You try to run, but your little legs won’t quite go as fast as you need Y them to. Tears stain your cheeks as you desperately look for your parents. All around you the flames dance as sinister horned shapes run between them. You tried so hard to be good this year, you really did. You did all your homework, ate all your greens and even helped with the chores. None of that matters now, though. You had hoped for a gift from Saint Nicholas this Christmas, but now you’re being hunted… hunted by Krampus, for this is his night.

The Krampus Runs of the Alpine regions of Europe have become legendary – a popular alternative Christmas attraction for tourists with an interest in a more satanic side to Santa. Taking place several weeks before Christmas Day, parents take their children to a parade that sees kindly Saint Nick accompanied by an altogether more demonic creature. If you’ve been good, Saint Nicholas might reward you with a gift – but if you’ve been naughty, Krampus will track you down. Once a subject of obscure folklore, Krampus has become a modern phenomenon, having made the transition from Europe to the United States. He was the subject of the 2015 movie Krampus, ten direct-to-DVD films and has appeared in episodes of TV shows such as Supernatural and Inside No. 9. Yet this transition has sidelined him mostly as a cult figure, a modern horror icon with comic books and action figures. Of Krampus’ folkloric origins, only vague hints and whispers remain. Yet in Europe, Krampus is alive and well, still haunting the nightmares of naughty children who fear Krampusnacht, the Night of the Krampus, most of all.

But just who