It’s the time of year when kids are wondering if they are on the naughty or nice list. But instead of Santa Claus bringing kids a lump of coal, children might be visited by the more evil and menacing Krampus.
“I like the scary aspect of it. I like the dark and scary side of this,” Michael Brandt, who likes to play the character of Krampus, said.
Krampus is the evil counterpart to St. Nicholas, according to European folklore. Essentially, before the naughty or nice list, there was Krampus. If you were good, you wouldn’t see Krampus. But if you were bad, he would come and either hit you with a birch stick or maybe even steal you away.
“At a basic level, Krampus is behavior modification, and that’s been absorbed into Christendom, and now at this point it’s change your attitude, or you’re not going to get your presents under the tree,” Brandt said…