PRESENTATION: Krampus: The Devil You (Barely) Know
Many horror fans have learned to love Krampus as the little bit of Halloween they can keep around till Christmas. While films like Michael Dougherty’s Krampus fuel the pop culture fire, more DIY costumer types are now hosting horned and furry parades in various American cities. Los Angeles has even drawn European Krampuses to join the homegrown fun thanks to Krampus LA director and presenter Al Ridenour. Using slides, video, masks, and material from his upcoming book The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas (October 2016), Ridenour will help you sort horror movie tropes from authentic Krampus folklore, and offer a peek at 2016 Krampusfest events and mask-making workshops he’s premiering this year.
PRESENTER BIO
Al Ridenour’s Krampus research has taken him to the Austrian Alps and Munich, and brought him in contact with cultural anthropologists working in Salzburg and Vienna as well as dozens of members of contemporary European Krampus groups. In 2013, Ridenour co-founded Krampus Los Angeles, an organization that’s made the city ground zero for American Krampusmania.
Ridenour has translated and produced the only English-language version of 19th-century Krampus play, written articles, and lectured on the topic at the international Goethe-Institut and elsewhere, and exhibited his Krampus suits at the University of Southern California’s Doheny Museum
PHOTOS
Krampus suits and masks by Al Ridenour, Photo: Phil Glau.
Krampus LA production of Austrian Krampus play. Photo: Paul Koudounaris
Krammpstein performs as LA Krampus Ball. Photo: Miles Actually.
Al Ridenour. Photo: Vern Evans.