Krampus: The Devil of Christmas: Pre-WWI Krampus Postcard Reproductiions

...or, "Greetings from Krampus"!What a marvelously imaginative fantasy character! Unfortunately, as Americans we have a tendency to bowdlerize, sanitize, and cute-ify everything. Disney polishes all the rough edges off of Grimm's fairy tales, and Clement Moore and Thomas Nast took the greek Saint Nickolaus and turned him into a jolly red-suited fat man called Santa Claus that has nothing left in common with his predecessor except a white beard and a predilection for gift-giving.The folk myth that Europeans had in the 18th and 19th centuries was designed to impress unruly and raucous children with the need to behave themselves. Bad behavior would not only result in no gifts from Saint Nickolaus, but also a visit from his dark servant, the Krampus. The black-furred, horned and cloven-hoofed demon consulted his Book of Sins and was tasked with the responsibility of punishing recalcitrant and unrepentant children. Depending on the seriousness of a child's sins, Krampus would frighten, spank, whip with a birch switch, or in cases of extreme misbehavior, even toss them into a large wooden or wicker basket he carried on his back and cart them off to Hell for punishment. A far more serious consequence than merely receiving a lump of coal in your shoe! The Krampusnacht festival is still held in some places in Europe on the eve of December 5th (December 6th being Saint Nickolaus' Day).When high-quality color printing technology came into existence in the 1890s, the image of the Krampus was playfully celebrated each year in a series of postcards that were extremely popular, and sometimes collected the way kids in America would later collect baseball and other types of trading cards. It's obvious from the images here that they were aimed just as squarely at adults as well, since some of them contain images that are slightly suggestive (and probably far less innocuous in their time than they seem to us today).Somebody (Tim Burton?) really HAS to make a movie based on the legend of the Krampus.

If I could give this little book 6 stars I would, it's that good! The artwork is so incredibly awesome that after flipping through it I was hungry for MORE KRAMPUS! So of course I bought every book on Krampus ever written and now have an impressive collection on the Fearsome Yule lord! OK, granted not everybody is as obsessive/compulsive as yers trooly, but just hear me out, huh? Buy the book. I mean it. Buy it NOW or I swear the Dark One will show up at your house when you least expect it and he'll do something really unpleasant. Got it? No, get it!

Lot’s of great images but not of particularly great quality. Ok for the money.

I love all things Christmas. From Peanuts to Tolkien's letters to Victorian images, I love to see the various ways we've celebrated. Krampus is one of the more recent additions, but an enjoyable one.I've known about Krampus since around 2004, and I've found him fascinating. This past year (Christmas 2013), I brought this book to our family gathering for Christmas. It was really amusing and interesting to just about everyone..The book has a lot of great images and is bound well and printed on quality paper. I expect this book to have a place in my Christmas collection for years to come.

If you are a little over-dosed on sugary angels, glittering snow, sweet improbable children and perfectly functioning families, this comes as a welcome alternative. Full of mischief, satirical takes on people and the holiday, this is evocative of a time and placethrough the art, and makes it more real in doing so. A little like watching old prewar motion pictures, it is entertaining, and a little dated. I hear stories from older people about Krampus from their childhood and how this collection depicts the fanciful with some basis in their experiences they always were told about, but never really experienced. Good fun.

I don't know how, but I had never heard of the Krampus until this year! As a fan of the supernatural and all things spooky, this was an amazing find. This is a fun collection of Krampus drawings over the years that is great as a coffee table book, or (if you're like me) to bust out during Christmas dinner and pass around for everyone else to witness the holiday demon we never knew about.Lots of laughs for those of us with a twisted sense of humor. My favorite picture is the one where Krampus is lifting a screaming child by his ears. 'Tis the season to be jolly!

Very creepy and fun book. I would like more history but what was written was well done. I enjoy seeing the holidays from another perspective. I like the tongue in cheek humor which is hidden in so many of the picture as Krampus flirts with young ladies and is tortured by the puppet Judy in one of the pictures. Thank you for the wonderful creepiness in this book.

I got this as a gift for my mother for Christmas. The book is 95% pictures and a small amount about Krampus legend. While i was hoping for a more in-depth detailing the huge amount of images made up for it. The book is smaller than average and somewhat heavy. The pages are filled with endless colorful images guaranteed to get you in the Christmas Spirit.

After seeing the recent movie Krampus (with Toni Collette) I was intrigued by the legend behind the character. Of European origin, dating back as far as the 17th C, Krampus was the companion to St Nikolaus, who, at the beginning of December, (as opposed to the end) would accompany St Nikolaus and punish wayward and naughty children (and some adults, if the illustrations in this book are to be believed!) by some rather grim means - stuffed into a sack or whicker basket and either birched or thrown into the fiery pits of hell!! In the early part of the 19th century, America - once again - adapted European folklore for its own ends, turning St Nikolaus into the sanitised jolly, rotund, twinkle-eyed father Christmas we have all grown up with.This magnificent volume of dark images and illustrations gleefully portrays Krampus in his many and varied guises, but all within the framework of a horned, long-tongued and cloven-hoofed devil! (he certainly seems to be thoroughly enjoying his work!)There is a brief, but very informative introduction by the author Monte Beauchamp and then just page after page of paintings, drawings and illustrations.The book itself: handsomely bound with attractive end-papers and of sturdy construction. A recommended addition to anyone that enjoys dark folklore and myth!!

Il libro ha pochissimo testo, meno di 10 pagine scritte in caratteri molto grandi. Quindi non è adatto a chi cerca una storia dettagliata della tradizione/personaggio del Krampus. Ma ha una quantità enorme di illustrazioni vintage veramente belle e particolari. Compratelo se vi interessano di più le immagini. Io lo cercavo con questo intento, e sono rimasta molto soddisfatta.

Muy buen libro sobre el tema del Krampus, muy desconocido para la mayoria pero muy interesante, ya que tiene en común mucho folclore y leyendas de nuestras tierras, los dibujos e ilustraciones son muy buenas, de diferentes épocas y muy buena calidad, totalmente recomendable

This book contains a significant amount of illustrations (which is great) but there isn't enough text/history.I was expecting more anecdotes.

Ottimo libro strapieno di illustrazioni e cartoline d'epoca riguardanti i Krampus!! Copertina cartonata e tante pagine, da avere assolutamente !