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241 reviews for:
The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures
Sarah Clegg
3.84 AVERAGE
241 reviews for:
The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures
Sarah Clegg
3.84 AVERAGE
informative
fast-paced
dark
informative
slow-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Pull up a chair by the fireside, have a cup of hot something by your side, and as the winter winds swirl snow and creak branches in December darkness indulge yourself in Sarah Clegg's The Dead of Winter. Clegg takes you on a delightfully imaginative tour of all the darker legends of Christmas: Krampus, Lords of Misrule, Christmas Witches, Mari Lywds, and other creatures and festivals of the eerie side of Christmas. Clegg involves you in her actual experiences in these European festivals as well as her exploration of their roots in Renaissance, medieval, and earlier times - not to mention sly observations on the more recent vintage of some of these not so "elder practices." Not a text for scholars, though she delves into some sources., the delight of Clegg's book is in how she beautifully shares with you the spirit of her experiences and guides you along her ruminations on the psychology imbuing these practices and beliefs.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A lovely little read about the darker traditions and lore surrounding Christmas. Really nicely balanced a clear sighted and unromanticised look at the origins of the traditions with an obvious delight in the creepy, chaotic and sometimes macarbre traditions. I also appreciated the straightforward acknowledgements of the more unpleasant sources or co-opting of traditions, as well.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
The Dark of Winter is an informative yet easy to read historical book about the dark folklore surrounding Christmas including Krampus, Belsnickel, Christmas witches, Lords of Misrule, guising and wassailing. It's focus is on Western Europe - namely Austria, Germany, Finland and Italy. Part travel writing as the author attended many dark Christmas events and part history.
I found it fascinating, really well written, bringing a dark magic to Christmas. I think the author is fantastic at analyzing the historian's theories and warning against believing all theories at face value. She discusses where these fascinating stories, events and practices might emerge which evidently is not a simple task. She also addresses the broader social changes that lead to the popularity of these stories and practices dwindling then re-energing.
My only critique is that some basic coverage of time periods may have been helpful for the historical challenged like myself as I'm not familiar with terms like antiquity, the Bronze age and years AD, CE. This is more a me problem than an author problem.
The Dark of Winter inspired me to explore events in my local area and I'm actually hoping to go wassailing in a couple weeks!
I found it fascinating, really well written, bringing a dark magic to Christmas. I think the author is fantastic at analyzing the historian's theories and warning against believing all theories at face value. She discusses where these fascinating stories, events and practices might emerge which evidently is not a simple task. She also addresses the broader social changes that lead to the popularity of these stories and practices dwindling then re-energing.
My only critique is that some basic coverage of time periods may have been helpful for the historical challenged like myself as I'm not familiar with terms like antiquity, the Bronze age and years AD, CE. This is more a me problem than an author problem.
The Dark of Winter inspired me to explore events in my local area and I'm actually hoping to go wassailing in a couple weeks!
dark
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
The author honestly made me laugh out loud with some of her footnotes
A really interesting dive into European traditions when it comes to winter and Christmas. After the Victorians domesticated Christmas and made it into the fluffy, family-centered holiday with the jolly Santa we know today, most people lost touch with the ancient and very scary witches, goblins, pranksters, demons and other creepy creatures. A major part of this loss of superstition and fear of wintery monsters is two-fold: an increasingly industrialized society throughout the 1800s, meaning more people lived in urban areas, and, I suspect, the increase in use of gas and electric lighting. After all, you wouldn't be so afraid of the dark if you had consistent and brighter light sources?
Clegg does a good job of breaking down different traditions into manageable chapters. Living in an Alpine area now, I can see where many of the traditions around Christmas would have made sense to the people there. I think one important thing to remember is that some of these traditions are slowly being resurrected in the 21st century to bigger tourist crowds (especially Krampus runs), but the history behind the traditions in the first place is necessary to remember - and not let the customs of the past become something we fully take on without understanding their origins. Many of them did not start out in good fun, but rather as a way to make children behave and to make sure people followed local ideas and traditions. Overall, it's a good read if you're interested in holiday history and the origins of what we see today plastered on social media.
Clegg does a good job of breaking down different traditions into manageable chapters. Living in an Alpine area now, I can see where many of the traditions around Christmas would have made sense to the people there. I think one important thing to remember is that some of these traditions are slowly being resurrected in the 21st century to bigger tourist crowds (especially Krampus runs), but the history behind the traditions in the first place is necessary to remember - and not let the customs of the past become something we fully take on without understanding their origins. Many of them did not start out in good fun, but rather as a way to make children behave and to make sure people followed local ideas and traditions. Overall, it's a good read if you're interested in holiday history and the origins of what we see today plastered on social media.
dark
informative
medium-paced
I’ve always been fascinated by the darker holiday traditions, which is why every student I’ve ever worked with in December knows exactly who the Krampus is and how the Caga Tio gets beaten with sticks until he gives up all his goods. This novel was a fun, quick dip into more of the obscure, sometimes sinister Midwinter traditions practiced across Europe, but it lacked the depth I’d hoped for from an Oxford-trained historian. Many of the footnotes were personal asides that, instead of deepening understanding, somehow detracted from her credibility because they were so random and silly.
Furthermore, the concluding chapters confused the hell out of me. I thought that the whole book was about how the Christian Church hijacked holiday celebrations from the older, natural, dare I say pagan religions ,which is why we have trees, mistletoe, a weird supernatural being delivering presents, and countless other obscure traditions unrelated to the story of the birth of Christ. Instead, I think she was arguing that the practices originated with Christians, and therefore, were just darker traditions that were covered up by or rebranded through Victorian, family Christmas propaganda. I might be wrong, but regardless of her final point, it was definitely interesting reading about weird practices I’d never heard of and some of the history behind them.