Al Ridenour is back after talking to us last year about Krampus, but this time to help unpack the lore and traditions around the Perchten, Krampus-esque goblin-ish creatures tied to both Krampus and Frau Perchta.

Links mentioned on the episode:

• Bone and Sickle Podcast

• Ep. 80 "America and the Old, Dark Christmas"

Bumper music:

• Usual opening: “O Holy Night” by Tiny Tim, “Christmas Doesn’t Last” by Make Like Monkeys, “Santa Claus Boogie” by Hasil Adkins, “Space Age Santa” by Ross Christman

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Happy Thanksgiving! We dive deep into the history of Christmas murder ballads with my friend (and cohost from the ReReading Wolfe Podcast) James Wynn.

I'll get links to all the songs from the episode up here shortly. But for now, here are links for James:

• ReReading Wolfe Podcast

Bumper music:

• Usual opening: "O Holy Night" by Tiny Tim, "Christmas Doesn't Last" by Make Like Monkeys, "Santa Claus Boogie" by Hasil Adkins, "Space Age Santa" by Ross Christman

If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did ([email protected]), and I’ll send you a sticker!

La Befana, Perchta, Holda, and so many more! We chat with the always encyclopedic Benito Cereno about all the Christmas witch folklore in Christmas history.

Links:

• Benito's Christmas history videos

Music:

• "La Befana" by Make Like Monkeys

If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a "coffee" ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did ([email protected]), and I'll send you a sticker!

Full text of all the winners are at WeirdChristmas.com along with bios, information, and links for all the authors.

All fiction copyright 2020 by the authors.

Please visit WeirdChristmas.com for full information.

Sometimes when you have a podcast, you talk to people who interest you and you don’t worry so much about how it relates to the show or your topic or what your hard-won audience really cares about. So you put out a show that’s all about really, really narrow interests you have. This is half that. The other half is about an amazing book about whether or not you should believe in Santa.

Links from the show:

• Does Santa Exist: A Philosophical Investigation (buy on Amazon)

Music from this episode:

• “Science Christmas Carols”

>>>>>

If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.

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“…And scary ghost stories of Christmasses long, long ago!”

Ghost stories from previous years if you’re in a spooky mood: 2019, 2018, 2017

Next year, we should break open this boys’ club with a tale from this…

Links from the show:

• Full text of the story, “Between the Lights”

Our narrators this year:

• Christohper Stanley (@allthosestrings, author of The Lamppost Huggers which has a a couple Xmas ghost stories of its own)

>>>>>

If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did ([email protected]), and I’ll send you a sticker!

Time to destroy your appetite! I talk to Glen Warren from the Season's Eatings Podcast about weird Christmas food throughout history.

Links:

• Season's Eatings Podcast

Music in this episode:

• "Christmas Food" by Idito the Chicken and Moonpie Nobot

>>>>>

If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did ([email protected]), and I’ll send you a sticker!

As a Thanksgiving treat, enjoy a deep dive down the rabbit hole of Santa history with Tom Jerman, author of Santa Claus Worldwide: A History of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift-Bringers. This is my favorite book of Santa history, and Tom and I covered a lot of ground.

Links mentioned in the show:

• Buy the book!

• From Amazon

• The Children's Friend (1821)

Music from the episode:

• "Sankt Niklas war ein Seemann" - Freddy Quinn

If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did ([email protected]), and I’ll send you a sticker!

I'm not usually your go-to source for new movies. But this one is worth your time. The Christmas Ride is a mumblecore (improvised dialogue) film about a ride share driver getting an emotional gut punch on Christmas day. I talked to the producer/director Stefanie Davis, and I hope you'll check it out.

Here's the trailer for a taste:

You can stream it from Amazon (free with Prime) and Vimeo:

• Stream from Amazon Prime

Cool people!

• Starring Daryen Ratté

Music:

• "This Christmas Life" by Shane Dawson

And the promo was for Holly Jolly Xmasu -- a podcast all about Japanese Christmas music. You'll be hearing more from Scott soon. :)

If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a "coffee" ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com.

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did ([email protected]), and I'll send you a sticker!

Krampus. Seems like I should have done a show on Krampus years ago, but I was waiting for the right person. And that person is Al Ridenour, author of The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil. This is the definitive book on Krampus, and Al fills us in on all the history and celebrations we could want.

Links mentioned in the show:

• The book: The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas

• The Krampus episode (Saint, Devil, Sugar-Bread & Whip)

Music:

• Carol of the Krampus by The Courtesan and the Cabin Boy

If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.