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Krampus in popular culture

Krampus, the "Christmas Devil" of Austrian and Bavarian folklore, has entered the popular culture of North America; Christian Jacobs notes that "thanks to the Internet and YouTube, [Krampus] is now very much on America's Christmas radar." Tanya Basu interprets this as part of a "growing movement of anti-Christmas celebrations": a "bah, humbug" rejection of – or novel alternative to – mainstream festivities. Brian Joines of Image Comics suspects that the reason Krampus (specifically, as well as dark aspects of Christmas in general) has not been historically popularized in America is a social artifact resulting from "the nature of how we view Christmas in this country, both as a big day for kids and as the birth of a big religious figurehead". In some North American depictions, Krampus is an antihero who seeks to prevent children from becoming spoiled by rampant consumerism flowing from the economics of Christmas.

Film

In production

Television

Animation

Live action

Print media

  • Krampus: The Devil of Christmas (2004), by Monte Beauchamp collects early 1900s Krampus postcards
  • Art director and graphic designer Monte Beauchamp published Krampus postcards from the 19th and 20th centuries in his magazine BLAB! after being introduced to them by a collector. He then had two books of Krampus postcards published in 2004 and 2010. An exhibit was mounted in a gallery in Santa Monica, and a friend of Beauchamp's opened a Krampus-themed club in Los Angeles.
  • Chickenhare graphic novel (2006), had a Krampus named Banjo as one of the main characters.
  • Krampus: The Yule Lord novel (2012), by Gerald Brom set in Boone County, West Virginia.

Others

  • CarnEvil arcade game (1998), has a "freakishly evil St. Nick" boss named Krampus.
  • Random Spirit Lover album (2007), by the Canadian indie band Sunset Rubdown, features a picture of Krampus on the back cover. Spencer Krug stated that it was placed there because "he represents the sort of duality that's a theme on the record, the two sides of every thing."
  • The single "Naughty Christmas" (2016) by Italian band Lacuna Coil mentions Krampus repeatedly throughout the song.
  • Krampus: A Yuletide Tale, a musical by Carrie Gilchrist (book, lyrics) and Nils-Petter Ankarblom (book, music, lyrics), was first produced at Short North Stage in Columbus, Ohio in December 2015.
  • Krampus appears in the Killing Floor 2 map Krampus Lair, released during the Twisted Christmas 2017 update. Krampus appears as a boss who must be defeated at the end of the map.
  • In the Doctor Who audio drama series ' (2018), the two-part "Better Watch Out" and "Fairytale of Salzburg" sees the Eighth Doctor and his companions attend a Christmas celebration in Salzburg, only for a mysterious wish-granting entity to grant a wish that makes the Krampus real. As the Krampus (Robert Whitelock) nearly sends the whole city to Hell, the Doctor's companion Helen Sinclair is able to find the original Saint Nicholas (Raad Rawi) and bring him to the present so that he can command the Krampus to depart, as tradition states that only Saint Nick can command the Krampus.
  • Overwatch, an online video game by Blizzard Entertainment, features a customized Krampus skin for the character Junkrat in their "Overwatch Winter Wonderland" event.
  • In a 2022 episode of The Family Histories Podcast, Krampus suddenly breaks into host Andrew Martin's garage where he keeps his time machine. Krampus is soon knocked unconscious by the 19th Century Hungarian poet and revolutionary Sándor Petőfi, and they learn that he is carrying a scroll listing the show's naughty guests. Krampus is zapped back into time to a random date.

References

Informational notes

Citations