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sausome's review
4.0
This was a great collection of short stories, all about Krampus. There was a good variety of types of tales, from old world to contemporary, and the writing was quite well done. It's also a pretty quick read if you are moving through the book.
withthebanned's review against another edition
2.0
On the whole, this was only an okay read. Some of the stories were terrible, and some were just okay. Alas.
rosemarieshort's review against another edition
3.0
This is the sixth in my #12daysofChristmas read-a-thon! Each day I will post a review of a Christmas / Winter related book. Hopefully this will give you some Xmas-Inspo and give your holiday reading a boost!
After reading countless holiday romances, I was definitely in the mood for something…different. So I delved into the world of Christmas horror. As it turns out, a lot of Christmas horror is erotica – who knew?! But hidden amongst it all was this – twelve short stories about Krampus, Santa’s devilish counterpart.
I honestly hadn’t heard of Krampus until the 2015 Universal Pictures movie came out. But after watching it I have to admit I was interested in the lore. Krampusnacht was a good read because of its variety – stories of varying length set in a multitude of time periods and lots of different takes on the beast of lore.
There are some really great little tales in here – and some not so great. I think for me Ring Little Bell Ring was a story I wish had been longer, it was such an engaging idea, and Santa Claus and the Little Girl who Loved to Sing and Dance was so outrageous it was brilliant. I was also particularly drawn to Raw Recruits – one of the darkest stories in the anthology and definitely my kind of Yuletide horror. However I felt the weaker stories were so weak as to pull down the whole anthology.
If you’re a bit tired of the syrupy sweet, Cliff Richard themed Christmas cheer then Krampusnacht is certainly something you might want to indulge in. It’s a dark hot chocolate (with a healthy splash of something stronger!) kind of book – ideal for those dark (but not too dark!) winter nights!
After reading countless holiday romances, I was definitely in the mood for something…different. So I delved into the world of Christmas horror. As it turns out, a lot of Christmas horror is erotica – who knew?! But hidden amongst it all was this – twelve short stories about Krampus, Santa’s devilish counterpart.
I honestly hadn’t heard of Krampus until the 2015 Universal Pictures movie came out. But after watching it I have to admit I was interested in the lore. Krampusnacht was a good read because of its variety – stories of varying length set in a multitude of time periods and lots of different takes on the beast of lore.
There are some really great little tales in here – and some not so great. I think for me Ring Little Bell Ring was a story I wish had been longer, it was such an engaging idea, and Santa Claus and the Little Girl who Loved to Sing and Dance was so outrageous it was brilliant. I was also particularly drawn to Raw Recruits – one of the darkest stories in the anthology and definitely my kind of Yuletide horror. However I felt the weaker stories were so weak as to pull down the whole anthology.
If you’re a bit tired of the syrupy sweet, Cliff Richard themed Christmas cheer then Krampusnacht is certainly something you might want to indulge in. It’s a dark hot chocolate (with a healthy splash of something stronger!) kind of book – ideal for those dark (but not too dark!) winter nights!
amyborch's review against another edition
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A group of short stories about krampus. Most well written and all have a different perspective.
tyler_j's review against another edition
3.25
As typical with anthologies, some hits, some misses.
1st night of Krampus "Prodigious" - 5 stars
2nd night of Krampus "The Wicked Child" - 5 stars (Favorite!)
3rd night of Krampus "Marching Krampus" - 3.25 stars
4th night of Krampus "Peppermint Sticks" - 1 star, didn't get it
5th night of Krampus "Ring, Little Bell, Ring" - 1.5 stars, also didn't get it but was kinda catchy
6th night of Krampus "A Visit" - 4 stars
7th night of Krampus "Santa Claus and the little girl who loved to sing and dance" - 1 star, made me so angry i'd seriously consider giving the 4th and 5th one higher ratings just because I just didn't get them but this one actually made me angry! Ableism, Fat-phobia, TW: Eating Disorders (and no respect), R-Word, the little girl making me think of a female Dudley, but worse and going so far as to threaten Santa and say he r*ped her when he never touched her or anything just because he wouldn't break another girls ankles (she wanted a part in some commercial or something) and I seriously don't think that is something this world needs right now with the way r*pe culture is.
8th night of Krampus "Between the eyes" - 3.5 stars
9th night of Krampus "Nothing to Dread" - 1 star, I originally rated this 3.75 as it gave me some food for thought and taught me some things I didn't know because I don't know my history very well because the American school system sucks. However upon looking at other reviews the fact that one of the kids name is Jakob makes it incredibly racist against Jewish people. I had no idea it was a Jewish name. It's *possible* the name was an accident but given it's so clearly about the holocaust, if it wasn't on purpose than it was at least careless as care should have been taken to not give that kid, that ended up ruining the future (now past), a Jewish name. My average rating below has been changed though it still ends up being a 3 over-all.
10th night of Krampus "Raw Recruits" - 4 stars
11th night of Krampus "The God Killer" - 4.25 stars
12th night of Krampus "A Krampus Carol" - 5 stars (A close second favorite!)
Averaging out to 3.20 stars, so a 3. I enjoyed most of the stories and loved a few of them! I am glad to have read some of them and wish I could wash my brain of a couple of them.
1st night of Krampus "Prodigious" - 5 stars
2nd night of Krampus "The Wicked Child" - 5 stars (Favorite!)
