WAS ALL CUDDLY SANTA AND FUN... THINK AGAIN
If they would be eaten by us moggy, who is
uettard
Père Fouettard, which translates as “Father Whipper”. He craved children to eat and lured three boys into his shop, where he killed and salted them.
Saint Nick came to the rescue, bringing the youngsters back to life and capturing Père Fouettard for his crimes.
He now acts at Saint Nick’s servant, punishing bad kids, and is most commonly depicted dressed in dark robes with unkempt hair and a long, straggly beard.
Belsnickel Belsnickel is another one of St Nick’s creepy companions, and wanders the streets dressed in dirty, ragged clothes made from skin. He also carries a whip to beat naughty children, but does keep sweets and cakes in his pockets for good kids.
The character originally came from south-west Germany, and survives in the US Pennsylvania Dutch communities.
His name is a combination of the German belzen, meaning “to wallop”, and nickel for Saint Nicholas.
In an episode of America’s version of The Office, the character Dwight dressed up as him.
Frau Perchta
The Germans clearly love their creepy Christmas characters – they also have a witch called Frau Perchta who hands out very gruesome punishments between December 25 and Epiphany on January 6.
It is thought she will slip into your home and leave a silver coin in your shoe if you have been nice.
But beware if you’ve been badly behaved – as she will rip open your internal organs and replace them with pebbles and straw.
In some retellings of the story, the hag has one foot significantly larger than the other, which is due to the fact she’s a shapeshifter.