The Spirit of Krampus

by Kate Danley, Abigail Larson (Illustrator)

A NEW ILLUSTRATED VERSION FEATURING THE WORK OF ABIGAIL LARSON

December 24th has come again. What a time to get into the holiday mood! But this year, it's the spirit of Krampus, not the spirit of Christmas, that has infected adults across the globe.

It is up to young Skip to track down Santa Claus and set things right in a dark, dystopian world gone mad.

Genres: Fantasy

41 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2013

About the author

Kate Danley began her writing career as an indie author in 2010. Since then, her books have been published by 47North, she spent five weeks on the USA Today bestseller list, and she has been honored with various awards, including the Garcia Award for Best Fiction Book of the Year (The Woodcutter), McDougall Previews Award for Best Fantasy Book of the Year (Queen Mab), Best of 2014 by Suspense Magazine (M&K Tracking), and the 2017 Utopia Award for Best Anthology of the Year (Once Upon A Kiss - "Galatea & Pygmalion"). Her play Building Madness won the prestigious Panowski Playwriting Award and her play Bureaucrazy was a semi-finalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Her works have been produced in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Canada, and the UK. She has over 300+ film, television, and theatre credits to her name, and specializes in sketch, improv, and Shakespeare. She wrote sketch for a weekly show in Hollywood and has performed her original stand-up at various clubs in LA. She learned on-camera puppetry from the man who played Mr. Snuffleupagus and performed the head of a 20-foot dinosaur on an NBC pilot. She lost on Hollywood Squares.

Reviews

[Ginny & Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dystopian Christmas

Fun story about what happens when the spirit of Christmas gets switched, and what it takes to get it back right. Brothers look out for each other. Scary, but ok for middle grade kids, I think.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, I loved it. Like much of Danley's work, Krampus was magical and fun. Upon finishing, I wanted more. How DOES Krampus get so mean? More, please!

[Raquel Sg · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You have been very, very naughty!"

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, sweet story about a boy who saves Christmas from Krampus gone rogue. There are a few typos, but mostly it flows and reads easily.

[Andrea Frankel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming

This is a short, sweet, post apocalyptic fable (not a combination I expected!), and the perfect little bonbon to cap off the season.

[Sarah Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aside from some editing errors it was good. The illustrations were nice too. I like that the story uses the original Krampus background story and not something more modern they have used in movies.

[Dennis C Dubnansky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked up until the end...

Liked up until the end...

I'm not a big reader, so I need a story to capture my interest almost immediately or I'll never pick it up again. That being said, this book held my interest until the last few pages.

It's a neat take on an alternative/dark side of Christmas. My issue with the story was how fast the climax/resolution occurred. it was completely predictable and without any thought/creativity put behind it. I believe this story would have benefited from at least a few more pages dedicated to the how the story ended (either a more detailed struggle or a different and more creative ending).

All in all, it was a decent story however Hollywood would need to change or extend the end to make it a good movie.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a new Christmas tradition, reading Kate Danley' s Spirit of Krampus!

[Alexandra]

this could have been a thrilling story. But it would need more words all around.