The Global Post ran an article on Holiday tradition around the world and Krampus has got to be one of the more bizarre (and scary) Christmas traditions I've seen.
From The Global Post...
It’s a common theme in the Western world to view Christmas as a judgment day for children: Have they been naughty or nice? Many European countries have a good-cop, bad-cop Santa system. While St. Nicholas makes the rounds handing out presents to the good children, his evil twin disciplines the bad ones.
No one takes it quite to the level of Austria, where Krampus, a mutant goat-like creature, roams the streets threatening naughty children with rusty chains and birch sticks. The creature is rooted in legend and re-enacted in many parts of the country on Dec. 5, when men dress up like Krampus and terrorize the neighborhood with bells, chains, whips and baskets (to carry away bad children).
Take a look at the article and see why some think (me included) the Belgians have a racist Christmas tradition (Black Peter), what Poles do with carp scales, why Russians drink ashes and champagne, how many grapes Spaniards rapidly consume at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve, and what the deal is with Brazil's color coded New Year's wishes.
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