Holiday Demon

Europeans might not have Thanksgiving but they make up for it with St. Nick's Day. You see, there Christmas used to be more about the Nativity and such. On the night of December 5th you left your boots on the windowsill. St. Nicholas stopped by during the night and if you were nice he left candy and fruit in your boots. But he didn't travel alone.

 The jolly fat man's companion was a hair, horned demon, with cloven hooves and an obscenely long tongue. He beat the naughty kids with a willow switch—if they were lucky. Alternately, he stuffed them into his basket and took them to hell.

Lovely, isn't it? Men dressing up as Krampus and scaring the living daylight out of little children was a popular activity in the olden days, as this old photo illustrates:

Krampus fell out of favor sometimes after WWII. I guess people had bigger, scarier things in their lives. It's gaining popularity again, though.

Hungarians added an extra letter to the holiday demon's name, because they just like to complicate things. My holiday themed short story, Krampusz takes place in Budapest, and is available from Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks, and Barnes & Noble. 

Regrettably, it does NOT contain monster porn. But it's only my list. Right after tentacle sex. 

Wednesday Word: Anthropophagy

anthropophagy |ˌanθrəˈpäfəjē|nounthe eating of human flesh by human beings.DERIVATIVESanthropophagous |-gəs| adjectiveORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Greek anthrōpophagia, from anthrōpophagos (see anthropophagi ).

I had no clue there was a word--in English at least--specifically for human-on-human cannibalism. I think I found this word on Pinterest when I stumbled over the Psoglav, a demonic figure of Slavic lore. However, I don't believe a demon eating is true anthropophagy, even if said demon has a more or less human body.

Wednesday Word: Bodkin

bodkin |ˈbädkin|nouna blunt thick needle with a large eye used esp. for drawing tape or cord through a hem.• a small pointed instrument used to pierce cloth or leather.• historical a long pin used for fastening hair.• chiefly historical Printing a pointed tool used for removing pieces of metal type for correction.ORIGIN Middle English : perhaps of Celtic origin and related to Irish bod, Welsh bidog, Scottish Gaelicbiodag ‘dagger.’

The sound of this word don't match the image of a needle in my mind. Imo, it would fit some sort of old style, restrictive undergarment better. It could also be a good name for a small,  mischievous demon. (I have demons on the mind lately.)