifications, and I will see you in the next one. Assuming we both survive.
