Here are 10 spooky Christmas myths that chill upon hearing them - Horror Christmas story
Magic Christmas
Christmas today is associated with peace and goodwill for all people, as it is the time when humanity celebrates the birthday of Christ or the beginning of a new calendar year with gifts and collective parties filled with the spirit of hope and light. Also known as Saint Nicholas or the Father of Christmas.
Horror Christmas story
However, there is a dark side of Christmas that most of us do not know, that side where dwarves are not Santa Claus's helpers, and scary characters are waiting for Christmas to practice their tricks and harm people, especially troubled children. Some of these scary characters accompany Saint Nicholas on his tours, and some of them work independently, And some of them created from the inspiration of some historical figures; all of these mythical characters were rooted among humans in ancient times at a time when winter was a season full of dangers, hunger, and darkness.
Some of these characters are still alive to this day, just like ancient myths, but their impact is little thanks to the bright lights of Christmas these days. Still, they are always hidden in the dark to remind us that in the past, Christmas was not as happy and bright as we see them now; here are ten of the strange and horror Christmas characters:
1. Calicantzaros
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According to the Greek folklore and the Balkan countries, the Kaleicantzaros appear on the Midwinter Festival and the Epiphany. These demon-like creatures live underground throughout the year and work to harm the world's tree, believing that the whole world will collapse as soon as this tree falls. Still, they appear above the earth's surface on the Mideast Festival Winter and stay for 16 days causing destruction and harm to humanity instead of destroying the tree.
Descriptions of these goblins differ from one region to another, but all regions agree that they are like small black devils that resemble humans but have long tails. It said that the Calicantzarus creatures could not see because they spend most of their lives in the dark underground, something that did not stand in Face its destructive and harmful actions.
Humans used to feel safe in the daytime because sunlight kills these goblins. At nightfall, these little goblins start to go out and hunt their victims, so every person must be careful because once he encounters these goblins, he will have to endure their harm until dawn, but this does not mean it is safe for people to stay indoors because Calicantzaros can mimic the voices of loved ones and urge them to open the door and go out to meet them.
If this trick does not occur on some people, the Calicantzaros creatures will sneak inside through window cracks, door openings, or the chimney's hatch. As soon as they enter the house, they start breaking furniture, devouring food, drinking drinks, and urinating on the rest of the supplies. If they encounter someone inside the house, they terrify him with their red, inflamed eyes and hysterical laughter, as they attack him and start some and scratch him.
In the past, humans were able to devise methods that enable them to thwart the Calicantzaros creatures' attempts to infiltrate, including placing a strainer on the door's threshold, where they will try to count the filter holes. Still, they will not go beyond the number 2 because the number 3 is sacred. Once these creatures pronounce the number 3, death Certainly it will be their share, and if these creatures try to sneak through the chimney openings, burning old shoes or spraying salt and incense will be sufficient to prevent them from entering the house, but if these methods fail, placing a black cross on the door will be enough to expel them and prevent them from entering.
On the sixth day of January, the celebrations for the return of the sun begin as these creatures return to the underworld to continue their work in destroying the world tree, and the period they spent on the surface of the earth was sufficient to heal the tree, which means that these goblins will start working again.
2. Mary Lloyd
The Mary Lloyd ritual that was widespread in South Wales survived until the beginning of the twentieth century and is still widespread in some areas. British historian (J. Evans) described this weather in his book "A Tour of the Northern Part of Wales in 1789 and in other times" as a strange rite, as they moved from house to house carrying a horse skull attached to the end of a stick decorated with ribbons and singing.
Every Christmas after sunset, a group of men take to the streets of South Wales cities with their faces painted black, dressed like mummers, and then go from house to house all night long carrying a prosthetic horse skull attached to the end of a stick and covered with ribbons and a white blanket. This skull is said to remain buried in the ground all year long until the digging and taking out at Christmas.
As soon as the owner of the house opens the door, singing competitions begin between the vocal band and the silent actors, as the mummers sing this song:
Here we come, innocent friends, asking for permission, asking for permission, asking for permission to sing.
After that, the owner of the house must invent an excuse to prevent them from entering his house; if he is unable to create a reason, he will have to allow (Mary Lloyd) to enter, and as soon as she enters the house, he must offer food and drink to the mummers. At the same time, some of them carry (Mary Lloyd) and roam her inside The house and begins attacking terrified children and adults with her jaws.
The original origin of this ritual remains unknown to this day, as some believe that it dates back to the pre-Christian period due to the remarkable resemblance between (Mary Lloyd) and figures from Ireland and the island of (Man), as the folklorist (EC Kuyt) believes that the name ( Mary Lloyd) Gray Mare means "Gray Mare," meaning that "Lwyd" in Welsh means gray. Mari may be misspelled instead of Mare, which means "Mare" in English.
Others believe that the name (Mary Lloyd) derived from “the Blessed Mary,” a Catholic reference to the Mother of Christ who rode on the back of a donkey at the donkey festival held on the 14th of January as a celebration of the night of the flight of the Virgin Mary and Joseph to Egypt. However, most people still believe That (Mary Lloyd) is a mixture of pagan rituals unrelated to Christianity.
3. Golakoturin or Christmas cat
Cats often appear on Christmas cards crouching themselves near the fireplace, but Icelandic cats do not look as friendly as these cats sleeping near the fireplace. According to folklore, Christmas cats were like giant monsters hiding among the ice and snow, waiting for the right moment to hunt their prey.
If you happen to see these cats, it is awful, according to the poem (Julakoturin) written by (Johannes Or Kutlum), one of the best Icelandic poets at that time:
(Her whiskers are sharp as coarse hairs, her back arched up, and claws protruding from her hairy ends were terrifying to look at)
As for what this cat was doing to its victims, especially those poor people who did not wear new clothes on Christmas Eve, if they were lucky, they would devour their food, but if they were not lucky, it would be like a Christmas dinner for her.
(Kotlum) relied in his poems on the initial stories that spoke about this legend dating back to the nineteenth century, but some believe that this legend was created in Icelandic sheep farms to motivate workers to work hard, as farmers were keen to secure enough wool for Christmas. Therefore, they promised the workers who make a double effort to work by giving them new clothes. As for those who do not make enough effort, they are called sloths, and the story of the cat (golakoturin) was told before them to motivate them to work.
Some workers did not believe the story of the scary Christmas cat myth, but they used to accept to work overtime in anticipation of new clothes, but later this myth passed to the parents who were telling this scary story to their children in case they refused to help with housework, and they were telling them that the cat distinguishes lazy children and that it will deprive them Of the new Christmas clothes.
This legendary story seems to have worked, as an Icelandic woman stated in an oral history record: “We were lazy when we were doing our routine tasks until we reminded of the wild Christmas cat and the last thing we wanted was to be a meal for him.”
4. Christmas Boys
(Johannes Or Kotlum) immortalized another legend in his poems from Icelandic Christmas myths, which is the myth of Christmas boys. In the poem (Julen Kuma) or “Christmas is coming” that he composed in 1923, he described them as descendants of mountain goblins (Grilla) and ( Labalui), as for their mother (Gera), she was so ugly that she had hooves on her feet and had thirteen tails, and her favorite Christmas meal was the cooked kids.
(Gera) had thirteen sons, and every one of them had a different personality from the other; some of them were harmful, and some of them were ugly, terrifying, or insane, and upon the arrival of Christmas for thirteen days, one of the boys would come out of the mountain cave and invade the human world, leaving behind him chaos and destruction.
At first comes (Stickjar) who loves chasing and harassing sheep, followed by Gilgagor, who always hides in the streams waiting for the right opportunity to sneak into the cowshed and steal milk, then follows him (Stover), who was a specialist in a house burglary and stealing food, then comes the spoon thief (Bevroslicker) followed by (Botaxville) who loves to steal leftovers from dishes, and after him (Askaslicker) who hides under the beds to scare the sleeping people, and (Horuskiller) used to harass house residents with his strong strikes on the doors at night.
As for both (Skyrogames) and (Biogenicracker) they were less loud, but with equal inconvenience, then the curious (Gluggagger) who wanted to frighten people by looking at them from the windows arrived, and (Gattabberfer) would attack the doors at night, followed by (Kickboxer) and his made hook From the flesh, at last comes the turn of (kurtasnicker) who chases children in the dark.
In our day, these brothers have transformed from frightening monsters that robbed the houses to steal them and scare their inhabitants into intelligent and lovable characters, wearing red Christmas suits and cooperating to visit children's homes and put gifts inside their shoes that they put on window sills waiting for gifts, as for those rioters, they were getting gifts. As horrific as rotten potatoes and other unpleasant surprises.
5. Birstein
The alpine regions of Germany and Austria, especially the state (Tyrol) and the province of (Salzburg) are home to strange Christmas customs, including the (Birstein) monsters that are active during the twelve days of Christmas. Where these monsters, accompanied by demons, set out from the mountain forests to invade the human world, and it said that the monsters (Berstein) are two opposing personalities as they can appear in the form of a white woman carrying gifts with her, or they can appear in the form of a wicked old woman who tears the innards of the wicked and throws them in the garbage.
Some believe that (Birstein) is the goddess of forests and nature because she spends most of the year in the woods and then leaves with evil spirits and enters the human world at the end of the year between the old and new sun cycle to attack evil people only, meaning that she was not attacking the righteous of humans.
(Birstein) represents the German fear of cold and dark seasons, so humans have devised methods that help them protect themselves, their homes, and their livestock. When the midwinter festival, or what is known as the winter solstice, arrives, humans begin to burn some specific herbs to awaken the New World's spirits or the so-called Spring Spirits that protect their home's, food stores, and barns from these evil spirits.
Some historical records showed that young men began to disguise themselves as ghosts in the sixteenth century and wander the countryside and streets to scare Berstein and her gang, as they wore wooden (Schichberstein) masks and wore worn clothes and old furs and called themselves (Birstein).
These guard rituals have turned into festive festivals that attract tourists to the Alpine regions, and these festivals have been called "smoke nights." Young men still wear (Berstein) clothes in these festivals, as their masks and shabby clothes symbolize good and evil. At the same time, the horns, fangs, and teeth represent Berstein's ability to tear apart the souls of her victims without hearing cries of pain because of her lack of hearing, as they carried the cow's whip and horse's tail as a symbol For fertility and to bring hope for the New Year.
6. Krampus
The fifth of December is the celebration of the festival (Krampus) in Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, and Eastern Europe, where people disguise themselves in this festival as (Krampus): the half devil and half goat.
These festivals have ancient origins and roots, as men in the past wore frightening costumes, moved from one house to another, and asked for wine from the house's people. If the house residents did not respond to their request, they would punish them, imitating what the myth (Krampus) was doing.
Krampus's name derived between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries from the German term (die Klaue), meaning (claw). Krampus punished the troubled children, beat them, put them in a basket on his back, and then drowned them or devoured them or took them to Hell. As for Saint Nicholas, he rewarded the righteous and distributed gifts to them, meaning that they were forming a strange team, but they worked separately, as Saint Nicholas begins his work on the sixth day of December, but (Krampus) on the fifth day.
Krampus's myth goes back to a pre-Christian era - paganism - where many of his slogans refer to pagan symbols. Hence, in the twelfth century, the Catholic Church tried to ban festivals and celebrations (Krampus) due to the remarkable resemblance between him and the Devil. he was similar to the son of the gods ( Hill) in some myths, the gods of the underworld in Norse mythology. Still, it was not easy to suppress these festivals, so they reached a solution that satisfies both parties, which is to consider (Krampus) the companion of Saint Nicholas.
In the early twentieth century, the Christian Socialist Party in Austria tried to ban (Krampus) festivals. Still, it did not succeed in its plans, so these celebrations continued until they became few in our modern era, so that the frightening aspect of the (Krampus) myth has begun to disappear as it appears on cards Austrian Christmas is in a funny way instead of portrayed as a scary monster carrying children inside his basket and beating them.
7. Hans Trapp
(Hans Trapp) Another mythical character was hostile to Santa Claus, who originated in the Alsace-Lorraine region, located on the French and German borders. The myth says that (Hans Trapp) was a rich man, greedy and corrupt to the extent that the Catholic Church rejected him and banished him to the forests, where he sold his evil spirit to the devil, Then he disguised himself as a scarecrow stuffed with straw and began his journey of catching and devouring children.
The myth says that one day (Hans Trapp) was about to devour a little boy, except that God had entered and killed him with a thunderbolt of lightning after he was tired of his evil deeds, but this was not his end, as he continued wandering around the earth in a scarecrow costume. He began Collaborating with Saint Nicholas as Krampus did for repentance; he worked to persuade unruly children to improve their behavior while Santa distributed gifts to the righteous children.
The origins of (Hans Trapp) go back to a historical figure dating back to the fifteenth century (Hans von Truth), a German knight 2 meters tall. Von Truth's reputation was terrible, as he had lands on the German side of the border with France and was considered by the population as a source A significant inconvenience to the Church and the laity.
Von Truth was involved in a land dispute with the local abbot, so he ordered the river (Weslauter) to be blocked and the town of Weissenburg deprived of water. When the monastery's head complained, he drowned the town of (Weissenburg) and destroyed its economy. In 1491 (Truth) was ecclesiastically exiled after the monastery's abbot complained to the Pope and (Truth) refused to go to Rome to explain the reason for his hateful behavior.
Truth's sinister appearance, shameful behavior, and the incident of prohibiting church dealings with him led to the creation of the (Hans Trapp) myth, which was later used as a threat to corrupt children and urged them to improve their behavior, and in the end, Hans Vaughn died quietly and due to natural causes in his castle in Bergwarstein.
8. le Père Fouettard
(Le Père Fouettard) was a French-Belgian Christmas ghoul, with historical and pagan origins, as Krampus and Birchin. He was nicknamed "The Executioner Father" because of his whip's use while punishing the corrupt. He wore a black robe, his face dirty, his hair disheveled, and his beard unkempt. Le Pierre Vuittard was not working alone, but he was following (Santa Claus) from house to house to punish the rioters and distribute them charcoal instead of gifts and beat them. No one knows the original pagan origin of this character, but it appeared in many myths and historical tales.
