October State of Mind
October State of Mind
Happy Hauntingdays! A Very Scary Hautingday Spooktacular!
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In this Very Scary Hauntingday Spooktacular, although still living in October, Ricky admits that it mayyyy be a little December as well. There's actually a lot of very spooky and scary traditions and folklore and stories that are tied to the 'very merry' holiday season, and Ricky talks about it all! Krampus, Gryla, True creepy stories including Xmas shopping stories, and some talk of the Monoliths and Aliens for good measure! After listening, you may want to board up your chimneys this holiday season!
Poem
The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe
Stories:
1) When She Got Back, I Was Dead - Thatsslightlyraven
2) My UFO - Tammy (Rochester, NY)
3) Customer - Reddit
4) Shopping at Home - Reddit
5) Black Friday - Reddit
References:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-icelands-christmas-witch-much-cooler-and-scarier-krampus-180967605/
https://www.vox.com/culture/22062796/monoliths-utah-california-romania
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus#Origins
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-do-ghost-stories-go-christmas-180961547/
https://jezebel.com/11-more-of-the-scariest-stories-weve-ever-heard-1653038439
Music:
OSOM Theme and Outro by Brian Barr
"Quinn's Song: A New Man" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Quinn's Song: First Night" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Quinn's Song: The Dance Begins" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Blue Feather" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Spacial Harvest" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Krampus Is Here by Myuu | https://soundcloud.com/myuu
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
"Krampus Workshop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Santa’s Tricks by Myuu | https://soundcloud.com/myuu
Silent Night (Dark Piano Version) by myuu https://soundcloud.com/myuu
Snow Wonders by myuu https:soundcloud.com/myuu
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—
This it is and nothing more.”
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—
Darkness there and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
’Tis the wind and nothing more!”
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as “Nevermore.”
But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”
Then the bird said “Nevermore.”
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”
But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—
“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
INTRO
Welcome back to another adventure in the world of October with October State of Mind! The Podcast that transports YOU to October and Spooky season, no matter what month it is before you put those headphones on, its always October in here! We’ve got 3verything spooky ooky kooky and creepy to chill you to the bone and give you that spooky joyous feeling all year long! Creepy true stories, scary movies, creepy news, haunted buildings, and much more all right here on October State of Mind! I’m your host, your ghost host, Ricky Schroeder. Rick or treat, if ya nasty. Our poem today was, and if you don’t know this, I’m a little ashamed of you, but it’s okay, I’m always happy to educate, The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. I contemplated reading it for the Halloween episode, since it’s a poem so closely associated with Halloween, but right there in the second stanza of the poem it says ‘in the bleak December’, so I thought, eh why not save it. I also read it in an English accent. Why? Because I wanted to. I read it first in my American accent, and it just didn’t sound right. Doesn’t have the same gravitas as an English accent. So, I did it.
How is everyone? While it’s most certainly always October in here, we can also admit it may be a liiiiitle bit December for this episode as well. Now, most people associate December and the holidays with happy bright shiny things, there’s also sort of a spookiness to the holiday season. It’s known as the second spooky season of the year! I mean, it’s right there in one of your favorite Christmas songs. There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and carolers out in the snow, there’ll be scary ghost stories, and tales of the glories of Christmases long long ago! That lyric never really hit me growing up singing the song. You know how you just kind of learn lyrics to songs, and then years later you’ll be singing it and you’ll finally actually HEAR the words your singing? That definitely happened with Most Wonderful Time of the Year for me. It was, like, hold up I’ve been singing Scary Ghost Stories for all these years?? My interest is piqued! I mean, we also have Christmas Carol right there in front of our faces. It’s a heartwarming Christmas tale, yes? Sure, but also….It’s a ghost story. Scrooge is visited by three GHOSTS of Christmas past? And by the GHOST of Jacob Marley? Robert & Jacob Marley if you’re more used to the Muppet christmas carol version, which, let’s be real, is the best version. Thinking back on when I first saw the muppet chrismtas carol it actually used to really scare me. That huge ghost of Christmas future in it’s black shrouded robe with it’s long spindly fingers? Saying nothing. Just….pointing. And then Scrooge seeing his NAME on a tombstone??? Terrifying!
