From the travelogue of Professor Donis, hunter of legends and collector of mythical trophies 

 

Designation: Krampus

Source: Mythological, Winter Solstice

Locale: Northern Europe

 

Krampus, punisher of naughty children. Beats them with sticks and such, if the stories are to be given credence. A sort of reverse Saint Nick.

Legs and horns of a goat, carrying about ghastly chains. The usual sort of thing.

 

Took a good eleven months to find this bugger. Dragged me across half the continent's stinking backwater.

Locals in six different countries claimed to have seen him in their own back yards, of course. Nothing to be found in any of them.

Finally found him a day outside a nameless hamlet a stone's throw from the black forests. Nobody within a hundred miles had ever heard of him, naturally, and the local food is atrocious.

 

Shockingly genteel fellow, this demon of the winter holiday. Found him hunched cackling over a steaming cauldron, as one expects from creatures like this. Rather thought I'd find bits of bad children stewing in there, but it turned out to be a surprisingly tasty if terribly spicy concoction he then poured over roasted pheasant. One of the finest campfire meals I've had in my life.

 

Can't say I'm not disappointed to have returned without his horns for a trophy, but the chap was downright hospitable. Misunderstood, really; who hasn't been frustrated by a damned truculent child, after all? Someone's needed to keep them in line.

 

He's given me the recipe and some of his peppers, to start a garden of my own. Damned generous, if you ask me.

 

Suggested Classification: Krampus Antisanta