3rd night of Krampus "Marching Krampus" - 3.25 stars
4th night of Krampus "Peppermint Sticks" - 1 star, didn't get it
5th night of Krampus "Ring, Little Bell, Ring" - 1.5 stars, also didn't get it but was kinda catchy
6th night of Krampus "A Visit" - 4 stars
7th night of Krampus "Santa Claus and the little girl who loved to sing and dance" - 1 star, made me so angry i'd seriously consider giving the 4th and 5th one higher ratings just because I just didn't get them but this one actually made me angry! Ableism, Fat-phobia, TW: Eating Disorders (and no respect), R-Word, the little girl making me think of a female Dudley, but worse and going so far as to threaten Santa and say he r*ped her when he never touched her or anything just because he wouldn't break another girls ankles (she wanted a part in some commercial or something) and I seriously don't think that is something this world needs right now with the way r*pe culture is.
8th night of Krampus "Between the eyes" - 3.5 stars
9th night of Krampus "Nothing to Dread" - 1 star, I originally rated this 3.75 as it gave me some food for thought and taught me some things I didn't know because I don't know my history very well because the American school system sucks. However upon looking at other reviews the fact that one of the kids name is Jakob makes it incredibly racist against Jewish people. I had no idea it was a Jewish name. It's *possible* the name was an accident but given it's so clearly about the holocaust, if it wasn't on purpose than it was at least careless as care should have been taken to not give that kid, that ended up ruining the future (now past), a Jewish name. My average rating below has been changed though it still ends up being a 3 over-all.
10th night of Krampus "Raw Recruits" - 4 stars
11th night of Krampus "The God Killer" - 4.25 stars
12th night of Krampus "A Krampus Carol" - 5 stars (A close second favorite!)
Averaging out to 3.20 stars, so a 3. I enjoyed most of the stories and loved a few of them! I am glad to have read some of them and wish I could wash my brain of a couple of them.
slimeandslashers's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful assortment of Krampus-themed stories! Such a fun collection. Some stories shined above others, but overall the entire collection was very enjoyable. This was a perfect, thematic read for the Holiday season...with a delightful, creepy and sinister twist.
ceallaighsbooks's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“He stamped his hoof in front of the house. The front door began to groan. He stamped again. Its locks ticked as the bolts slid free. He stamped a third time, and the door opened wide with a loud, slow, long creak.” — from “Nothing to Dread”, by Jeff Provine
TITLE—Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus
AUTHOR—various, ed. by Kate Wolford
PUBLISHED—2014
GENRE—short stories: horror, speculative fiction
SETTING—var. in the western world
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—Krampus, Christmas & Yule, folklore, “modern life”
“You know how Santa is supposed to leave lumps of coal in your stocking if you’re naughty?”
I nod.
“Let’s say it isn’t Santa. Let’s say Santa only wants to deal with nice kids. Somebody still has to deliver the coal.”
“Krampus.”
“Krampus.” She pops her gum as if that’s the last word.”
— from “Prodigious”, by Elizabeth Twist
A couple of these stories were cute but overall I thought that the style of writing felt a bit outdated with some flat, cliche-feeling imagery at times (at least for a collection published in 2014) and while that almost contributed to the darkness of the feel of the collection—sort of dreary-dark but with a pseudo-modern feel—I’m not sure it was the best choice either for the collection as a whole or for each individual story. I would have liked a more contemporary feel (especially philosophically-speaking) to the stories for it to be a truly meaningful collection for me. And a couple of the stories were just plain bad—like unreadable, cringey bad 🥴😅—imo, but since I am extremely invested in the Krampus myth it was still interesting for me to see how modern writers are interpreting the legend for “modern” days.
I would certainly love to see more stories featuring my favorite holiday demon but these stories just weren’t for me.
“For if truth and beauty and love of life must be labeled wickedness, then heaven loves a wicked child, my Tuva. And so do I.” — Krampus in “The Wicked Child”, by Elise Forier Edie
⭐️⭐️⭐️
TW // g-word slur (used in an appropriative manner), fatphobia, a super cringey comment about an author liking “off-beat, quirky ethnic holiday traditions” in their bio 😬 (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)
Further Reading—
- Krampus the Yule Lord, by Brom
- The Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas, by Al Ridenour
- Krampus and Other Yuletide Tales, by Faina Lorah
- Gothic Blue Book VI: A Krampus Carol, by Sara Tantlinger—TBR
- Rare Exports (2010 film—Finnish with English subtitles)
- Krampus (2015 film)
ntrlycrly's review against another edition
3.0
More like three and a half stars.
While Krampus was most likely part of a morality tale to keep children in line, I have to admit that the tales of greedy adults getting their just deserts were rather satisfying. Favorite story was "The Wicked Child" where Krampus actually protects an orphan from her abusive grandparents.
While Krampus was most likely part of a morality tale to keep children in line, I have to admit that the tales of greedy adults getting their just deserts were rather satisfying. Favorite story was "The Wicked Child" where Krampus actually protects an orphan from her abusive grandparents.
kaylana's review against another edition
4.0
Not all stories were created equal but I enjoyed enough of them that a few stand out.
My favorite was the story of Krampus going to local pubs on Christmas Eve and finding the most down-on-their-luck souls he could find and giving them the choice to either die tonight by a bullet or to have one year and die by fire. What does one do when given only a year to live? It was a great horror short story. Loved it.
Another great one was where a human who can see all the demons demi-gods unleashes her vengeance on Krampus after she catches him stealing children. The gods hold a trial and she defends herself. It's just awesome.
There's a second book. I'll probably pick it up next Christmas.
My favorite was the story of Krampus going to local pubs on Christmas Eve and finding the most down-on-their-luck souls he could find and giving them the choice to either die tonight by a bullet or to have one year and die by fire. What does one do when given only a year to live? It was a great horror short story. Loved it.
Another great one was where a human who can see all the demons demi-gods unleashes her vengeance on Krampus after she catches him stealing children. The gods hold a trial and she defends herself. It's just awesome.
There's a second book. I'll probably pick it up next Christmas.