I mustn't be too bad, Krampus didn't take me or get me with the switch! I'm curious though how many of you grew up with the Krampus folktale in the Christmas season? What all did you get told about him when you were growing up?
Has its roots in the Austria area folklore. We grew up with a little bit of Scandinavian folklore and trolls and nisse. Most were helpful, fun-loving creatures. Seems to me a rather sad culture that would require a beast from hell to beat children into submission.
I seem to remember vague tales of being put in Krampus' sack and being hauled off with the other bad kids. Then again it's possible that memory is just a distorted excerpt from the Shel Silverstein book Where the Sidewalk Ends, mixed with some horror film. The older I get, the less I trust the things I think I remember for sure.
Oh great...guess I'll be seeing that thing later tonight... I've had some weird azz dreams lately...that pic ought to at least make for some new material.
First time I ever heard of Krampus was on an episode of NCIS this is the second. Now getting hit with a switch… We would have to go to a tree & get a switch so we could get our arses beat, if the appropriate sized switch was not selected then mother would select one & the whooping would commence. Ahhh the good ol’ days. Also you didn’t want to heckle or offer opinions on your siblings switch selection or it became a Kmart 2 for 1 blue light special whipping.
Unless one LIKES being licked by a fuzzy being......or self identifies as a fuzzy being... ((Shudder)) Sca
German/Austrian tradition. I heard of it at our Christmas gatherings at my Grandma's a long time ago but never was part of the festivities. We heard him called Belschnikel. My grandmother's parents were born and married in Germany but she was born in Iowa. All her early Church documents (baptism, etc.) were still in German. After the world wars (especially the first) they made a big effort to make sure no one thought they were still German. They were proud to be US citizens so a lot of the traditions were dropped and German was no longer spoken at home or church.
My great grandmother had this little plastic elf (way before EOAS) that sat on the shelf above the window at the kitchen sink. That little mutha fricker was half demonic looking. She would tell us he would report us to Santa Claus if we were bad. Heard the name “krampus” before (movie title?) but not the folklore.
