WINTER HORROR: Krampus, Black Christmas, 30 Days of Night & Gremlins

Who punishes the naughty children while Santa rewards the nice ones?

Content note: folklore about a monster who takes and eats children, and discussion of Black Christmas’s obscene phone calls and sorority murders.

It’s winter horror season. We start with the legend of Krampus, Santa’s shadow side, and his lesser-known counterpart Frau Perchta, the Christmas witch of the Alps. Then we rank the Krampus films, from Michael Dougherty’s Krampus (2015) to Krampus Origins and Mother Krampus, and run through our favorite cold-weather horror: Black Christmas, 30 Days of Night, Gremlins, Frozen, Better Watch Out, Let the Right One In, Insomnia, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Shining.

Therapists Shannon and Cathy talk about why so many folk tales were written to frighten children into behaving, the incongruent affect that makes Black Christmas’s phone calls so disturbing, why isolation horror works on almost everyone, the ticking clock of a storm you can’t control, and why gritty 1970s horror still holds up when glossier remakes don’t.

Covered in this episode:

• Krampus, Krampusnacht and the legend’s Alpine roots
• Frau Perchta, the Christmas witch
• Krampus (2015) with Toni Collette and Adam Scott
• Krampus Origins (2018), Night of the Krampus (2013) and Mother Krampus (2017)
• Black Christmas (1974) and its remakes, plus Hotline with Lynda Carter
• 30 Days of Night (2007)
• Gremlins (1984)
• Frozen (2010) and Better Watch Out (2016)
• Let the Right One In (2008) and Let Me In (2010)
• Insomnia (1997) and the 2002 remake
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and The Shining (1980)
• More picks: The Thing, Dead Snow, Cold Prey, Snowpiercer, A Simple Plan, Misery and Ravenous

Clinical themes: fear as a parenting tool, the shadow, incongruent affect, isolation and loss of control, nostalgia and comfort viewing.

Corrections: Gremlins was directed by Joe Dante; Steven Spielberg produced it. Of the Black Christmas leads, Margot Kidder is the Canadian; Olivia Hussey was born in Argentina and raised in England. Hotline first aired in 1982.

Related episodes:

• Christmas Horror Myths - Belschnickel, Frau Perchta and the Giant Christmas Cat
• SHRINK CHAT: Hubie Halloween, Spiral, Bly Manor & Evil Bong
• SHRINK CHAT: Bly Manor, The Invisible Man, Excision & Urban Legend

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Two licensed therapists, one forensic psychologist, one clinical LMFT, take apart the minds behind the crimes.

Until then... sleep safe. 😴
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