Even Santa Claus, the man himself, is super creepy when you think about it. I mean let alone an old man sneaking into your house at night and leaving you gifts and eating your cookies, oh my god which reminds me, I haven’t thought about this in so long, wow…Okay, so back when I was a church going boy growing up, we used to go to the church service that had the coffee and donuts after and kids would play in the gym and adults would socialize and whatnot. Church wasn’t even worth it unless we went to get the donuts afterward. Anyway, I couldn’t have been older than maybe 5 or 6. I picked up my little plate and went and put a couple donut holes on it, maybe a cookie or two, and I went to sit on the elevated platform at the far side of the gym, that acted as a stage. A gymatorium if you will. My little legs were dangling off the side of the platform as I quietly munched on a donut hole, quiety surveying the crowd, kids running around, grown ups gossiping as only church goers can. I don’t remember where my parents or my sister were in this specific situation. But I remember, all of sudden, out of nowhere, this old man appeared right in front of me. He had to have at least been in his 80s. He looked at me, and then without a word, snatched the remainder of my donut holes and cookies off my plate, and mainting direct eye contact, began to eat them. It happened so fast, I didn’t know what to do, think, or say. I felt my eyes tear up, and as they did this man began to laugh, at me, at what he’d done. And then he walked away, all without saying a word. I remember that laugh being one of the most evil laughs I had ever heard. To my 5 year old self, it felt like the devil himself had infiltrated this church coffee and donuts gathering just to steal my food! I was so distraught. Obviously it became a defining traumatic moment in my life, and may be why I don’t like sharing my food now…Hmm…But think about that, how creepy and horrible is that for an old man to go and steal a little kid’s donuts and laugh in his face about it, all while at CHURCH?? It was the devil I tell you.
Anyway, how did we get here? Oh yes, old men eating your cookies. Santa sneaks into your house, eats your cookies and leaves you gifts. Everyone’s all happy when Santa does it, but when my grandpa does it, he gets the cops called on him! Also speaking of further childhood traumas, just the idea of reward and punishment system of Christmas. If you’re good you’ll get gifts, but if you’re bad, you’ll get coal!! I was even told at some point by someone, it may have been my parents or maybe one of my teachers, but I was told that elves were always watching to see if you were being bad or good. I remember standing in my kitchen at night in front of our glass sliding door, feeling eyes all over me. Peering out through the glass to see if I could catch a glimpse of a beady pair of eyes darting between bushes or hiding amongst the trees that were spying on me. It didn’t feel very joyous. Once again, it’s all fine and dandy for elves to be spying on children, but when my grandpa did it everyone seemed to have some sort of issue!
I’m just kidding. My grandpa never did those things. Someone’s grandpa probably did though. This concept of naughty or nice and reward or punishment though, is a nice segue into my next topic. The oh so important reason for the season to me. BUT instead of taking advantage of a perfect segue, let’s hear a story. We’ve already kind of gotten down to the spooky business, but for the sake of tradition, what the holidays are all about after all…. Let’s get down to the spooky business with a story from someone who goes by the internet name thatsslightlyraven.
When She Got Back, I Was Dead
I was visiting my parents over the holidays. My mother loves nothing more than to break open a bottle of cheap chardonnay (Kendall Jackson if it's a fancy night) and watch home videos of us kids when we were little. It's pretty harmless, if a little embarrassing, so we indulge this habit with her.
We were watching videos of my sister and me dancing and singing and generally hamming it up for the camera when I was 4 or 5-ish. We watch like four of these videos and I notice in everyone that I talk to the camera about my younger brother. I keep saying things like "When I was 10 and my brother was 7 we did X" or "When I was 8 and my brother was 5 we did Y". I don't remember ever talking about this. There was a consistent 3 year age gap between this younger brother and me and all the things we did were activities on a large, rural farm. Between the ages of 0-7, we only ever lived in major metropolitan areas, my immediate family has never lived on a farm.
I asked my mom about it because it was weird. She said she always brushed it off because I was an imaginative little kid, I was always telling stories and I really wanted a younger brother. She said I stopped talking about it around the time my younger brother was born when I was 6. She said there was one time that I said something that really weirded her out. One time I apparently said, "When I was 12 and my brother was 9, I fell out of the tree near the silo. It hurt really bad. Buzzy went to get Mama but when she got back I was dead." I don't remember every saying this, my mom said I was really nonchalant and when she asked me about it, I wasn't bothered. I just said it again like it was a fact. My mom said that my brother was born a few months after that and I never mentioned it again so she let it go. She wrote it off as me trying to get attending with a new sibling on the way.
