Naughty or nice? The Europeans don't fool around with just putting coal in your stocking.

[octoberlib]

While Saint Nicholas may bring gifts to good boys and girls, ancient folklore in Europe's Alpine region also tells of Krampus, a frightening beast-like creature who emerges during the Yule season, looking for naughty children to punish in horrible ways -- or possibly to drag back to his lair in a sack. In keeping with pre-Germanic Pagan traditions, men dressed as these demons have been frightening children on Krampusnacht for centuries, chasing them and hitting them with sticks, on an (often alcohol-fueled) run through the dark streets.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/12/krampus-saint-nicholas-dark-companion/100639/


More pictures at the link.

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Krampus, huh? That could be my next DU username.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. Comrade Krampus?

I like it!

[Freddie]

2. Sounds like the PA Dutch Belsnickel

[link:http://www.wikipedia.org/Belsnickel

Kind of an "anti-Santa" who visits to make sure children are being good.

[mainer]

3. A lot scarier than Black Piet

That'd give me nightmares as a kid.

[octoberlib]

7. This would have given me nightmares too. nt

[petronius]

4. So they get drunk, dress up like demons, and run through the streets hitting

children with sticks? And here we thought spanking was bad...

[Coyotl]

5. Is that "name removed"?

Or a real troll

[octoberlib]

8. It definitely resembles "name removed"

[aikoaiko]

6. This is funny I jus told my 8-year old about this.

He asked if I grew up with the elf on the shelf.

I told him no. All I had was the devil beast.

My wife freaked out on me. But there it is.

[octoberlib]

9. Were you aware at a young age that these Krampus beasts

weren't real or did they scare the crap out of you?

[aikoaiko]

10. I was 90% sure it wasn't real, but the 10% chance of being real kept me in line.

[Coyotl]

11. My European parents made sure we knew about the Bogey Man coming out at dark.

As small children, we freely roamed up to several miles from our house catching snakes, hunting frogs in water holes, and chasing gophers, etc., so I suppose it was wise to make us want to get home before dark. It was a relief to know the Bogey Man was just a story, frankly, because we certainly imagined how final getting caught by the Bogey Man would be.