Krampus: Who is the Christmas Devil?

Last year and even more this year, we have carried products displaying Krampus, the Christmas devil. But just who IS Krampus? Well, let's have a small history lesson.

Krampus is the other half of Saint Nicholas...instead of rewarding the good children during Christmas time, he punishes the naughty ones. He is traditionally a figure in central European folklore, particularly Austria and Bavaria. Legends say he carries chains and bundles of birch carting off evil children back to Hell with him. He appears on December 5th in the evening, known as Krampusnacht. The next morning is the feast of Saint Nicholas, were the good children receive their gifts, while the bad children, well...

Krampus has been involved during the holiday celebrations of the Alpine regions for centuries, including the sending of Krampus cards in the 1800s. Even today, you can seen Krampusnacht parades in Europe and have begun in parts of America. People adorn huge and elaborate Krampus costumes walking the evening streets in preparation for his arrival. 

Why Krampus? Well, we are little bit weird, a little bit spooky, a little bit infatuated with the darker side of things. Our holiday celebrations are offbeat and we wanted to celebrate that. Our ancestry comes from this region of the world, so while he was out of favor in most of America, we wanted to embrace it. He has become the horror villain of the season and we're into that sort of thing.