Flash forward about 3 days and my mom's mom and stepdad are there for Christmas. My mom's stepdad married her mom when my mom was in her late 20's and I was a baby, my mom didn't grow up with him and she doesn't know his extended family well. A few glasses of wine and back to the baby videos. One of them has me mentioning my brother again. My mom retells the creepy story from earlier. Her stepdad goes white. My mom knew that he had a sibling pass away when he was young, I had never heard that before. His oldest sister, Shirley passed away when he was 9. She was three years older than him. They were raised on a grain farm in Iowa. They were playing on a tree and she fell head first out of the tree when her foot slipped. My mom's stepdad was right there when it happened. He went to get help but she passed away from the fall.
The part that not even my grandmother knew: His sister couldn't say his name when she was little and mispronounced it as Buzzy. No one called him that after his sister died. He got really mad at me and was convinced that someone told me and that 5 year old me was messing with him. I had no idea he had lost a sibling. My grandma is the only one in our family who knew all the details about it, but even she didn't know about the nickname.
I have no memory of telling these stories as a little kid and even seeing all the videos hasn't helped my remember it. My mom and I haven't talked about it since. My mom's stepdad hasn't talked to me at all since.
Okay, so as far as creepy news goes, it’s all about the monoliths right now, isn’t it? You’ve most likely seen some news about them, but in case you haven’t let me catch you up. 3 long vertical pillars of metal 10-12 feet tall have appeared in various locations mysteriously and then vanished. The first one was found Nov 18th in the desert of Utah’s Red Rock country when a helicopter flying overhead noticed the flash of metal and went to investigate. This canyon where the monolith was found is remote and not easy accessed without a helicopter, though not impossible. It would feel very on brand for this mysterious slab of metal, reminding people of the alien monoliths from 2001:A Space Odyssey, to appear in 2020, but because of some google maps Earth View investigating people found out it looks like the monolith was installed sometime between 2015 and 2016, only discovered now. But soon after its discovery it vanished mysteriously on November 27th.
Who took the monolith? Aliens? Well…no. The mystery of who took it was solved rather quickly when a man ventured to take some pictures of the monolith only to discover three men appear all of a sudden and dismantle the monolith, leaving the site with the words “Don’t leave a trace”.
Who were these mysterious men? Government workers? Alien hunters? Once again this mystery was solved rather quickly when BASE jumper Andy L. Lewis and adventure guide Sylvan Christensen released video they filmed themselves of them dismantling the monolith, claiming although they weren’t happy about having to get rid of the art, the environment and ecosystem of the canyone was fragile and wasn’t prepared for a horde of monolith gawking tourists to come and visit.
However, the same day they dismantled the Utah monolith another one appeared in the countryside of Romania. While the original monolith was perfectly shiny and smooth on its sides, this monolith was covered in looping lines and had a welded seam toward the base. Mayor of Piatra Neamt, where the Romanian monolith was found, joked about how he was sure it was just some alien teenagers who stole their parents spaceships and were dropping monoliths all over the world. He didn’t share the same concern as Andy Lewis and Sylvan Christensen, and actually hoped the monolith would attract tourists. However, this monolith also disappeared, only 4 days after it was discovered. Who got rid of this monolith remains a mystery.
And on the same day of THAT monolith’s disappearance, another one appeared at the top of a hiking trail on Pine Mountain in California. About the same size and triangular prism shape as the other two, it’s surface was more similar to the smooth sides of Utah’s, however this one had not been planted in the ground.
A day later that monolith was removed. I don’t say disappeared this time because a group of men livestreamed themselves removing it after having driven 5 hours, wearing Camo, night vision goggles and Trump garb chanting “America First” and “Christ is King”. One of the men said in the video “Christ is King in this country. We don’t illegal aliens from Mexico or outer space” They tore the monolith down and put a wooden cross in its place. So….no mystery there. Just some racist idiots.
The monoliths have gained a lot of social media attention and of course have received the meme treatment. Southwest Airlines tweeting that they needed their divider back that they use to have people line up according to number. Someone turned the monolith into a drivethrough speaker from McDonalds. People tweeting that monoliths have appeared in their apartments with pictures of their dogs standing upright. The internet has got jokes.
So while the disappearance of two of these monoliths has been explained, where the Romanian one went remains unsolved, and who put them there in the first place is the biggest mystery. No one has taken credit for that. There are many theories. Since the materials used in all three monoliths have varied many people speculate that the Romanian and Californian monoliths are simply works of copycats.
I’ve seen people suggest it’s some sort of crazy marketing campaign for a new movie, but since the original monolith was presumably erected in 2015 or 2016 that seems unlikely.
