Tale of a Story: “The Path”

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Gothic Blue Book VI: A Krampus Carol, horror, Krampus, Short story, story inspiration, thoughts

Do you know Krampus? The dark side of Santa. The one who punishes the naughty by throwing them in his sack. You better watch out, for Gothic Blue Book VI: A Krampus Carol is out now and waiting to share tales of this creature of the season.

And my story “The Path” waits for you too.

Cover art by Abigail Larson

Edited by Cynthia Pelayo and Gerardo Pelayo, Gothic Blue Book VI is out now for Kindle and paperback. With 31 stories and poems, there’s one creepy Krampus tale for each day of December.

When I saw the call for submissions for this, I knew I wanted to submit something. I loved the whole idea. But what to write?

Initially, I wondered about the story of Krampus coming to get someone. But that felt wrong.

Then I thought of one of my favorite Christmas movies…Krampus. I thought of the final scene in that movie, where the family is trapped by Krampus in a snowglobe…that snowglobe sitting on a shelf with so many others. That scene always sends my mind humming with creative wonder. What does happen to those taken by Krampus?

A snowglobe on a shelf? Or something else?

Then the character of Grayson spoke up…about his life, his struggles, his anger. And I began to uncover this ten year-old’s situation. I carefully extracted the reason he was taken by Krampus…and where he ended up after a trip in Krampus’ sack.

Many decisions are reactions to emotions. Anger being the strongest. Unfortunately, dealing with the consequences of those actions can be difficult, traveling the path created can only lead to darkness.

Over 150 people submitted. I didn’t think my little tale stood a chance. When I got the acceptance e-mail, from Krampus’ personal assistant, left me honored and feeling extremely lucky. So, here’s your reminder to try. Always try. Never give up.

I can’t wait to read all the stories and poems.

Look out in December, as I read one a day and blog about them. Buy your own and read with me!

Spooky All Year… Krampus

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#SpookyAllYear, Christmas, horror movie, Krampus

Time for…

Brought to you by Faith McKay at The Midnight Society to celebrate scary all year! And all my non-horror friends run away… NO COME BACK!

Yesterday, I took myself to see the new movie Krampus.

AND I LOVED IT! I had no idea what to expect and feared that it would be all effects and scares and no story. But no!

There was a story, characters that I liked and some I grew to like, a message, a few laughs, and lots of weird, crazy wrongness. The kind of wrong that made me cringe and want more.

The opening scene of crazy Christmas shoppers, of crying kids, and poor trampled sales persons all set to one of my favorite carols hooked me. This show had something to say. And I’ll never hear Bing Crosby’s version of It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas without thinking of this movie.

Krampus has roots in German lore…the opposite of Santa Claus, the hairy, horned demon sent to punish the naughty. This movie gave him more dimension than a mere punisher.

For all those who hate the holidays, who fight their way through shopping and focusing on sales, who want more more more, who dread the coming of relatives, for the lost magic when belief in Santa dies… when hope is lost, Krampus will come. And Christmas will eat you alive.

Killer jack-in-the-boxes, teddy bears, and angels. Oh, the wrongness! Creepy snowmen. Images left forever in my brain. Living, giggling gingerbread men with a nail gun. Okay, that made me chuckle.

And one boy and his family, fighting for their lives, learning to be a family and have hope.

And Krampus. Dude. Whoever created this guy… I LOVED HIM!

And the end? I kinda didn’t see that coming and it was fabulous. I left the theater not knowing whether to be disturbed or smile. So I did both.

Visit The Midnight Society for more #SpookyAllYear, go to all the other blogs participating, then write your own post and add the link!