The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas

By Al Ridenour,

Book cover of The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil

Book description

With the appearance of the demonic Christmas character Krampus in contemporary Hollywood movies, television shows, advertisements, and greeting cards, medieval folklore has now been revisited in American culture. Krampus-related events and parades occur both in North America and Europe, and they are an ever-growing phenomenon.

Though the Krampus figure has…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love weird and mostly overlooked Christmas-related stuff, and there are few Holiday characters as weird and overlooked as the Krampus!

I loved the full-color photographs Ridenour includes of the Krampus (and adjacent figures), many of which I had never seen before. And a lot of the pictures feature a very menacing Krampus! There’s more to Christmas than just Santa Claus. 

From Jason's list on Christmas and the Holiday Season.

In addition to providing an engaging and well-researched introduction to Krampus (the darkest winter holiday creature of them all), The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas is a wonderful exploration of a wide spectrum of delightfully sinister facets of European Christmas tradition. For centuries, grim entities have emerged from the Christmastime shadows to offer a counterbalance to the lightness and joy of the holiday season. Ridenour connects Krampus to this tradition by taking the reader on a thrilling journey to an old world seething with witches, ghosts, demons, and child-eating ghouls. This book provided invaluable context and detail as I…

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