241 reviews for:

The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures

Sarah Clegg

3.84 AVERAGE

justfrogs's review against another edition

2.5

informative fast-paced

liv_demarco's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

fictionfungiflora's review

3.25

informative mysterious slow-paced

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This was a perfect Yule-themed book to read over the Holiday season. I have read about Krampus frequently but it was fun to hear about other traditions and creatures. 

emergingmuses's review

4.0

informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

bibliomich's review against another edition

3.0

dark informative fast-paced

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This was an interesting, if relatively unmemorable, account of the creation and evolution of "Christmas creatures" (e.g. the Krampus, Belsnickel, etc.) and traditions. While I found the audiobook to be an overall enjoyable listen, I also felt that Clegg was either doing too much or not quite enough throughout the book. There are some personal anecdotes that serve set the scene, but they're not enough to make me feel like I know Clegg as a person or writer. There is historical context, but I wanted a bit more. The book hopped from topic to topic while staying at a fairly superficial level. This book could have been stronger if Clegg had perhaps narrowed down the focus and established a clearer thesis. For example, I felt that the section on fairytale writers was especially interesting but too short.

rebecca_sarah's review against another edition

4.5

informative

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I went to a Sarah Clegg event about this book in November and read it in the period between Christmas and New Year. It was a perfect way to bookend the festive season. 

The informative yet humorous book is a travelogue/historical essay on the darker winter traditions. I enjoyed the engaging and easy to follow structure. Each chapter begun and ended with the author’s account of visiting each festival and coming face to face with the various monsters, and the middle section of each chapter was dedicated to explaining and untangling the history behind it. 

I liked learning more about where some traditions come from, how they change over time and how some false claims about their origins appear. 

The humorous, conversational footnotes made it a very enjoyable read—including references to popular cultures representations of the traditions—such as A Knight Before Christmas’ version of the bean in the cake. I also appreciated Clegg’s willingness to address and call out the problematic elements of such traditions and the sinister reasons some people may choose to follow them (such as using ‘tradition’ to justify bigotry). 

Really recommend for anyone with even a vague interest in the history of the season or monsters, demons and witches. 

books_in_wales's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny informative mysterious fast-paced

marygreenhahaha's review

3.0

informative medium-paced

loridyann's review against another edition

5.0

dark informative fast-paced

librarycatnip's review

3.5

informative medium-paced

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On the academic end of holiday research