TABLE OF CONTENTS
Map of Significant Towns & Landmarks
Introduction
The Dead of Winter
Chapter One
Gruß vom Krampus, the Dark Companion
From Alps to Internet
The Krampus Arrives in America
American Misconceptions
Krampuskarten
The Krampus By Any Other Name
Knecht Ruprecht
The Christkind and the Weihnachtsmann
Père Fouettard, Hans Trapp, and Schmutzli
Zwarte Piet
Frightful Stories for Better Children
Roots of the Kinderschreckfigur
Chapter Two
The Devil at the Door
Meeting the Krampus
The Rempler
Gastein and the Krampus
Where the Krampus Runs
The Run Versus the House Visit
Traditional Figures of the Krampus Troupe
The House Visit
Troupe Life
Suiting Up
Masks
That Furry Suit
Switches, Bells, Basket, and Chain
Modern Trends in Mask and Costume
Chapter Three
The Beast Pursues His Game
A Cruel Sport
The Prey
Injuries and Aggression
Under the Influence
Show and Spectacle
“True to the Good Old Ways”
Women and the Tradition
Krampus Unchained
Rite of Passage
Regional Variations
Chapter Four
The Church Breeds a Monster
A Not-So-Jolly St. Nicholas
Unseemly Holy Legends
The Devil in Medieval Christmas Plays
King Herod, Earthly Devil
The Devil’s Stagecraft
Nicholas in Paradise Plays
Jesuit Pedagogy and Nicholas
Nicholas Meets the Perchten
Nicholas Play or Nicholas Parade?
St. Nicholas Gets Rowdy
Strange Company for a Saint
Carnival Influences
Early Tyrolean Diffusion
Scenes from a Nicholas Play
Existing Nicholas Plays and Parades
The Boy Bishops
The Feast of Fools
The Old Ways: Kalends and Saturnalia
Chapter Five
Frau Perchta, Witches, and Ghosts
Witch and Goddess, Benevolent Monster
Who Are the Perchten?
Perchta and Epiphany
Celtic or Germanic Goddesses?
From Perchta to Perchten
Domestic Oversight and Female Perchten
The Belly Slitter and Her Dreadful Way
A Mother Goose Tale
Foods for Perchta
Perchta and the Heimchen
Holda-Holle
Frau Holle Tales
Frau Holle Country
Enchantress in the Mountain
Holda Becomes a Witch
Herodias, Perchta, and a Hissing Head
Loyal Eckhart, Ghosts, a Jug of Beer
The Inexhaustible Sacrifice
Magic in the Venusberg
Witchcraft Born in the Alps
Witch Hunting and Hauntings in Tyrol
Witch Fires
La Befana
Perchta by Any Other Name
Ghostly Company
Chapter Six
The Haunted Season
Unholy Nights
Companies of Ghosts
Wuotan and the Wild Hunt
The Night Folk
Wild Hunters
The Wild Hunter Türst
The Twelve Nights, the Rauhnächte
Rauhnacht Superstitions
Ausräuchern (Censing)
Knocking Nights
The Glöcklern
Pelzmärtel, the St. Martin Monster
Release the Wolves!
Winter Comes Early
Halloween Leans Toward Christmas
A Dark St. Lucy
Bloody Thomas
Bavarian Forest Rauhnacht Celebrations
The World of the Krampus
Chapter Seven
The Perchten
A Parade in Gastein
Finding a Pagan Percht
The Habergeiß
A Spirit of the Fields
Cave of the Habergeiß
Goats Everywhere
A Scandinavian Connection
Origins of the Habergeiß
Disciplined by a Goat
Magic Rite or Playful Celebration?
The Wild Hunt of Untersberg
The Kirchseeon Perchtenlauf
The Pinzgau Tresterer
Perchten in the Tyrolean Unterland
The Gastein Perchtenlauf
Schiachperchten, Witches, and Perchta
Chapter Eight
Pagan Roots and Final Questions
Too Bright to See
A Devil’s Cross
The Beautiful Ones Arrive
The Swiss Version
How Perchta Grew a Second Face
Influences from Venice
Between Carnival Amusements and Folk Ritual
Where Perchta Lived On
Healthy Skepticism
Lucky Strikes
“Life Switches” and “Smacking Easter”
Battles in the Clouds
A Swiss Connection?
Flying Leaps
The Monsters Between the Years
Conclusion
Why the Krampus Must Come
Index
Acknowledgments