The Scary Book of Christmas Lore

50 Terrifying Yuletide Tales from Around the World

By: Tim Rayborn

Narrated by: Van Tracy

Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen…but do you recall the most petrifying Christmas figures of all? Not all children fear just a lump of coal in their stockings. Discover the terrifying Yuletide fables that have horrified kids for generations.

He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness’ sake. This lighthearted song is a bit more ominous in the context of other Christmas traditions. From beasts that threaten to cook children into stew to sinister crones who snatch little ones from their beds, you won’t find any dancing sugar plums here. Outside of the heartwarming Christmas tales we all know and love, there are an abundance of frightening stories to chill all who hear them to the bone. Discover folklore from all corners of the world, including:

• Krampus (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and northern Italy), a demonic half-goat monster who drags chains and whips bad children with birch sticks, or stuffs them in his sack to take away
• The Kallikantzari (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Turkey), goblins who come out during Advent to cause mischief
• Père Fouettard (France, Belgium, Switzerland), Saint Nicholas’ eternal cannibal manservant who deals with naughty children
• Hans Trapp (Alsace-Lorraine, France), who roams the countryside disguised as a scarecrow and goes door to door on Christmas looking for children to feast upon
• Gryla (Iceland), the giant ogre who emerges from her cave on Christmas to hunt children and cook them into stew
• Mari Lwyd (Wales), a creature with a horse’s skull and a long cloak that is followed by a group of chanting people
• Frau Perchta (Austria and Bavaria), who slits the bellies of bad children and stuffs them with straw

These tales are sure to leave you wishing for the Grinch. Whether you are a fan of history and folklore, you love learning about different cultures, or you just want to give a holiday gift that will bring the joy of Christmas to that lucky someone (just kidding), The Scary Book of Christmas Lore is for you. ’Tis the season! Is it beginning look a lot like Christmas, yet?

©2023 Tim Rayborn (P)2023 Cider Mill Press

Not stories but education about them

From the title and description I was expecting / hoping for actual fables - short stories that featured the demons and creatures mentioned. What it is, instead, is a more sterile text *about* the monsters. Not "terrifying tales" but a Cliffs Notes version describing them. Interesting, but not what I wanted.

Never knew there were so many Christmas monsters

I was expecting some Christmas Ghost Stories like it says in the song. But learning about the old Christmas monsters was interesting.

More of a quirky encyclopedic format versus scary short stories

Interesting snippets or lore from around the world, though mostly euro-centric, many of which were strongly related/repetitive. Was expecting the presentation to be in story/folktale format versus a narrator telling listeners about the stories.

A compilation of dark Christmas tales from around the world

This compilation of dark Christmas tales from around the world is an interesting look into other cultures.

One For Us Humbugs

I was one of those kids that enjoyed Halloween more than Christmas. Fantastic lore and reader. Enjoyable listen that fits in nicely after Halloween.

interesting and spooky

this book was really neat to understand the history of Christmas and the crazy made up tall tales to tell kids to behave.

Not so much scary

It was a boring account of historical lore and NOT scary at all! I was hoping for more along the lines of scary lore stories and NOT short, 3 to 4 minute, international background beliefs/thoughts/myths of different yuletide bad guys like Krampus, witches, or other horribles.
I totally regret wasting a reading credit on this selection and would sadly, NOT recommend!!

Misleading title and a waste of a credit.

Terrible. Just terrible. It's like a poorly written 11th grade term paper about Christmas myths.

Mostly disappointing

I got this thinking it would be a fun and intetesting listen. NOPE! It's SO boring! It is written and read like the driest of history books.

Not a collection of stories

From the title and the description I had read elsewhere, I was expecting a collection of short stories. Instead is a non fiction listing of different legend entities. The information s great. It drags on a lot but just not what I was expecting.