Christmas and folklore merge in thirteen tales of holiday terror. Gifts and punishments are delivered by these assistants to St. Nicholas, including Krampus form Austria, La Befana from Italy, Frau Perchta from Bavaria, and Hans Trapp from France.

Step into the dark roots of Christmas past where the Krampus punishes the bad boys and girls. Christmas time is truly the darkest and creepiest time of the year filled with devilish creatures lurking in the shadows waiting to get us. Best known is the Krampus who has been the subject of films and songs. There was a time in the late 1800s when people sent Krampus cards, not holiday greetings. There are other violent and dangerous monsters from all over northern climes who have been hunting naughty children for centuries. From shapeshifters to mountain trolls, to elves, to heavy-handed cohorts of Saint Nicholas, the Christmas holiday has been filled with ghosts and monsters ready to dole out punishment to those who need it. The Fright Before Christmas will delve into the folklore of Krampus and his friends with the elf-like Tomten and the goblinesque Karakoncolas. The Belsnickel is ready to hit us with his switch of sticks and Gryla may drag you back to her mountain lair. And watch out for the Yule Cat ready to pounce! These are just a few of the yuletide beasties coming for us in The Fright Before Christmas in the hope they can save us from ourselves. The folklore roots of Christmas under its many other guises (Yule, the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia) is examined in a different, darker light. The Winter Solstice is a time to be afraid. It's the shortest day of the year. The longest night. In some parts of the world, the sun doesn't rise at all. It's dark, and we have to wonder if the sun will ever come back at all. Christmas has always been creepy and with The Fright Before Christmas you'll see the other side. This is a book for everyone who loves a little darkness around the holidays. Be good or the Krampus will get you!

Christmas and folklore merge in thirteen tales of holiday terror. Gifts and punishments are delivered by these assistants to St. Nicholas, including Krampus form Austria, La Befana from Italy, Frau Perchta from Bavaria, and Hans Trapp from France.

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen...but do you recall the most petrifying Christmas figures of all? Not all children fear just a lump of coal in their stockings. Discover the terrifying Yuletide fables that have horrified kids for generations. He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake. This lighthearted song is a bit more ominous in the context of other Christmas traditions. From beasts that threaten to cook children into stew to sinister crones who snatch little ones from their beds, you won't find any dancing sugar plums here. Outside of the heartwarming Christmas tales we all know and love, there are an abundance of frightening stories to chill all who hear them to the bone. Discover folklore from all corners of the world, including: Krampus (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and northern Italy), a demonic half-goat monster who drags chains and whips bad children with birch sticks, or stuffs them in his sack to take away The Kallikantzari (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Turkey), goblins who come out during Advent to cause mischief Père Fouettard (France, Belgium, Switzerland), Saint Nicholas' eternal cannibal manservant who deals with naughty children Hans Trapp (Alsace-Lorraine, France), who roams the countryside disguised as a scarecrow and goes door to door on Christmas looking for children to feast upon Gryla (Iceland), the giant ogre who emerges from her cave on Christmas to hunt children and cook them into stew Mari Lwyd (Wales), a creature with a horse's skull and a long cloak that is followed by a group of chanting people Frau Perchta (Austria and Bavaria), who slits the bellies of bad children and stuffs them with straw These tales are sure to leave you wishing for the Grinch. Whether you are a fan of history and folklore, you love learning about different cultures, or you just want to give a holiday gift that will bring the joy of Christmas to that lucky someone (just kidding), The Scary Book of Christmas Lore is for you. 'Tis the season! Is it beginning look a lot like Christmas, yet?

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. The new Christmas he seems to embody is ironically closer to an ancient understanding of the holiday as a perilous, haunted season. In the Krampus' world, witches rule Christmas, and saints can sometimes kill.

Krampus is the cloven-hoofed, curly-horned, and long-tongued dark companion of St. Nick. Sometimes a hero, sometimes a villain, within these pages, he's always more than just a sidekick. You'll meet manifestations of Santa's dark servant as he goes toe-to-toe with a bratty Cinderella, a guitar-slinging girl hero, a coffee shop-owning hipster, and sometimes even St. Nick himself. Whether you want a dash of horror or a hint of joy and redemption, these 12 new tales of Krampus will help you gear up for the most "wonderful" time of the year. Featuring original stories by Steven Grimm, Lissa Marie Redmond, Beth Mann, Anya J. Davis, E.J. Hagadorn, S.E. Foley, Brad P. Christy, Ross Baxter, Nancy Brewka-Clark, Tamsin Showbrook, E.M. Eastick, and Jude Tulli.

The holidays are sometimes predictable. The name, Santa everywhere we forgot about the one creature hiding in his shadow. The one being that would come if one of us dared walk the beaten paths of naughtiness... Krampus is back, and so we wish you a Merry Fright!Krampus Korps by Aida JacobsKrampus has gone rogue, and the fate of Christmas hangs in the balance. Can the now defunct Krampus Korps, the elite team that had once been trained for the sole purpose of keeping Krampus in line, rally in time?Can Christmas be saved?Krampusnaught by Kendra HaleEvery knows the rules of Christmas, good gets treated with kindness while badness gets the proverbial coal. Krampusnaught works on the opposite rule set. Good little ones get ignored while the bad ones get their just reward; some even get an exclusive one way trip. Krampus is their guide and ride as they make their journey to hell. But there are times where the rules are blurred, shifted even. This Krampusnaught things are a little different and one soul is about to be put on trial in an event that only happens once every few hundred years. My Brother's Keeper by Winter LawrenceOn a cold, dark night in Colorado, Brett Ellington learns the hard way that hosting a séance on the 5th of December isn't a good idea. There are ghosts to contend with--like dead brothers who give cryptic advice, and there's ZoZo too, the demon king of the Ouija board. He's harder to pin down, and rumor has it that he's a prankster, so Brett can't tell if he's the only spirit in the house or if there's something else lurking on the roof. As the night draws on though, and the sounds of rattling chains and jingle bells fill the chimney, Brett begins to wonder if ZoZo isn't the only thing that's come to town that night--there's something else too, something far darker and much less merrier than a couple of angry ghosts.Creating Enemies by Vanessa RossThis is a prequel to the Royal's Light by Vanessa Ross. Discover the General's motivation and his plans for the Fiann Company. The General wants revenge, while Krampus wants his mother's approval. Both are known for their evil but how far will they go to achieve their goals. This story includes graphic language and visual sexual encounters not appropriate for the faint of heart. Winter Goat Man by A. WayneMila inherits an old stone house in a secluded village in the Mont La Bellerose county. Along with both her best friends, she moves in only to find out the house has the darkest past one home can have. So close to the holidays, a haunting overtaking her new property, Mila and her friends swear to find the one creature leaving nothing but corpses behind him.Krampus Checklist by Dora EsquivelSomeone is taking shifter and human children away in from their homes. The intruder leaves a few intriguing clues, but nothing to help the shifter families find their loved ones. Marcos wanted to spend his Christmas vacation with his long-time crush Andreas, not expecting to get sidelined by his brother Manuel the alpha of his pack to take care of his nephew Pepe. On the hunt for a Christmas tree, Marcos, Andreas, and Pepe find themselves being hunted by this creature. The thing that haunts them.A Krampus Visit by L.A. MacielSince I as three, I would visit my eccentric uncle for the holidays. He held the title as town Santa very dear to his heart, much to my chagrin. So, of course, I grew up with him telling me stories about elves and jolly Ol' Saint Nick. But, he also told me tales of a scary creature, one that most people have forgotten. Krampus. This is my story about my visit from Krampus... A Krampus visit