A popular theory suggests that it may just be a leftover prop from the shooting of the HBO show, WestWorld which shot close to that area in Utah.
The strongest most likely theory is that the Utah monolith was a work of an artist, and his work was copied for the other two. But who was the artist? No one has claimed credit. That could possibly be because people belive it may have been a work of John McCracken who died in 2011 whose signature works were his ‘planks’, freestanding slabs of metal that he would lean against walls, which he used to say himself, that he believed his blanks influenced the design of the monoliths in 2001: A Spacey Oddyssey. But with McCracken dying in 2011 and the monolith being erected in 2015, it’s hard to piece that theory together, unless he left some secret posthumous instructions for it’s installation. Also, David Zwirner who represents the McCracken estate initially said he believed it to be McCracken’s work then retracted his statement upon closer inspection as McCracken worked with his hands the Utah monolith was clearly machine built. “I love the idea of this being John’s work,” he says, “But when you look closely at the photos of the Utah monolith you will see rivets and screws that are not consistent with how John wanted work to be constructed.”
McCracken, himself, believed in Aliens, and modeled much of his work after what he imagined to be alien artifacts. And of course, this alien theory is one of the favorites and creepiest amongst those on the interwebs. It’s most likely the reason the monoliths caught fire online in the first place. I find it hard to believe that so many people would care so much about a slab of metal made by an artist, but the mystery behind it, the possibility of it being a gift, a warning, a sign from those watching us from amongst the stars, well, it’s very 2020, and while the idea seems farfetched, it’s certainly not impossible. I’ve seen posts from people on social media with cryptic messages like “They’re coming. I’m ready”, or the world is about to change. What were these galaxy dwellers trying to tell us with this monolith? Or were they not trying to tell us anything at all? Something they simply left behind accidentally after one of their visits? Or is there just some artist somewhere giggling into their hands, grateful their work has finally achieved its purpose in creating not just national but worldwide discourse? Maybe there’s an even more basic explanation for it beyond an alien or even an artist? For now, it remains a bit of a creepy mystery.
Speaking of aliens, here’s another story about a UFO encounter from Tammy in Rochester NY.
MY UFO
It was the late 90’s and I lived in Pavilion, NY with my husband and our 2 daughters.
I was heading upstairs to my bedroom to put some clean clothes away. It was around 9 P.M. A dark night. I started to put the clothes away in the drawer when something caught my attention out of the periphery of my eye. It was something in the night sky out the window. I moved closer to the window sill to get a better look. At first, I assumed it was plane, But upon a quick examination, I realized that it was not. Maybe Helicopter? Not one that I’ve ever seen.
It was dark, but I could clearly see the outline of this object in the sky. It was hovering. Not moving, just hovering. It was round. Not like a sphere, but round like a saucer. There were lights evenly spaced around the circumference of it. I just kept staring at it while my mind was trying to figure out what it was. After a few seconds, I got the feeling like it was staring back at me and chills ran through my body. I just knew it saw me looking at it. All of the sudden, it shot off. Straight off into the distance.
Now my thoughts were running wild, I was thinking it must have been a UFO and it saw me and it was going to come back and abduct me. I was afraid to tell anyone about it and I did not until many years later. I am not sure what it was that I saw that night. Maybe it was an alien spacecraft and maybe it wasn’t.
But it was definitely a flying object that I could not identify, so we can safely say it was an Unidentified Flying Object. My UFO.
