As an American, it can be easily to overlook the dark folklore and customs upon which many of our Christmas traditions are based. It’s easy to forget that our image of the friendly, rosy-cheeked Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola in 1931. I’m not sure many of us knew that the custom of placing tinsel on our Christmas trees is actually based on Ukrainian folklore about spiderwebs on a Christmas tree in the first place. We forget that the image of Ebenezer Scrooge being plagued by ghostly visitations in A Christmas Carol is a nod to the tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas.



“It’s easy to forget that our image of the friendly, rosy-cheeked Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola in 1931.”

That’s one of the joys about studying folklore. It reminds us of the past upon which our present is built. Studying folklore reminds us of underground currents of the past that just won’t stay dead, coming to life like some vengeful spirits, like some perennial curse living in blighted Earth.



In recent years, some strands of strains of dark Christmas folklore have been resurfacing, most notably Krampus, Santa Claus’ evil twin. This overlooks the fact that Santa Claus is actually rather sinister all on his own, as are many of the customs around which the American Christmas celebration are based.



The 2010 Finnish film Rare Exports offers a chance to observe Christmas in its native habitat, reminding us why the Yule log is so important, the heavy dark dread of the coldest, longest, darkest nights of the year.

The 2010 Finnish film Rare Exports offers a chance to observe Christmas in its native habitat, reminding us why the Yule log is so important, the heavy dark dread of the coldest, longest, darkest nights of the year.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Rare Exports is set at the base of Korvatunturi (Ear Fell) mountain in Lapland, Finland, that is rumoured to be the home of the Joulupukki, or Christmas Goat, a creature from Finnish folklore that informs our current conception of Santa Claus. It largely centers around two boys – Pietarri (Onni Tommila) and Juuso (Ilmari Järvenpää). Pietarri and Juuso come across a team of geologists funded by an American corporation, who are excavating for something in the depths of Korvatunturi.



Pietari’s father, Rauno (Jorma Tommila), is a reindeer trapper who’s fallen on hard times. Rauno’s herd of reindeer is mysteriously massacred, proving to be the final nail in the coffin of Rauno’s traditional lifestyle. Rauno becomes convinced that the local wolf population has been driven mad by the excavations at Korvatunturi. At wit’s end, Rauno and Pietarri go to the fell to demand compensation from the geologists.



Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Upon reaching the mountain, Rauno and Pietarri find no trace of the Americans, discovering only a giant gaping crater in the mound. It seems that something has been unearthed.



What follows next is a truly nutso third act,… Rare Exports (2010)

What follows is a truly nutso final act featuring hordes of naked old men, Santa’s elves; naughty children being stuffed in sacks; gingerbread men used as bait; and a truly unique new Finnish export.



Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is truly one of the great Christmas horror films. It also serves as an interesting metaphor for how the holiday absorbs local customs and spits them back out in a sanitized fashion. It also illustrates some of the darkness and anxieties of the holiday itself. Literary historian and critic Ivan Kreilkamp reads the film as a commentary and critique of the exporting of Nordic/Finnish culture, and the pressures and struggles of late capitalism.



So, we have a closed-off, local, indigenous Nordic community scraping by on traditional pastimes, particularly hunting reindeer. In a globalized 21st century run by multinational corporate types like the Americans, this is not sustainable (not much of a market for reindeer, which is local and Finnish in ways that don’t translate or “export” well). The American crew plans to swoop in and steal local Finnish culture (in the form of Santa Claus) to monetize it for an international market. But a scrappy, abandoned Finnish boy and his angry father save the day by using their wits and strength and understanding of local traditions to seize control of their own native culture for themselves, thereby gaining economic self-sufficiency and healing the wound left by the absent/dead mother (= an original older form of local culture, pre-globalization).

– Ivan Kreilkamp

Also writing on Rare Exports for the website Vault of Thoughts, Christopher Davis speculates on some other reasons why some of these folkloric themes may be resurfacing around “the most wonderful time of the year.”



