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LA TIMES calls The Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas “gleefully erudite“…”well-researched and sumptuously illustrated with both contemporary and vintage images (many of them nightmare-worthy), Ridenour’s book deserves to become a classic in its own right, a step toward reclaiming what he calls “our lost, dark Christmas.”
PUBLISHERS’ WEEKLY calls the book “an immensely accessible, well-researched history mixed in with his own personal journey tracing the Krampus, a Christmas devil with roots in Austrian and German folklore…Those interested in folklore, anthropology, history, counter-culture, and cosplay will enjoy this thorough assessment and its plethora of illustrations.”
PORTLAND REVIEW OF BOOKS: “your one stop shop for diving into the culture and mythos of the Krampus.”
READING RELIGION (AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION): “a wonderful book documenting the larger world of the Krampus, the tradition’s historical development, and its religious and folkloric roots.
THE LOS ANGELES BEAT: “the seminal primer on the Krampus legend….Instead of a dry scholarly tome, the book is enlivened with personal experiences and amusing bits of ephemera the author came across during his exhaustive research.”
SACRED MATTERS MAGAZINE: “Al Ridenour’s excellent The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas (2016) is both a reflection of contemporary Krampus-mania and the definitive English book on the subject.”
SPIRAL NATURE MAGAZINE: “The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas is an excellent book…There’s so much insight into how humans work when left to their own devices — the shaping of fear and values, of culture and discipline, are underpinnings of ritual both understood and unremembered. It’s worth a look into the abyss if only to see another perspective.”
REVIEW BY LA TIMES
“On Christmas Day, we will shut out from our fireside, Nothing,” Charles Dickens ominously wrote in his 1851 essay “What Christmas is as we grow older.”
He continues, “Not the shadow of a vast City where the withered leaves are lying deep? … Not the shadow that darkens the whole globe? Not the shadow of the City of the Dead?”
Those shadows and more haunt the pages of “The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas,” Al Ridenour’s gleefully erudite study of the more gruesome and ancient traditions associated with the holiday. A member of the anarchic cultural network the Cacophony Society, known for staging Dadaist happenings for unsuspecting audiences, Ridenour here turns his attention to a rite with a more venerable pedigree: the annual appearance of the Krampus, a hairy, horned, chain-toting biped that resembles a Wookiee on a bender.
“Christmas requires the darkness,” Ridenour reminds us in his introduction. “Come late December the child’s world of consensual reality begins to dissolve — magic elves crouch and spy in suburban homes, still-moist pines are suddenly hauled indoors, and parents whisper and sleepwalk through rituals they can’t explain.” Primarily in the alpine regions of Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Northern Italy, an integral part of these rituals remains the Krampus, in all his terrifying glory.
A figure whose origin can be traced to the pre-Christian era, the Krampus combines elements from numerous European traditions, like the Roman Saturnalia and Kalends, winter festivals that inverted the social order. Friends and families who could afford to feasted nonstop; masters and slaves might indulge in role reversal or share a meal; costumed partygoers wore animal masks or cross-dressed.
In the forests of the Alps, hordes of eldritch creatures hid. Along with more familiar goblins and little people there were demon goats, the seductive and sinister mist woman Nebelfrauand Seelvogel, a soul-stealing bird. The Wild Hunt roamed the skies from Norway to the Czech border, led by a hunter who might be Odin or Satan, depending on your perspective. Beaked Perchten, frightening female figures who appear at Epiphany, probably derive from far more archaic beliefs. Ridenour serves as a nimble guide to these varied origins and many more, showing how over millennia they became part of a complex pan-European mythology that continues to resonate in popular culture, especially around the Christmas holidays.
No stranger to childhood terrors, Maurice Sendak gave Americans a 20th century vision of Krampus in “Where the Wild Things Are,” which looses monsters with the command “Let the wild rumpus start!” More recently, they may recognize Krampus from the 2015 horror flick that bears his name, or the book “Krampus: The Yule Lord” by the artist-illustrator Brom released that same year.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, his image adorned impishly perverse — and popular — Austrian holiday cards, bearing the message Gruß vom Krampus! (Greetings from Krampus!) These might depict a lasciviously long-tongued, whip-bearing Krampus stuffing terrified children into a sack or leering at modishly dressed young women.
Today, Austria’s mountainous Gastein Valley may be Krampus Central (although Ridenour has organized a number of Los Angeles events, including a Krampus Ball and a Krampus Play). In the Gastein Valley, Krampus accompanies a costumed St. Nicholas on the saint’s household visits, on or around his Dec. 6 feast day. Forerunner of the American Santa Claus, St. Nicholas carries a staff and wears a bishop’s red chasuble and miter. While Krampus waits impatiently outside, St. Nicholas greets the children of each house. He checks their names in his Golden Book to see what mischief they’ve been up to, listens as they recite poems they’ve learned in the weeks leading up to his visit. After ascertaining that they’ve been (for the most part) well-behaved during the previous 12 months, he gives them small bags of treats.
These niceties dispensed with, the real fun begins. As a warning to anyone who might be thinking of eschewing homework for a few hours with Playstation, St. Nicholas opens the door and lets the Krampus inside to terrify the kids, who hide behind the dining table. “Today, of course,” one of Ridenour’s informants assures us, “they have to be much more careful about good floors, and mind that they don’t scratch furniture or knock down lampshades with their horns.”
The highlight of these celebrations, and those in other parts of Austria and Germany, are parades or unscheduled appearances of the Krampuspass, or Krampus troupe — groups of people wearing elaborate furry outfits that can weigh 80 pounds, along with beautifully hand-carved wooden masks that cost a thousand dollars or more. They’re also outfitted with weapons — usually chains and whips — as well as heavy bells that warn of their approach.
