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How I Learned The Truth About Krampus
Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure of legend with a classic half-goat half-demonic appearance. The night of the 5 th December is Krampusnacht, when this hairy devil appears on the streets – on his own or accompanying St. Nicholas, but always carrying a bundle of birch twigs ready to punish those who have misbehaved. At least, that’s how the folk-festivals that take place across Europe go. The truth may be stranger still. This is a sharp and intelligently written horror story that delves deep into seasonal mythology and folk legend. An atmospheric and chilling tale of the dark side of the winter season.
- GenresHorror
38 pages, Paperback
First published December 8, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 23, 2019
Originally published at Risingshadow.
Tom Johnstone's How I Learned The Truth About Krampus is the third chapbook in the Eibonvale Chapbook Line.
How I Learned The Truth About Krampus is a chilling and unsettling tale for winter nights when the light is fading and everything is covered in snow. It's an excellent and atmospheric horror tale that gradually turns into a creepy reading experience in the vein of classic weird tales.
Everybody has heard of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) and knows who he is, because he has become the iconic personification of Christmastime, but Krampus is a little less known figure (especially outside Europe). Krampus is a much darker figure, because he is the dark shadow of Saint Nicholas, the half-demonic and horned creature that wields a bundle of sticks to punish naughty and misbehaving children. Krampus is described as "half-goat, half-demon" in Central European folklore and is theorised to predate Christianity.
How I Learned The Truth About Krampus tells of Daniel Fletcher who writes a long letter to his wife, Bella. In this letter, Daniel tells of his insecurities concerning their relationship and what happened to him when he went abroad and tried to meet an academic who wrote a discredited paper mentioning that Krampus may exist and could be a missing species, Homo Saturnalius, which exists in the mountains like the Abominable Snowman.
Daniel has many things on his mind, because he is worried about the disappearance of Zac, their son. Zac went missing from a locked cottage without explanation (footprints can't be found anywhere in the snow and the kidnapper didn't use a car). The police thinks that Daniel may be responsible for the boy's disappearance and may have burned him in the wood-burning stove to get rid of the body.
Because this story has quite a lot of psychological depth and a well-created backstory, I won't go into details about the happenings in fear of writing major spoilers, but I can mention that this story will linger on your mind. It's an unsettling account of events that are packed with just the right amount of doubt, emotion, fear and uncertainty.
What makes this horror story works well is the author's way of creating a sense of uncertainty and disquiet that seeps out of the story. The author makes the reader question many things: Is Daniel a reliable narrator? Is he really telling the truth or is he trying to hide something? Is he insane or teetering on the edge of insanity? Has he committed a murder? Does Krampus truly exist or is he just a figure out of folklore?
Tom Johnstone's How I Learned The Truth About Krampus is a satisfyingly creepy story with dark undercurrents for the wintertime. It's a modern yet classic tale of folk horror, the roots of which can be found in weird fiction. It has a distinct touch of weirdness to it that will captivate readers.
Highly recommended!
Tom Johnstone's How I Learned The Truth About Krampus is the third chapbook in the Eibonvale Chapbook Line.
How I Learned The Truth About Krampus is a chilling and unsettling tale for winter nights when the light is fading and everything is covered in snow. It's an excellent and atmospheric horror tale that gradually turns into a creepy reading experience in the vein of classic weird tales.
Everybody has heard of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) and knows who he is, because he has become the iconic personification of Christmastime, but Krampus is a little less known figure (especially outside Europe). Krampus is a much darker figure, because he is the dark shadow of Saint Nicholas, the half-demonic and horned creature that wields a bundle of sticks to punish naughty and misbehaving children. Krampus is described as "half-goat, half-demon" in Central European folklore and is theorised to predate Christianity.
How I Learned The Truth About Krampus tells of Daniel Fletcher who writes a long letter to his wife, Bella. In this letter, Daniel tells of his insecurities concerning their relationship and what happened to him when he went abroad and tried to meet an academic who wrote a discredited paper mentioning that Krampus may exist and could be a missing species, Homo Saturnalius, which exists in the mountains like the Abominable Snowman.
Daniel has many things on his mind, because he is worried about the disappearance of Zac, their son. Zac went missing from a locked cottage without explanation (footprints can't be found anywhere in the snow and the kidnapper didn't use a car). The police thinks that Daniel may be responsible for the boy's disappearance and may have burned him in the wood-burning stove to get rid of the body.
Because this story has quite a lot of psychological depth and a well-created backstory, I won't go into details about the happenings in fear of writing major spoilers, but I can mention that this story will linger on your mind. It's an unsettling account of events that are packed with just the right amount of doubt, emotion, fear and uncertainty.