Okay, so first of all, in the time it took me to record that story, ANOTHER monolith has appeared. This one in Pittsburgh in front of a candy shop called Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop. This one, however, is clearly just a marketing ploy to get people to come to the sweet shop. Nothing too mysterious about it. Alright, so let’s go back about 15 minutes ago when I was talking about the concept of being naughty or nice, and the reward of being nice or the punishment of being naughty. A traumatizing concept to a child. But one legendary creature is all about this reward and punishment system. He is the reason for the season. The one, the only Krampus! Krampus is a companion of St Nick, but he’s the opposite of Santa. Krampus is a tall menacing, horned, half goat half demon of Central European folklore whose sole purpose is to punish all the naughty children during the Christmas season. Just like, Santa, Krampus also carries a sack, but instead of toys, if you’re naughty in Austria, you don’t get coal, you get thrown into Krampus’ sack and taken away! Unlike in America where Santa deals with both good and bad kids, in these European countries, Santa only concerns himself with the good children and leaves Krampus to take care of the little devils. Krampus’ appearance has many variations, but most of them include being very hairy, having cloven hooves, goat horns, a looonnnnng pointed tongue and fangs, to devour all the naughty children of course. He is sometimes known to carry chains or bundles of birch, both used to discipline children, either swatting them or locking them up. I only discovered Krampus maybe 9 or 10 years ago, and I can’t believe I missed out on so much Krampus during the first two thirds of my life so far. I think the first time I discovered him was on facebook, someone had shared a 12 minute video of Krampuslauf on Krampusnacht. Much like Devil’s night, the night before Halloween, Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night, on December 5th every year, is celebrated the night before the feast of St Nicholas on the 6th. On Krampusnacht,(which is tonight, the night I happen to be recording this, by the way) Krampus is known to appear on the streets and visit the homes and business of naughty children. And depending on the city or town you’re in, there also might be a Krampuslauf, which is what I saw the video of. A parade of Krampus, growling howling and marching through the streets while onlookers gather and cheer and scream. Think a Halloween parade except occasionally in the snow in a European village and everyone in the parade is a hairy horned demon beast. I watched that whole 12 minute video it was fascinating. Hundreds of different interpretations of Krampus, and each one has put 120% effort into their costumes. some of them going over to the crowd and grabbing people, bringing them into the parade as if they were going to take them back to their lair. Kids squealing in delight and fear as Krampus comes up to them shaking its chains or hitting its branches on the ground. I once had a conversation with my barber, George, who grew up with some of these Krampus traditions, saying it was indeed a big thing. Parents who were sick of their kids antics would sometimes hire people or ask friends or relatives to dress up as Krampus and come over to their house and chase their screaming child around to scare them to be good. I mean, that’s kind of awful, but also I can’t help but giggle a little about it. I less like the kids getting terrorized and more love the parade and the folklore of it all. Plus the depiction of Krampus has generally gotten a little tamer more recently. Krampuskarten, or Krampus greeting cards have been passed around since the 1800s often accompanied by Krampus’ famous saying “Gruß vom Krampus!” (Greetings from Krampus), and also sometimes humorous sayings or poems, and while the older ones depicted Krampus and being super menacing, sometimes sexualized lusting after buxom women, the more modern depicitons of Krampus are sometimes almost cherub-like, and cute.
Krampus has found his way into the mainstream with appearances on multiple tv shows, including one of my faves, American Dad, as well as his very own feature film in 2015, of which he was the Titular character. Krampus, starring Toni Collette and Adam Scott tells the story of an extended American family, dysfunctional and squabbling as they come, who has gathered together for Christmas. The Christmas spirit is severely lacking within the family, and even young Max loses his Christmas spirit, having written a letter to Santa, and upon confrontations with his conservative aunt and uncle and bullying cousins, tears his letter up and throws it out the window, seeming to cause a major blizzard to roll in over the neighborhood, signifying Krampus’ arrival, and snowing the family in. Before we meet the menacing figure himself, he has sent his menacing demonic toys, and the family fights to survive in this winter horrorland. It’s thrilling, fun, and often hilarious. Able to achieve real scares and dread as well as solid humor. I looovved the movie, and its become a bit of an annual tradition for me to watch it. 9/10 Snowcovered pumpkins from me.
So yes, Krampus is the reason for the season for me. He’s big, he’s hairy, and he’s here. And if you have children, you may not want to go overboard with terrorizing them, but it might be fun to add Krampus to your own holiday folklore and traditions. And even if you don’t, Krampus might just come and pay you a visit regardless…
Three True Scary Christmas Shopping Stories
Number One: Customer
I hear a lot of scary shopping stories and they are usually from the perspective of the person who is shopping. However, my scariest experience happened when I was working at a bookstore. About two months after I was promoted from bookseller to Assistant Manager, we were hit by the Christmas rush. It was always so overwhelming really. By the end of the night, everyone was so wiped out. And getting all the receipts and drawers counted at the end of the night took so much time. On the nights that I was closing, I let the workers go as soon as they were done. There was no reason to make them stick around and be tired while I was finishing up my work.
After I let everyone go, I went back in the office to do my work. After a while, I heard the doorbell ring. We had security cameras but there wasn't one at the door. So I had to go to the front door and see who it was. There was a guy there and he was dressed in dark clothes and had his hood up. I asked him how I could help him, of course watching him through the door.
"Hey dude, I left my wallet in your store!" he told me. "Can you open the door and let me come in and get it?"
