Dare to delve deeper into the shadows? Join the Heart Starts Pounding Patreon family for even more spine-tingling content, including ad-free listening, exclusive bonus episodes and a community of fellow darkly curious minds. Unlock the full vault of chilling tales! 👻 https://www.patreon.com/heartstartspounding Today I want to tell you about the dark origins of Christmas, before Santa Claus ever existed. We're diving into Frau Perchta, a Christmas witch who visited homes with iron scissors and a taste for porridge...whether she had to cut it out of you or not. We'll also cover the real Saint Nicholas and his disturbing miracles, and the demonic Krampuses who worked alongside him to drag sinners straight to hell. You'll never look at Christmas traditions the same way again. Show Notes: https://www.heartstartspounding.com/episodes/krampus Watch More! Five of the EERIEST Great Lakes Mysteries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdEVI3ff3Nw&list=PLY7bFJ2eh_BpPGxorzQsUwvbqtV-1kJvR&index=6 Brazil’s Most Terrifying Folklore Creatures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sclQS0E4xMY&list=PLY7bFJ2eh_Bp3BXOoEjFH2enner7aH_cW&index=3 Terrifying TRUE Urban Legends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUy2zcMvgts&list=PLY7bFJ2eh_Bp3BXOoEjFH2enner7aH_cW&index=5 ❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥ About Heart Starts Pounding Hosted by Kaelyn Moore, Heart Starts Pounding explores the terrifying, the mysterious, and the downright spooky. Kaelyn brings you chilling true crime, unexplained phenomena, and haunting stories from across the globe and submitted by listeners like you. Have a heart-pounding story to tell or a case request? Submit your story at https://www.heartstartspounding.com/stories Socials https://www.instagram.com/heartstartspounding/ https://www.tiktok.com/@heartstartspounding https://www.facebook.com/heartstartspounding/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6mbxMOHKjy7jQGl3V08rE3 ApplePodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heart-starts-pounding-horrors-hauntings-and-mysteries/id1618084297 Web: https://heartstartspounding.com/ 0:00 The Dark Side of Christmas 2:10 Frau Perchta: The Christmas Witch 11:03 The First Trick-or-Treaters 14:23 The Real Saint Nicholas 19:02 The Origin of Christmas Stockings 24:47 The Legend of Krampus 34:30 Why We Keep Dark Traditions Alive #DarkChristmas #Krampus #Folklore