The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures by Sarah Clegg

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

While we tend to think of Christmas as all joy and light, there’s also a long tradition of Yuletide creatures and mayhem.  While one of the best known is arguably the Krampus, he certainly isn’t the only one.  There are Christmas witches, ghosts, and monsters in the mix.  Sarah Clegg sets out to examine personally some of the rituals, superstitions, and folklore surrounding the season in this informative and fun book.

Since Christmas takes place in the darkest part of the year, the time when nights are longer than the days, it’s not surprising that there are a lot of things that go bump in the dark.  Clegg starts out with a superstition, that if you follow certain rules and go out before dawn on Christmas Eve you will see the funerals of all those who will die in the coming year.  She does a good job of evoking her cold trek, with only moonlight to show her the way. I was cold just reading about it.

From there, she moves into some of the lesser known-customs of times long ago, when the world could be topsy-turvy at this time of year.  The servants would play the master, there was a Lord of Misrule, drunkenness and over-indulgences were the themes of the day.  It’s no wonder that there were those who wanted Christmas celebrations banned.

One of the overriding themes with the Christmas monsters is one that will sound rather familiar:  they target those who have misbehaved throughout the year.  Unlike modern Santa, these creatures didn’t give a lump of coal instead of presents, but would remove internal organs and replace them with straw.  Unless, of course, the naughty were just eaten, as the Yule Cat was prone to do.  By the way, the legend says that the Yule Cat eats those who don’t receive new clothes for Christmas which seems puzzling until you know that new clothes are given to good children and adults.  Misbehavers receive none, and so are fair game.

It’s also a good way to make sure clothes are appropriately appreciated as gifts. Those socks from Grandma?  Lifesaver!

Clegg’s tone is light and as noted before, she makes this a personal journey.  She participates in a Krampus Run, goes to a wassailing, sees a Mari Lwyd in action, and attends a Carnival ball in Venice. She definitely has a sense of humor as evidenced by the footnotes—do read the footnotes!—but she obviously enjoys the myths and legends behind the stories.  Krampuses, Perchtens, Perchta, St. Lucy/Lucia (whom I would never have thought of as a dark creature), Gryla, they’re all here for your holiday . . . um, amusement?

I admit I got a bit bogged down in the dates, which I felt the author relishes.  Most of the creatures are associated with a specific date, but that date can vary by culture. Not only that, but we have to go back and forth between the Gregorian and Julian calendars.  Since I confuse easily, all the significance went over my head in most cases.

If you want to take a look at some of the darker legends around the holiday, this is a book for you!