I asked him where he thought he left it and that I would look for it for him. He didn't like that idea and told me he wasn't sure. He had been shopping through the entire store and would have to look for it. I asked him if he had bought anything and he told me yes, which meant he had to have his wallet on him at that point. I pointed that out to him and he seemed taken back a bit. I told him we didn't get anything turned in but I could take his information and get back to him if we find anything.
The man began getting angry, telling me that he needed his wallet tonight and he couldn't wait for me to look for it. He kept insisting that I let him in so he could look for it. When I told him that there was no way I was letting him in the store this late and while I was alone, he began getting visibly angry. He told me that if I didn't let him in the place right away, he would call the police and tell them that I stole his wallet. He even got his cell phone out of his pocket and acted like he was going to call.
At that point, I had enough. I told the guy the best I could do for him is take his information and call him if anything was found. I then told him that if this wasn't good enough, then there wasn't anything at all that I could do for him. He got really angry and began swearing and me. He grabbed the door and began shaking it, demanding that I open the door. I told him I was going to walk over to the customer service desk and call the police. I wasn't willing to cooperate anymore. As I made my way over there, I noticed the guy take off down the street. I thought that was the end of him and I figured that I didn't really need to bother the police for this. I went back to my work and tried my best to get it done so I could go home and get some rest.
It took me about two hours to honestly finish all of my work. I hadn't heard the doorbell ring and pretty much figured that I wouldn't be seeing that guy again. However, when I was going to the front of the store, I did look around to see if anyone was in the parking lot before I went outside.
I went out to my car in the cold and couldn't wait to get out of the cold. However, I froze when I was maybe within a couple feet away from my car. There was someone in the back seat of my car. He was hiding, down on the backseat with his hood over his head, but there was definitely someone in the back seat of my car and I knew exactly who it had to be. Furthermore, he must have seen me or he wouldn't have ducked down.
I did the only thing I could think of to do. I turned and ran at full speed back to the store. I didn't look back around until I had made it to the door. And yeah, he was coming at me. I unlocked the door and shut it behind me. He made it to the door right before I could lock it, so I had to do my best to hold it closed while trying to turn the lock. As I did, the man screamed all sorts of obscenities at me, telling me he was going to kill me. As the door opened outward, I quickly pushed it toward him, knocking him on the ground. Before he could realize what had happened and recover, I was able to get the door closed and locked. I immediately called the police.
The guy left after the door was locked but the police picked him up pretty quickly.
Number Two: Shopping at Home
I really wanted a Playstation 4 when it was originally released. I tried everything to get one as quickly as possible. The local Best Buy was having a black Friday sale and I stood in line, waiting to get one. I was nowhere near being lucky enough to actually get one in this method. I then tried getting one online. As much as I wanted one, the people on Ebay and Amazon who were reselling them were asking way too much money and I couldn't afford them. After several days of trying my best to find a way to get one, I had to come to the conclusion that it wasn't going to happen.
It was then that I thought I came across a bit of luck. Going through Craigslist, I found that someone was selling their Playstation 4 and at no more than the original buying price of the system. I, of course, was skeptical. I couldn't understand why they would do that. Also, I figured as in demand as the system happened to be that someone would have claimed it right away. I immediately emailed the seller and let them know that I was very interested and hoped that they still had it.
I was surprised to get an immediate response that they did still have the PS4 and would be willing to sell it to me. They asked for my address so they could bring it over. I was sort of hesitant and asked if it would be better to meet in public. I wasn't too keen on the idea of someone coming over to my house. He let me know that he was going to be very busy all day and that he couldn't keep an appointment in public. It would be much better if he came over to my house.
I was still not really ecstatic about the idea but I really wanted that PS4. I agreed and gave the guy my address. I figured it was safer than me going over to his place. This whole exchange took place about 9AM.
I was so happy and really eager to get my PS4. My eagerness only grew as I began waiting for the guy to show up. Hell, I not only began waiting for him, I waited for him for a long time. Hours passed by and I began to think that he wasn't going to come. Around 2PM I had gotten really impatient. I tried emailing the guy back, asking him where he was. Previously, I had gotten very quick responses from him but I didn't get any this time.
Around 6PM, I had lost all hope. I figured that most likely he got a better offer from someone else and didn't want to tell me. I was disappointed, more than I can possibly even tell you. I couldn't even tell you how deflated I was. It's one thing to not have gotten the item from the store, I could come to terms with that. But I was so close to having one in my hands and I didn't get the PS4. And THAT was the scariest thing to ever happen to me.
