What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a parade? What I mean is, a parade honoring Santa's long-tongued beast buddy who gobbles up all the really bad children?

The Krampus is a holiday fixture that's popular in the Germanic countries. Created to really enforce the whole "better watch out" Christmas ideology, the Krampus is the pure evil that must exist to balance out St. Nick's pure goodness.

Legend has it that when the Krampus discovers a bad-apple kid, he grabs the tot with his tongue, throws the kid in a sack, and takes them back to his home for dinner. My parents actually threatened my little sister and I with Krampus tales on Saint Nicholas Day. Because what's the point of having children if you can't destroy Christmas for them, right?


Krampus Parades have been popping up in US cities like Philadelphia and Seattle, but none can hold a candle to the festival in Graz, Austria. The fire, costumes, evil sleighs, and snow make for one hell of a monster show. Check out the footage here. I wish I holiday-partied as hard as the good folk in Graz.