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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
dark
informative
slow-paced
dark
informative
I liked this a lot, a quick look at ghosts and monsters and other spooky traditions/folklore/stories. And the author's footnotes were often dry and witty or reassuringly disapproving of the usual sexism/racism/transphobia of some people who are drawn to tradition for such reasons. Its nice to know you're in good hands!
dark
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
medium-paced
Fascinating stories of folklore—
Holiday monsters.
Holiday monsters.
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Got tired of the author’s pace and framing of the information. Felt very judgy and pearl-clutching
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia, Colonisation
Pagans of all walks should probably not read this.
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
“Behind every tale of Christmas monsters lurks the true darkness of Christmas - the solstice, and the longest night of the year….Christmas is still spent deep in the shadows.”
Every year my husband and I exchange books on Christmas Eve, following the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóð! This year I got The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg and it’s so short that I’ve already finished it ❄️
I love Clegg’s writing! She tells us the history of Christmas monsters/folklore and how traditions have evolved over the centuries in an informative yet fun way. I was laughing at some of her side comments in the footnotes!
I adored her debut (Woman’s Lore) and after loving this one, she’s definitely an auto buy author now! I was engaged the whole way through, with enough information to learn new things without being dry or feeling overwhelmed. I especially loved learning the connections between folklore of the demons, witches, and ghosts and how these tales are often shared (if slightly different ways) across Europe!
The one reason this is not 5 stars is her conflation of the German and Dutch celebrations of St Nicholas; Clegg claims that both in the Netherlands and Germany, people exchange presents on the 5th of December (true) but that the shoes for gifts from St Nicholas (Sinterklaas) takes place on the 6th of December. The Netherlands (as I’ve been told by my Dutch family) does the shoe thing in November upon his arrival, everything has ended for us by the 6th unlike in Germany where it is actually celebrated with the shoes on St Nicholas’ Saint’s Day. So for the minor misinformation on that I deducted half a star 🥲
Overall it was a perfect read for Christmas and so intriguing to learn more about folklore traditions surrounding the winter holidays!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Racism
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Enjoyable read. Sarah Clegg had a tongue in cheek humours narration which I enjoyed. It was a bit like a travel blog at times but still good. Enjoyed the traditions, so much so I have booked onto a wassailing (sadly just toasting orchards and no horse skulls as it’s at a vegan farm). It does make me quite sad that a lot of English tradditions have been wiped out or left only in the scattered small villages whereas krampus and perchta etc are still very much a celebrated tradition in their European countries. In fact more English people have (sadly) probably heard of krampus than of mummers plays and mari lwyd. But do we blame the church, the Victorian’s, or just the lack of interest/pride in any of our history?
All in all an enjoyable read for people into myths legends and anthropology. I do feel the end of the “old gods” chapter tailed off a bit as she tried to wrap it up. Also would not class this as “horror” genre in the sense that it was not scary.
All in all an enjoyable read for people into myths legends and anthropology. I do feel the end of the “old gods” chapter tailed off a bit as she tried to wrap it up. Also would not class this as “horror” genre in the sense that it was not scary.
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced