The ordinarily joyous occasion of Christmastime is suddenly transformed into a terrifying struggle for survival, as a horned monster chases young children to take them away from their families forever. This may seem like a fine plot for the new Christmas-themed Hollywood horror movie premiering this week around the world, but here in Hungary, this is not exactly a fictional story – “Krampusz” is as widely believed in as Santa Claus himself, and soon there will be signs of this beastly Yuletide tormenter all over Budapest, especially this weekend… you better watch out!

As we described in an article from last year about Mikulás Day – December 6th, when Hungary’s version of Santa Claus comes to bring chocolates and candy to good boys and girls – Jolly Old Saint Nick does not travel alone to this part of the world. In an ominous twist to the typical Christmas story, established in this region through centuries of folklore, Santa is joined in his annual rounds by a terrible beast with hooves and long horns, whose entire job is to punish misbehaving kids. In Hungary, this creature is called Krampusz, and with his legend dating back countless generations in this region, he remains a central part of local Christmas traditions to this day.The punishment that Krampusz dispenses is considerably more severe than receiving a lump of coal instead of a present – in the past, there was widespread fear that Krampusz would kidnap misbehaving tykes for a lifetime of torture, while a more common belief was that the beast would flog rascally young’uns with willow branches… but really, the wrath of Krampusz depends on whatever threats were passed down in the Christmastime tales distinct to each family. Hence, the new comedy-horror movie Krampus (using the Germanic spelling of the creature’s name) is ripe for creative potential, since the monster’s powers seem limited only by every kid’s imagination (or nightmares).

However, these days Krampusz is regarded here more as a playful imp than as an intimidating fiend, and since all children can be good and bad, most Magyar kids wake up on December 6th to find their boot filled with both Santa’s sweets and Krampusz’s gold-painted willow branches; foil-wrapped chocolate-Krampusz figures are also common pre-Christmas goodies. Meanwhile, in the days leading up to Mikulás Day, it is common to see youths wearing Santa hats or Krampusz horns, depending on their prevailing mood during this Christmas season – but between the big-screen debut of Krampus and the fact that Mikulás Day falls on a Sunday this year, we predict that there will be many horny beasts looking for trouble in Budapest’s nightclubs on this Saturday night!