Just kidding. For the rest of the night, I kept looking around on Craigslist to find a new PS4 that was within my price range. I wasn't able to find anything and before I knew it, I had wasted the entire day and the entire evening with this search. It was past midnight and I just had nothing to show for the day.
I got ready for bed and that was when I heard something. At first I dismissed it, thinking that it was my imagination. Then I heard it again, and someone was knocking at my door. I walked up to the door and looked out the window. There was a guy standing there and I asked who he was. He identified himself as the guy who had the PS4. He apologized for being so late and told me he had got caught up during the day. He asked if I had the money.
I opened the door but kept the screen door closed. I told him I had the money but I didn't see that he had anything with him. I asked if he brought the PS4 with him. He told me it was out in his van. He told me to get the money and come out to the van with him and he would get it for me. I let him know I wasn't really comfortable walking out to his van and he told me it was all right.
I looked over his shoulder and saw that someone was in the van waiting. And he had been keeping his hand in his hooded sweatshirt all the time while talking to me. There was something more than just his hand in there.
I told him, I'd go get my wallet and then come back. He protested as I closed the door in his face and then I locked it. I was too uncomfortable with this and I went over to my phone to call the cops. As I did, I heard a loud hit on my front door. Then after a few moments, I watched the van drive away really fast.
When I went to check and see if he damaged my door, I nearly fainted as I saw a knife embedded into the door itself. I was right that he had something in his sweatshirt and that I shouldn't go out to the van with him.
Number Three: Black Friday
Normally I don't go out Christmas shopping on black Friday. I know there are deals to be gotten but the actual amount of people who get them is pretty low. It sometimes seems that more negativity comes out of it than anything. I did go out on Black Friday once and honestly the experience kept me from ever even considering doing it again.
This was a few years back. The big Christmas gift that year was a game called Uno Attack. It was supposed to sell out pretty quickly and my nephew really wanted one. So I decided for the first time ever to brave the Black Friday crowd and see about getting one.
I waited outside the store in line for it to open. The entire time I kept wondering why people were so fanatical about doing this. It was cold and although I was reasonably bundled up, it didn't help that I had to spend so much time not moving. In addition, people were in terrible spirits, which seemed to take the spirit away from the event. Some people would try to cut in line, which only made the people already in line crabbier than they were.
When the store was getting closer to opening, I noticed that there was someone from the store headed out and talking to each person in line. When they got to me, I realized he was handing out tickets, indicating who would be able to buy an Uno Attack game. He asked me if I that was why I was there, and I told him yes. He told me I was lucky then because I was getting the very last ticket. Of course, this caused some groaning and swearing from the people behind me. Although I hated the idea that there would be a lot of children who wouldn't be getting the toy they wanted, I was elated.
That was until this guy got out of line and walked up to me. He came up immediately after the worker left. He first offered to buy the ticket from me. I told him no because it wasn't a matter of money, it was me trying to make my nephew happy. He then started telling me that his son really wanted the toy. I countered with letting him know that my nephew also really wanted the toy. When I kept refusing, he started telling me other stories, such as his son was really sick but I could tell he was just doing his best to make me feel guilty.
From further back in the line, a few other people began telling the guy to leave me alone. He got into a shouting match with several of them. Eventually the guy stomped away, but not before telling me "I'll get that toy."
I tried not to think about it. I went in, claimed the Uno game and did some more shopping. I figured that since I had spent so much time outside waiting that I should try to get as much done as I could. When I was done in that store, I went back out to my car. I put all the toys in the trunk and then I walked over to the bookstore in the strip mall in order to get some other items. When I began walking back to the car the second time, I paused when I noticed the man from earlier was leaning on my car. I began feeling tense, knowing that the guy was going to confront me again. He was much bigger than I was but I decided I couldn't let him intimidate me.
As I got closer to my car, he noticed me and he smiled. He reached into his pocket and I assumed he was reaching for his wallet. But it only took a moment before I saw that it was a pocket knife and he flipped it open.
I immediately stopped. I couldn't imagine the guy would be stupid enough to try and threaten or stab me in a busy parking lot. But I didn't want to test that theory. So I turned and quickly ran back into the store that I had bought the Uno game in. I let the store security know what happened and they gave me an escort out to the car.
The man was gone, but I was still shaken. I was more shaken when I noticed knife marks on the lock for my trunk and the trunk was dented. There were also deep scratches in my driver side window.
I never went out on Black Friday again.
