The Creepy History of Europe’s Christmas Folk Villains

Many of us already associate Christmas with horror. They’re called relatives.

i'm welsh and mari lwyd would come to our school after every new year so that we could sing welsh songs to her. then on the way out, we'd get to pet her creepy little head whilst she snaps her jaw happily. it was wholesome(?)

Also, out of all the horrific things on this list of creatures, why are the Yule lads the most disturbing to me? Genuinely became nauseous at the thought of these abominations breaking into my home with the express purpose of licking my dishware

My family still does the yule cat thing. We make sure everyone gets some sort of clothing on Christmas eve (usually pajamas) so we don't get eaten by a cat

We in Czechia have something similar to Krampus called čert (read č like ch like in cherry). He walks with Mikuláš (st. Nicolas) at the eve of 5th of December. Children recite poetry or sing a song for Mikuláš and he gives them candy and small toys. The bad children are put into the burlap sack the čert carries with him and taken to hell. I still remember the trauma of being pryed from my mother's arms by a čert when I was 2,5 years old. I have photos of the whole affair, but I don't need them to remember my hysteric cries and pleading that I will be a good child in the future. Yeah be greatful for your creep in a red suit. EDIT: The "real" čert (human in a costume) is a nightmare inducing monster terrorising small children. The storybook čert is often either a suave huntsman seducing people left, right and center. Outsmarted by a person with a common sense , a dumbass (all three types can be seen in Hrátky s čertem) or an overworked dude that's just trying to get the meanest people in the region to hell, but said person is too smart so the čert enlists a helper in a form of a kindhearted person from the same region (S čerty nejsou žerty). The kindness is usually paid in favors - kinda like the deals with fairies only the czech fairies in floklore don't help only kill (rusalky and such). As far as I know the helpful čert is only a sanitised (disneyfied) version made for TV. Anyone more familiar with czech folklore or filmography please feel free to correct me.

Pre 19th and 20th century Christmas seemd like a chaotic, insane, boozy and meat stuffed time where people went a little mad from the darkness and cold, and it's left us with all these traditions and fun stories to learn about and tell! Also this was a great vid 👌

very excited to see my girl mari lwyd being appreciated in all her glory. the area i'm from doesn't really do mari lwyd anymore but i still do love how this terrifying bone lady is a widely celebrated part of welsh heritage

There is nothing quite like being hit with a switch or dragged off into a dark tractor trailer that has been converted into a cave by drunk teenage volunteer figherfighters in Krampus costumes. Gotta love having been raised in a tiny austrian village ahaha. Fun fact: there is also a different type of Christmas demon called Perchten. They look significantly more horrifying, but they also put on a better show, usually with some pyrotechnics

I was raised with a half-joking and extremely American take on the Christmas villain. My dad told me that if I wasn’t good after I received my presents, then “Rodney the Repo Reindeer” would take the presents back.

Frau Perchta" Obviously she makes sausages out of all those intestines! Who doesn't see a charcuterie board at every holiday party? Hickory Farms remembers.

I'm excited that you talked about how Christmas used to be celebrated more like Halloween. I'm from a Pennsylvanian German area, and when my grandmother was young, they used to go belsnickeling, which is basically a cross between Christmas caroling and trick-or-treating. People would dress up in creepy costumes and go door-to-door caroling and asking for treats. People at the house they visited would have to guess who of their neighbors was in each costume. I've always wanted to try belsnickeling, but nobody knows about it anymore, so it wouldn't work. :(

I was born on Krampus day and my told me that my uncle was dressed up for a Perchtenlauf (it's an event where a bunch of men and boys dress up as Perchten (they're similiar to Krampus) with bells and fire and just go wild) that day and she just ran out to the street to all of them shouting "You're an uncle!" at him while he was in full costume

As a Welshman, I'm really happy Mari Llwyd was mentioned. Although she's not a tradition from where I was raised, we did do a mari lwyd rap battle in a school I attended which was closer to that area of tradition, (and yes it is a rap battle) and it was terrifying and fun. I was actually the one who effed up enough for her to come in, but it was cool cause she came in and terrorized all the kids and everyone was screaming and then we all got chocolate coins. The puppeteers stayed and chatted for a while with the teachers with a mug of tea (but given they were demanding beer, I suspect it was more than tea) and then they all wandered off. A cool time for sure.

You saying "Dope! Happy birthday little man!" was so funny!

I grew up with Knecht Ruprecht who accompanies either St. Nicolas on the 6th or the Weihnachtsmann (who's is kinda santa but not, he basically derived from St. Nick but is also is not necessarily him)or the Christkind (which is a baby but not necessarily Jesus) who both bring presents on the 24th depending on religious and family traditions. Knecht Ruprecht functions similar to Krampus and is more known in northern and central Germany. He looks fairly human and has birch twigs with him with which he hits children if they are naughty. Apparently his origins are connected to similar ones as Frau Perchta.

We have a kinda-Krampus here in Finland, he's called Nuuttipukki. He comes on January 13th to take Christmas away and usually raids people's houses for leftovers of Christmas foods and drinks. I really recommend to read about him!

My family does Nikolaus (Saint Nicolas) house visits on the 6th of december. The Krampus that come along are always very kind to the children (sometimes they don't go inside when the kids are too scared). "Krampus runs" on the other hand are not so peacefull. They usually have an ambulance ready because there are cases broken bones almost every time.

"More pancake offerings for mythical creatures, now!" sounds an awful lot like what a mythical creature would say...

I was weirdly not expecting to see Père Fouettard on the list (mostly because here in Switzerland St Nicolas day and Christmas are two different holidays so I don't immediately associate him or Père Fouettard with Christmas (especially because in some cities (like Fribourg) St Nicolas day IS a much bigger celebration than Christmas itself)). Funnily enough here we also have the story of the resurrected boys, which makes the fact that St Nicolas is both the patron saint of children and of sausage makers/pork butchers REALLY… Interesting let's say. Anyway weird facts aside, it was a super interesting video, even for someone who's really familiar with weird European folk tales ♡ You're really spoiling us with all this content !

It happened when I was little that I got so scared of the yule cat eating my dad that I cried until he was given socks 🤦 after that I'm pretty sure my mom made sure that everyone got clothes until I grew out of believing in the yule cat.