Nicholas and Krampus: A Heartwarming Tale of Love and Monsters
Posted by: Stephen Winick
This blog post presents a story about a young boy who is visited on St. Nicholas’s day (December 6) by the saint and his monstrous companion Krampus. Essentially a hairy, horned devil, Krampus was said to accompany St. Nicholas to punish naughty children. When the saint and the demon do something unexpected, the boy's assumptions are challenged! Published in Vienna, Austria, in 1897, the story is presented as a memoir by Ernst von Beisinger. It sheds light on how the Krampus tradition was enacted and deployed within families to encourage good behavior in 19th century Austria. This post presents the text of the story with commentary on its connections to other monsters, and to the Krampus tradition today.
