Dark Christmas: 9 seasonal monsters from myths and legends around the world

From Central Europe including Austria

The stuff of nightmares, this anthropomorphic figure is commonly described as "half-goat, half-demon", with shaggy fur, phallic horns, a long curved tongue and fangs. An even worse version of Bad Santa, Krampus plays the bad cop to the big, beardy man’s good cop and punishes naughty little kids. In some parts of the world, he’s known to carry a basket on his back for his catch of the day, which in this case is a child whom he’ll consume for Christmas dinner.

The wicked tale of Krampus has become so popular that Krampus Night (aka Krampusnacht) is celebrated on December 5, the eve of St. Nicholas Day, in Austria and other parts of Europe. While charging around Alpine villages dressed as Krampus with the intention to beat up people are a thing of the past, costumed folks now roam the streets scaring off people and demanding booze instead.

From Germany

As Dwight Schrute from the mockumentary series The Office once said: “No one fears Santa the way they fear Belsnickel.” And not just because he’s all clad in fur and, at times, a mask with a long tongue. The ill-tempered, raggedy man usually carries a switch in his hand which he uses to beat naughty children. But if they’re nice, they can count themselves lucky as the Belsnickel would give them cakes, candies and nuts instead.

From Iceland

The Jólakötturinn (aka the Yule Cat) is not a nice kitty. With his razor-like whiskers, blazing eyes and terrible claws, the giant beast is known to go on a prowl, hunting people rather than mice and consuming any child who does not receive new clothes on Christmas Day. The mythical creature is tied to an Icelandic tradition in which those who finish all their work on time are rewarded with new clothes for Christmas, while those who are lazy do not. The tale of the Yule Cat is told by parents to encourage children to work hard, reminding them to do their chores, or they would be sacrificed to the big, bad kitty.

From Iceland

Icelandic winters can be pretty harsh, which probably explains why their Christmas monsters are equally jarring. Forget Snow White’s seven dwarves, and get ready to be creeped out by Iceland’s 13 Yule Lads. The gnome-looking trolls visit houses between December 12 and 24, with one Yule Lad a day, to, um, troll each household with their own unique form of mischief – Spoon Licker tongues utensils clean, Door Slammer slams doors like an angsty teen, and you can probably guess what Sausage Swiper gets up to. However, way back in the day, the tricksters were much more vicious, with shocking tales of gruesome brutality told to scare children into good behaviour.

From Germany and Austria

Frau Perchta is known by many names including the Italian La Befana, the Slavic Baba Yaga and the Russian Babushka, but her MO is the same no matter what. She is known to hand out both rewards and punishments during the 12 days of Christmas, starting from December 25. Similar to our Pontianak, the witch can switch between being a sweet, beautiful Alpine Goddess (in which her story is thought to have descended) and being a sadistic, wrinkled hag, depending on whether you had pleased her. If angered, she might just rip out your internal organs and replace them with junk.

From France

There are two Christmas villains named Hans – one is a criminal mastermind in Die Hard (last name Gruber) and the other is an anti-Santa who’s definitely the scariest (last name Trapp). Legend has it that the latter was a real man who worshipped Satan and was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. He was then exiled into the forest where he disguised himself as a scarecrow to prey on children. To this day, some parents in northeastern France still mention his name to get kids to finish their brussels sprouts.

From Norway

December 13 in Norway and Sweden marks St Lucia’s Day, in which St Lucia is represented as a beautiful woman in a white sash and a crown of candles on her head. However, a few centuries ago, it was celebrated differently. It’s said that evil spirits and demons wander the earth on Lussi’s Night, the night before December 13. Children are expected to be good while the adults ward off evil by protecting their abodes with the cross. The baddest one of them all is Lussi which is portrayed as a hideous demon with tyrannical powers. Besides causing mayhem, she also destroys properties, crops and livestock, as well as kidnaps and kills anyone foolish enough to not be tucked up safely in bed.

From Turkey and Bulgaria

A scarier version of bigfoot, the Karakoncolos appears during winter to stir up trouble. In Turkey, it is known to stand at street corners, setting riddles for passers-by. If you reply with an answer that includes the word ‘black’ (‘kara’ in Turkish), you are free to go unharmed. If not, you’d be knocked out cold, even colder than the weather. In other parts of the world, the Karakoncolos’ favourite trick was to disguise its voice, pretending to be someone’s friend or relative to lure its intended victim out into the snow. The boogeyman is said to have derived from the Greek Kallikantzaros.

From Greece

What’s scarier than one demon? A group of them. In Greece, these monsters are said to spend the year underground, sawing through the tree of life that runs through the earth, before they resurface in December to cause mischief and chaos. This includes stealing any child born over the 12 days of Christmas and turning them into a fellow Kallikantzaros. To keep them at bay, you’d have to bind newborns with straw and garlic, and place a colander outside your house. The demons would be roped into counting the holes but since the number three is holy in Greek, they would miscount it and start all over again, which would keep them busy.