In the United States, Christmas is an extravaganza of merriment. Mountains of presents encircle glittering Christmas trees as families gather to enjoy each other’s company, consume as many cookies as possible, and soak in a spirit of togetherness and love. For many, it is — as the song goes — “the most wonderful time of the year.”
In other countries, however, Christmas is a little more sinister.
Around the world, trolls, monsters and witches emerge from their hidey-holes in the mountains or bowels of Hell to prey on — and sometimes kill — misbehaved children.
Here are seven of the most terrifying characters in global Christmas folklore:
1. Krampus
Perhaps the most famous of the Christmas beasts is the mythical Krampus, who serves as a foil to the jolly, ever-loving Santa Claus. According to National Geographic, the legend of Krampus is part of a Christmas tradition in Germany dating back centuries.
Krampus is half-goat, half-demon. He wears bells and chains to herald his arrival before beating naughty children with birch branches and dragging them off to the underworld.
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On the night of Dec. 6, children place boots or shoes outside to see whether they will be visited by Santa Claus or by Krampus. If they were good that year, as the legend goes, they receive treats from Santa. If bad, they receive a rod from Krampus.
A more recent development of Krampus lore is the Krampus Run, which has become popular in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. During the Krampus Run, drunken men run through the streets dressed as the demonic creature.Yikes.
2. Nisse
From Norway comes the legend of the nisse, a gnome-like creature who assists with daily farm chores in return for respect and a simple bowl of porridge with butter at Christmas. A similar character called the tomte also appears in Swedish folklore.
The nisse seems harmless at first glance, but if he doesn’t get respect and the porridge with butter he craves at Christmas, there are dire consequences. In a legend called “When the Nisse Got No Butter on His Christmas Porridge,” a young girl decides to trick the nisse by putting the butter on the bottom of the bowl of Christmas porridge instead of on the top. When the nisse looks at the porridge and sees it has no butter, he kills the family’s best cow. Upon eating the porridge and realizing the butter was just on the bottom, he steals the best cow from the neighboring farm. Everybody wins?
3. Zwarte Piet
Zwarte Piet, or “Black Peter,” accompanies Santa Claus during his Christmas rounds and gives coal to naughty children. Not so bad, right? Wrong.
This legend from Belgium and the Netherlands takes a darker turn for particularly naughty children who do not heed Zwarte Piet’s warning. The story goes that both Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa, and Zwarte Piet live in Spain and cross the ocean to deliver gifts to Dutch children. The nice ones get presents; the really naughty ones get dragged back to Spain by Zwarte Piet and are forced to work in his coal mines for eternity.
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It is a Dutch tradition to dress as Zwarte Piet, complete with blackface, at Christmastime, a practice that has come under growing criticism for being racially offensive.
In 2015, a United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on the Netherlands to “promote the elimination of those features of the character of Black Pete which reflect negative stereotypes and are experienced by many people of African descent as a vestige of slavery,” the Washington Post reported.
The legend has been cleaned up a bit this year by calling the helper “Chimney Pete,” codifying a common explanation that his face is black from soot, but many are still convinced that the character is racist.
4. Gryla
In Icelandic folklore, Gryla is the mother of the Yule Lads, a group of unruly little trolls who give treats to good children and cause particular types of mischief in the process at Christmastime. Each bit of mischief is the signature of that particular Yule Lad, with names such as Spoon-Licker and Doorway-Sniffer. The Yule Lads are generally fairly harmless, but their mother is fairly… not.
Gryla is an ogress who comes down from the mountains to abduct, boil, and eat children who misbehave. Gryla can only abduct naughty children, but if a child repents, she is forced to release them.
5. Jolakotturinn
Gryla keeps a house cat named Jolakotturinn, also known as the Yule Cat. As Icelandic legend goes, the Yule Cat is a large, black cat who eats anyone who does not receive new clothes for Christmas. It’s said that those who were conscientious and worked hard received clothes, and those who were lazy did not. Giving new clothes for Christmas is still an Icelandic tradition because of the legendary cat.
6. Frau Perchta
Perchta (often shown with one large swan foot) would slit open the bellies of bad children at Xmas and stuff them with straw! @FolkloreThurs pic.twitter.com/jP67t9y689
— Janette Leaf (@janetteleaf1)
Frau Perchta comes to the children of Germany and Austria with a piece of silver if they were good and worked hard that year.
If they didn’t? She slit open their bellies, remove the organs, and replace them with pebbles and straw. What a nice lady.
People sometimes show up as Perchta during Krampus Run in Austria.
7. Joulupukki
A more menacing depiction of Joulupukki, @MichaelPDeacon pic.twitter.com/3ek1Lch3sO
— Mary Magdalen (@Gr8LakesCzarina)
Finland’s Christmas monster may be the most horrific of them all. The modern Joulopukki is now jolly and plump — the equivalent of Santa Claus. The Joulopukki of old, however, is a horse of a different color.
Joulupukki translates to “Christmas buck,” or billy-goat, and its old iteration had horns and hooves a la Krampus or Satan. He comes into houses, asks if there are good children living there, and if there are, they must give him presents. If there are naughty children in the house, Joulupukki delighted in beating them until their backsides were bleeding.
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7 Terrifying Christmas Monsters From Around the World originally appeared on usnews.com