Okay, so I wasn’t even planning on talking about this next subject, but my sister sent me an article and I’ve gotta at least talk about her for a second. Like, Krampus, there are different Yultide/Winter/Christmas beasts, monsters and ghouls from folklore all around the world and another one of the major ones is Gryla, The Christmas Witch from Iceland. Mention of her is found all the way back to the 13thcentury, she’s An ogress witch with a horned tail who lives in a cave and is the matriarch of many a creepy creature whom she calls family. With her family she plunders villages and, like Krampus, snatches up Naughty Children, but Gryla turns these misbehavors into a stew which she gobbles up. She’s had a couple husbands over the years, the first of which she got bored with, so she ate, naturally. Also in her family are her l13 Yule Lads, large adult menacing men each with a different job, stealing toys and other things from the villages, spying on children, and reporting on their naughtiness to their mother so that Gryla can come and snatch them to devour. There was also the Yule Cat who targets anyone who doesn’t have any clothes, thus cementing an Icelandic tradition of putting a new pair of socks or long underwear on the Christmas list. The threat of Gryla was certainly used to keep children in line, but she was so terrifying to children that in 1746, the Icelandic government made it unlawful to use her legend as an intimidation tactic. Although, that’s probably not very well enforced. Although Gryla hasn’t quite made it as much into the mainstream as Krampus kids, Icelandic children are still terrified to this day, and she has made a couple appearances on Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Which premieres its final season on Dec 31st, by the way)
Before Gryla’s connection with Christmas she was initially just associatied as the personification of the threat of Winter. The threat of Snow and darkness consuming the land. This end of year, winter looming kind of reflection is most likely why we have scary ghost stories and folkloric traditions that we now associate with Christmas. It’s only natural that when nighttime consumes more than half of a day, and the year is coming to a close that we instinctually want to gather together, reflect on the past year, things we’ve gained, those we’ve lost, what lies ahead . The ghosts of our year. The ghosts of our past, our present, and our future. Christmas, before its connection with Christianity was actually connected to the Pagan Winter Solstice celebration known as Yule. The Winter Solstice, which occurs right around our modern xmas every year, is the darkest day of the year. The day with the longest night, and naturally that’s a time when the dead would have easier access to the realm of the living. Because of all this, Christmas Time was THE time to gather and tell ghost stories. The talking of spirits usually fueled by the consumption of spirits, families would invite friends over to tell ghost stories, exchanging tales instead of gifts. The American Puritans began to frown upon such talk, however, and the practice began to lose its ferver. The commercialization of Christmas didn’t help either, but fragments of Christmas spookiness still remain, perhaps reinvigorated in recent year. Christmas Carol, of course, and how can I not mention the Nightmare Before Christmas? And even it’s a wonderful life! All spooky Christmas stories that deal with death and spectres. There’s been a surge in people celebrating Witchmas, or a combination of Halloween and Christmas in recent years, still putting up trees and welcoming Santa and gifts, but also including Halloween colors or some skull ornaments or, this year, dressing up their new 12 foot skeletons in Christmas lights or santa outfits. There’s a magnetism to the spooky and macabre that this time at the end of the year attracts even as holly jolly songs and bright decorations fill our ears and eyes. It’s palpable. You can’t ignore it.
As humorist, Jerome K. Jerome wrote in 1891 Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories Nothing satisfies us on Christmas Eve but to hear each other tell authentic anecdotes about spectres. It is a genial, festive season, and we love to muse upon graves, and dead bodies, and murders, and blood.”
Well, that’s all I got for you for this very special Holiday episode of October State of Mind. I hope you all learned a little something spooky. I know I did! Remember, if you have a creepy or spooky true story to share, or any spooky poetry, please send it to RickyOSOM@gmail.com! I need more stories! I’m okay with doing some internet searching for stories, but it’s always better when they’re submitted rather than poached. If you enjoyed this little bit of spooky fright added to your holiday season please make sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave me a 5 star rating and a nice review! I really appreciate it every time I see someone has taken the time to do that for me. Warms my heart during these cold months to know people like what I’m doing. You can follow along @OSOMPodcast on Instagram facebook and twitter, or follow me personally @RickyASchroeder. I hope everyone stays safe and healthy this holiday season and I hope Santa treats you right! But Make sure to keep watch out your windows, you never know what pair of eyes might be watching you. They could be elves, one of Gryla’s Yule Lads, or Krampus himself. Make sure you’re not being too naughty, now! And with that, Sleep tight everyone, D on’t look under the bed, and…..HAPPY HAUNTINGS!