“But why? Are filmmakers, consciously or not, taking the piss out of Christmas because, in modern times, the season has meant for many the rise of status anxiety in an ever expanding culture of commodity? Is the promise of instant gratification reinforced by media and merchandising too overwhelming for many? Perhaps the pressure-release valve often provided by the horror film helps to stave off the depression, disappointment and stress experienced by many during the holiday season.

Though the belief in increased suicides during the holidays is just a myth, stress — at any time of year — is reported now by 22% of Americans — and depression, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario, is more frequently reported. Films that depict psychopathic Santas or holiday killers may therefore serve as an outlet for those left cold by the trappings of Christmas. But this argument is somewhat reductive. Fear of Santa certainly precedes the cinema.

Part jolly old elf and part malicious imp, the Santa Claus of popular imagination can be scary. He is a man dressed strangely, behaving oddly, and his form of greeting — “ho ho ho” — can be downright disturbing.”

– Christopher Davis

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a delightfully dark time. It’s truly one of the greatest Christmas horror movies of all time, both somewhat lighthearted and entertaining while also being genuinely frightening. It also serves as a reminder of perhaps why early humanity adopted some of these traditions in the first place. The image of the tiny village at the base of Korvatunturi mountain, with only one humble string of Christmas lights protecting from the yawning void of the inky black midwinter night.



Christmas, Winter Solstice, Yule.. all of these holidays remind us to be thankful for what we have. It’s about the light and the warmth that can occur in the coldest, darkest times. It’s also a reminder that the sun is soon to return.



“The dead were said to walk the Earth on Christmas Eve, giving rise to the custom of reading ghost stories for Christmas.” credit: A Christmas Carol (1938(

Other Dark Christmas Folklore For Your Midwinter Celebrations

Christmas was already sinister enough before the crushing pressure of late capitalism and keeping up with the Joneses’. Like nearly every other Christian holiday, it’s actually a composite of festivals and customs from all over the world. Rome’s Saturnalia, Germany’s Yule, and Pagan solstice festivals.



The character of Santa Claus is a conglomeration of everything from Saint Nicholas to Siberian reindeer shamen. The jolly, red-robed Santa Claus is a relatively recent invention, as we’ve already discussed. Before that, Santa Claus was often depicted in green robes, suggesting associations with The Green Man, seen to best effect in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.



La Befana flies around on her broomstick, leaving presents for the good children and coal for the naughty.

There’s also the Italian Christmas witch, Le Befana, who performed a similar function to Santa Claus. The witch would fly around on her broomstick, flying down chimneys to give small gifts to good children and to leave coal for the naughty ones.



“The tradition of leaving coal for bad children also harkens back to the story of Père Fouettard, Santa Claus’ wicked assistant

The tradition of leaving coal for bad children also harkens back to the story of Père Fouettard, Santa Claus’ wicked assistant. Black Peter was an innkeeper who killed and ate children. When Santa Claus discovered what he’d done, he brought the children back to life. He then condemned Père Fouettard to become his assistant, doling out whippings to bad children.



“Brownies climb down chimneys to help out families while the Greek Kallikantzaroi did the same to punish the wicked.”

These are just a few of the dark, sinister, and strange customs that have sprung up around Christmas. The dead are said to walk the Earth on Christmas Eve, while cattle take to their knees and speak in human voices. Brownies climb down chimneys to help out families while the Greek Kallikantzaroi did the same to punish the wicked. All the while, Belsnickel is ever vigilant, waiting to reward good children while punishing the wicked with his switch.



While many of this Christmas folklore seems almost cruel, it also helps us remember what the holiday was actually about in the first place. So, this year, why not light a yule log, gather with your loved ones and tell some Christmas ghost stories, and remember all the things you have to be grateful for?



Everyone’s got their own Christmas and Midwinter traditions. What are some unique ways you’re going to celebrate this year? Let us know in the comments! And Happy Holidays!

J Simpson tracks and traces horror, folklore, magick, the supernatural, and the occult throughout culture, wherever they may be found. He is the founder of Forestpunk: A Journal of the Dark Arts and Co-Founder of the Emerald Tablet Collective. You can follow him @ @for3stpunk on Twitter and Instagram.







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