Happy Krampus Eve

In Alline countries, December 5th is Saint Nicholas Eve and also Krampus Eve. Krampus is a mythical, devilish creature that is a companion/servant of Santa Claus. It is he, not Santa, that you have to worry about if you've not been good throughout the year.

For whatever reason, Krampus never made his way into our Santa/Christmas mythos, where the worst threat kids hear is that Santa won't bring them presents. Krampus would throw bad children in his sack and then maybe toss them in a river. Of course, this would never fly in today's overly P.C. times.

You can always find neat Krampus stuff on eBay or Etsy

"Today, the running of the Krampus (Krampuslauf) happens during the first week of December throughout Austria and Hungary. Young men dress in dark animal-skin suits, red carved masks with horns or antlers, mismatched shoes, often carrying bells, chains, whips, and baskets with them. Considerable effort goes into the manufacture of the hand-crafted masks, as many younger adults in rural communities engage competitively in the Krampus event. They are often accompanied by St. Nicholas and can be found in parades in the evening. They usually scare children and chase women to whip them (gently) as it is part of the tradition. The anonymity provided by the Krampus mask combined with increasing amounts of alcohol consumption is not only feeding the craziness but also a debate about this bizarre pagan holdover from a less civilized era."¹

Kinda sounds like fun to me! But if going to Salem on Halloween has taught me anything, it's that idiots will use any excuse to get drunk and ruin a good time for everyone else.

^{1 - From Monstropedia}