Increasingly, women play the role of Krampus. But traditionally this is a guy thing, due to the physical demands of the costumes and the choreographed, if very real, violence that can ensue during the annual Krampuslauf, or Krampus run. YouTube videos of these events suggest a cross between Mardi Gras and a Christmas parade run amok. Alcohol use is discouraged or forbidden, but shoving matches known as rempeln still break out between Krampuses.
And these wild things sometimes strike people in the crowd. Unsurprisingly, taunting teenage boys catch the brunt of this (they presumably go on to become successful Krampuses themselves). A Krampus might grunt or roar, but he doesn’t speak. “Why would he? A Krampus is not a human,” says one participant.
They don’t need to talk. The sight of a Krampuspass in full spate can be traumatic enough that some adults suffer from Krampusangst, Krampus phobia. And while most of the Krampuses interviewed by Ridenour emphasize that they try to tone it down for very young children, the entire point of the Krampuslauf is to embrace fear and chaos, however briefly.
As another runner puts it, the Krampus embodies “the season of autumn and early winter — the twilight, the slowing down and the mystical feeling that foreshadows these traditional events, the tales of mythical creatures, the forests of the mountains where they lurk, and the presence of the unknown.”
Well-researched and sumptuously illustrated with both contemporary and vintage images (many of them nightmare-worthy), Ridenour’s book deserves to become a classic in its own right, a step toward reclaiming what he calls “our lost, dark Christmas.”
The Krampus, a folkloric devil associated with St. Nicholas in Alpine Austria and Germany, has been embraced by the American counterculture and is lately skewing mainstream.
Coming October 11, 2016, the first English-language book-length exploration of Krampus folklore and history by Krampus Los Angeles director, Al Ridenour, The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil.
While shockingly out of place with the modern Christmas, the old world from which he comes feared this season and its nights haunted by ghosts, witches, devilish horsemen, and even murderous incarnations of Catholic saints. Central to this folklore are the Perchten, Alpine demons on which the Krampus is based. In Austria, these creatures were connected to Frau Perchta, a witch-like being who threatened naughty children with disemboweling. In Germany, her peer was Frau Holle, ruler of a fabulous realm hidden beneath a mountain deep within the Thuringian Forest. Even the Church once celebrated the season with plays depicting the Devil, Antichrist, and Herod’s gory Massacre of the Innocents. Together, these dark traditions gave birth to a figure now more popular than ever, the Krampus.
BOOK EVENTS
KRAMPUS BOOK SIGNING
Friday, November 18, 2016
Krampus visits at Dark Delicacies, North Hollywood. Al Ridenour signs copies of The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas. 6-9pm.
KRAMPUS BOOK PARTY
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Publication party for The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas with music by Talea at La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles. MORE INFO.
KRAMPUS LECTURE WITH COSTUMED CATWALK
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Krampus lecture with costumed characters, slides, and video at the Goethe-Institut. MORE INFO.
KRAMPUS BOOK TALK
Thursday, December 15, 2016
SAN DIEGO: Presentation on The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas. At San Diego Art Institute, Balboa Park. MORE INFO.
REVIEW BY DANGEROUS MINDS
Dangerous Minds calls the new Krampus folklore book by KLA’s Al Ridenour, a “must have” and “the definitive work on Krampus,” and “really can’t recommend this highly enough.”
They write:
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE KRAMPUS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK
Last year here at Dangerous Minds we declared that Krampus had hit the American mainstream, and just a couple of weeks ago we told you “fuck the elf on the shelf, here’s Krampus in the corner.” As we begin to see the department stores trot out their Christmas wares, we are reminded that Krampustime will soon be upon us.If you’re looking for a Krampusnacht gift for someone special, we have a suggestion:
Feral House has just published the definitive work on Krampus and assorted other dark pagan Yuletide terrors. The exhaustively-researched The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil by Al Ridenour explores the origins of the Krampus myth, its recent popularization in the United States, the various celebrations and traditions associated with the creature, as well as similar European Christmas beasts.
Krampus, for anyone out of the loop, is a horned, anthropomorphic, demon-like creature who, according to Alpine folklore, is a companion to Saint Nicholas. He acts as the yin to Santa’s yang—punishing the naughty children while Saint Nicholas rewards the good. Krampus provides the dark balance to Saint Nicholas’ light. Traditionally, Krampus is thought to beat naughty children with sticks. Children that have been extra bad are treated more severely: they are stuffed into bags and thrown into the river. It’s really quite a brilliant legend: if your kids are misbehaving, scare the shit out of themwith the threat of being flogged and tortured by the Christmas devil!
The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil is jam-packed with information on the history and meaning of the Krampus as well as scads of photos and art prints. The dozens of photos of celebrants of myriad regional-variant Yuletide festivals in bizarre and terrifying costumes is worth the price of admission alone. Award-winning designer Sean Tejaratchi has laid everything out gorgeously, augmenting Ridenour’s thoughtful analysis. I really can’t recommend this highly enough. If you have any interest in the subject, this book is simply a must-have.
REVIEW BY THE LOS ANGELES BEAT
Elise Thomspon of The Los Angeles Beat calls the book, “the seminal primer on the Krampus legend,” writing:
“Instead of a dry scholarly tome, the book is enlivened with personal experiences and amusing bits of ephemera the author came across during his exhaustive research. Ridenour takes the reader by the hand, and leads them through even the most obscure details without getting pedantic or patronizing. Referencing everyone from Ovid to The Simpsons, Al Ridenour has created the seminal primer on the Krampus legend.”
More here.