Wow, look at that. Someone reinvented Krampus.

I knew *all* about him when I was little. He was Sankt Nikolas's servant, a coal-black devil in chains with a big sack and a bundle of switches and a cowbell, and his job was to scare and/or punish the naughty children. He was the one who'd put coal and little switches (instead of candy and small gifts) in the shoes I left outside my door for Sankt Nikolas on the night of Dec. 5 (that being the eve of Dec. 6, which is St. Nicholas' Day), if I hadn't been a good girl (or properly bribed Sankt Nikolas's horse with carrots and apples and hay left in my shoes), as a warning of what I was in for if I didn't shape up by Christmastime. (I only got coal a couple times, really. Just a small piece. And I usually got some candy to go with it, because I wasn't THAT bad.)

The understanding was that if I was *still* bad come Christmastime, he'd be allowed to thrash me with his switch and take all my presents, and Sankt Nikolas wouldn't stop him. And if I were really REALLY bad, he might stuff me in his sack and take me away with him back to Hell, unless Sankt Nikolas intervened on my behalf.

(And to think, American children just get "You'd better not pout.")