The most famous story (Le Père Fouettard) dates back to the year 1150; this story revolves around a hotel owner or perhaps a butcher who kidnapped three boys on their way to school and stole their money and then brutally killed them and extracted their throats, cut them and cooked them.
When Saint Nicholas heard about this heinous crime, he restored life to the three children, and when he saw (Le Père ) this miracle, he decided to repent and volunteered to help Saint Nicholas to atone for the sins he had committed, and then the saint forced him to help him every Christmas, as his mission was to punish the corrupt children.
As for the other story, it explains to us why the face of (Le Père) becomes dirty. In the year 1552, the city (Metz) located in the northeastern part of France was under severe siege by the Spanish king (Charles V) and the Holy Roman Emperor. This siege caused the anger of the citizens. They made an imitation of the emperor and dragged him through the squares and streets of the city and then burned him, and at the same time, the tanner of the city created a fictional character that punishes the offending children, and later these two stories merged to form a myth (le Père Fouettard).
9. La Befana
Regardless of what scary (La Bifana) looks like a crone old woman, it is not as scary as other Christmas myths. (La Befana) appeared for the first time in the records of history in 1549 in the poems of the Italian poet (Anolo Virenzola), where he portrayed her as an ugly woman flying on her broom at night and then landing on the roofs of houses on the fifth and sixth days of January, then sneaking into homes through the chimneys She puts candles, gifts for good children, and charcoal for corrupt children.
People celebrate the day (La Befana) the day before the appearance of Saint Nicholas, and its name derived from the word Epiphany, which means the Feast of the Epiphany, which falls on the sixth day of January, where people celebrate the return of sunlight and the end of the dark and cold days, which is the last day of the feast Christmas was also the day when the Magi visited Christ.
This myth relates how the old Italian widow (La Befana) used to sweep her house on the day of the birth of Christ when the Magi visited her after they lost their way while searching for the child Christ. So she guided them on the path and told them to follow the big star, and out of gratitude, the Magi invited the old widow to join them on their journey, but she did not answer the case and told them that she had to do the housework.
However, she felt remorse when she realized that she had missed the opportunity to see the Son of God. so instead of using a broom to clean the house, she rode on it and flew over the sky of Italy, so for every Epiphany, she decided to ride on her broom and wander among the houses and distribute gifts to the righteous children and punish those who did not improve. Act by giving them charcoal instead of gifts.
That is, (La Befana) appeared before Christ and is a symbol of the old lady who burned in the squares of Italian cities and villages at the end of Christmas, but when she gives charcoal to the children, she does not mean to punish them, as is the case for Campus and Birchin, but for her charcoal is a symbol of the purifying power To Epiphany Fire.
10. Belsnickel
It is one of the German Christmas myths that took root in Pennsylvania's US state, where he appears in ragged and torn clothes and fur and visits children in their homes in the first days of December carrying sweets and whips. Still, he did not reward the righteous children and punish the rioters. Instead, his goal was to persuade all children By improving their behavior.
The name (Pilsnickel) has two parts, where the first part of his name means “smack” in German and the second part “nickel” meaning Saint Nicholas; unlike other European myths, Pilsnickel combines the pleasant side of Saint Nicholas with a cheerful and frightening presence.
(Rhineland) - modern Germany - is the original origin of the myth (Pilsnickel), as he accompanied German immigrants to Pennsylvania in the early nineteenth century. After a short time, the history mentioned that a group of young men wore worn clothes and furs and wandered the city streets, singing and ringing bells On the 5th of December, as a kind of celebration of "Belsnickel Night."
(Jacob Brown) described the visit that Belsnickel made to Maryland a week or two before Christmas in 1830, where the (Belsnickle) that Brown saw was known as (Criscinkle) and sometimes as the “Christmas Woman” because of his wearing For womenswear. Perhaps Brown did not saw the real Pilsnickel; his father may have disguised himself as a Pilsinkel.
According to Brown's account, a mysterious person appeared at nightfall, wearing a long robe and a hoodie over his head, carrying a bag full of cakes, fruits, nuts, and sweets in his hand, and began to bang on the window of the house asking the children to let him in. Still, they would not let him enter unless he answered one Of the questions or sang a song to them, and then they let him in, and then he started throwing sweets from his bag, and the children started to collect candies.
While the children are busy collecting sweets, Belsnickel starts hitting them with the whip on their backs as a kind of warning about the importance of good behavior. Still, some believe that the (Belsnickel) strikes have another significance in the past, as they were thought to bring good luck to children.
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