What makes this horror story works well is the author's way of creating a sense of uncertainty and disquiet that seeps out of the story. The author makes the reader question many things: Is Daniel a reliable narrator? Is he really telling the truth or is he trying to hide something? Is he insane or teetering on the edge of insanity? Has he committed a murder? Does Krampus truly exist or is he just a figure out of folklore?
Tom Johnstone's How I Learned The Truth About Krampus is a satisfyingly creepy story with dark undercurrents for the wintertime. It's a modern yet classic tale of folk horror, the roots of which can be found in weird fiction. It has a distinct touch of weirdness to it that will captivate readers.
Highly recommended!
November 17, 2024
Full review at Happy Goat Horror:
https://happygoathorror.com/2024/12/1...
Well.
Well well well.
What to say? This is a first-hand account from Daniel, written as a letter to his wife, following the disappearance/suspected death of their baby son. Daniel is insistent that Krampus is involved, but we really can't be sure if Daniel can be taken at his word. It was cold and tense, a perfect seasonal tale, and horrific for numerous reasons. Gorgeous writing too.
https://happygoathorror.com/2024/12/1...
Well.
Well well well.
What to say? This is a first-hand account from Daniel, written as a letter to his wife, following the disappearance/suspected death of their baby son. Daniel is insistent that Krampus is involved, but we really can't be sure if Daniel can be taken at his word. It was cold and tense, a perfect seasonal tale, and horrific for numerous reasons. Gorgeous writing too.
January 26, 2021
nullimmortalis January 2, 2018 at 1:27 pm Edit
“I’m never quite sure when I’m thinking aloud.”
36 pages, and a striking story that fully deserves this fine standalone printed setting for its presentation. Delighted I have found this work and that I have now read it within the realm of the twelve days of Christmas, although it will probably be even more disturbing when read outside of that realm! It is also the third day in a row that I have reviewed a work with a review that mentions either Artaud or the theatre of cruelties (and now the Marat-Sade) and I will never look again at an umbrella without thinking of this chapbook. Told as a letter to ‘you’, you put yourself in the feminine shoes of that ‘you’ and see the letter-writer as a storyteller manqué in this way, and you wonder whether you can put yourself in the letter-writer’s shoes after he was suspected by the police for killing the son with whom you were impregnated upon the corkscrew phallus he pretended was wielded not by him but by some crazy carving of Krampus before the baby in question was welted and sucked out through a flu-pipe (sic) leaving only the baby’s dummy, not that you want to know about the letter-writer’s erectile near-miss with Claudia when researching Krampus lore in post-Anschluss Austria whence his heritage derived… Do not NECESSARILY believe this review about certain aspects of the plot, a review which will not now be widened further for fear of spoilers, but DO believe what this review said earlier about the reviewer’s disturbance and delight at reading such an obliquely haunting work. The bundle of sticks, notwithstanding.
“I’m never quite sure when I’m thinking aloud.”
36 pages, and a striking story that fully deserves this fine standalone printed setting for its presentation. Delighted I have found this work and that I have now read it within the realm of the twelve days of Christmas, although it will probably be even more disturbing when read outside of that realm! It is also the third day in a row that I have reviewed a work with a review that mentions either Artaud or the theatre of cruelties (and now the Marat-Sade) and I will never look again at an umbrella without thinking of this chapbook. Told as a letter to ‘you’, you put yourself in the feminine shoes of that ‘you’ and see the letter-writer as a storyteller manqué in this way, and you wonder whether you can put yourself in the letter-writer’s shoes after he was suspected by the police for killing the son with whom you were impregnated upon the corkscrew phallus he pretended was wielded not by him but by some crazy carving of Krampus before the baby in question was welted and sucked out through a flu-pipe (sic) leaving only the baby’s dummy, not that you want to know about the letter-writer’s erectile near-miss with Claudia when researching Krampus lore in post-Anschluss Austria whence his heritage derived… Do not NECESSARILY believe this review about certain aspects of the plot, a review which will not now be widened further for fear of spoilers, but DO believe what this review said earlier about the reviewer’s disturbance and delight at reading such an obliquely haunting work. The bundle of sticks, notwithstanding.
February 29, 2024
I can’t possibly understand why the author decided to publish this short story in a chapbook. I bought it because I thought it would be an interesting modern story about the Krampus who is not a figure in British folklore, but seems to attract British writers in search for inspiration for their folk horror stories (e.g. Laura Purcell). Unfortunately, this short story reads like an unedited draft and nothing can be saved: not the silly plot, not the clumsy narration (the story is supposed to be narrated by the protagonist in a letter) and certainly not the inept dialogues. The author is definitely not ready to publish his work independently, he should keep on publishing his stories in anthologies to benefit from the advice of professional editors.
November 17, 2024
Holy crap.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews