He sees you when you’re sleeping,
He knows when you’re awake,
He knows if you’ve been bad or good…

And you’ve been very, very bad.

Forget sleigh bells, presents and ho-ho-ho-ing. Krampus is the older, gnarlier version of St. Nick, and he’s kind of an arsehole.

Krampus is a horned-devil from Pagan times, when Santa was just a glint in Papa Claus’ eye.

He’s a sort of flip-reversed Santa. While Father Christmas gives good kids presents, Krampus finds the bad ones and hauls them down to the underworld.

Yikes Krampus, Timmy only nicked a Freddo, seems a bit harsh.

At the start of December, while other children are munching their rubbish advent calendar chocolate, kids in Bavaria have to deal with a terrifying pack of (drunk) grown men dressed as Krampus, swinging sticks.

Sound a bit... weird? Too right, but very entertaining.

There's also Krampus parades, a bit like Thanksgiving parades but with terrifying hairy devils instead of inflatable turkeys.