The best Holidays books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I love my little desktop Festivus kit. It plays recordings of Frank Costanza expounding on the holiday.

Amazon says $21.95

I would say first and foremost on making a Krampus character would be to better understand the folklore and tradition behind it, and attempt to honor “die guten alte wege”. I highly suggest starting with reading “The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil , which will help greatly with your costume & character design. My biggest suggestion is to avoid anything that looks like the US movie stereotype Krampus, and realize that Americans tend to trample on this tradition like it’s something from the horror movies. If you treat it like you would a First Nations (Native American) person, their art, and beliefs, you’ll nail it. Otherwise, it will be like dressing as an “Indian” for Halloween and I guarantee you will get called out by someone from Austria, Germany, North Italy, or Czech Republic. -Just my 2 cents. Feel free to hit me up privately if you have questions.

Honestly, as a professional Krampus cosplayer born and raised in Austria, the boys' episode on Krampus as a Grey alien has genuinely been my favorite episode of theirs. In part because of the absurdity of the idea of Saint Nicholas and Krampus as American Alien Mythology Aliens, but mostly because of their fascination in learning on-air more about Krampus.

The thing is, they really only scratched the surface when it came to Krampus and St Nicholas, including all the other Companions St Nicholas has had all over Europe. Speaking as someone who would actually see the two of them on patrol EVERY Christmas season, there is something beautiful about how Krampus is a perfect Garnet of Steven Universe fusion of old European paganism and Austrian Roman Catholicism that I think the boys would get a kick out of. If for no other reason that to see how there are so many ways you can practice "Christianity" besides the American Evangelical way.

Point in fact, if anybody wants to look further into it, I HIGHLY recommend a book by folklorist Al Ridenour, "The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas." It's a fascinating, compelling read, based on actual on the ground research done in Austria, and as someone who grew up with Krampus, is a book I highly recommend to any American wanting to get to know the Austrian Demon of Christmas better!

[The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil

by Al Ridenour](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1627310347/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-8hEFb1CA4NPW)

> I would argue public events are still very commonplace today.

> Think concerts, sporting events, or parades.

Commodified, surely they exist. They used to be free entry, though, and totally fell out of favor in the 17th-18th century.

I'm just aware through secondary sources that this book apparently makes the case. Not sure how well it does it, though.

edit:

> A lot of parks will have free concert series, there are a lot of parades through public streets that are free to observe. Society has changed drastically since the dark ages, and so have the events. However, communal entertainment is still very much a thing.

Oh we don't really have a lot of that here in germany, and if we do, it's more of an excuse to sell related stuff than anything. edit: It's true that a lot of cool non-commodified community events are taking place online today, though.

This book is perfect for you! Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton. Written from a non-fiction, historical scholarly POV, she touches on the earliest roots of Halloween in Ireland and Great Britian all the way through modern day.

I'm about halfway through and it is both dense with information while keeping my attention because it's so compelling. I particularly love how she touches on how historians of their day got things WRONG and how that affected common lore! I'm up to the 1950s and the transfer of Halloween from a European harvest centered festival to the commercialized Trick or Treat we're more familiar with is just as interestingly written. It's nerdy and insightful but manages not to be dry at all.

I rented it through my local library, maybe check there for a copy as well!

I would love to get this Halloween book.

I'll summon /u/travelersoul to join the Halloween fun. Thank you for the contest!

You might not be able to avoid parties entirely, but reading Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Yuletide Yahoos, Ho-Ho-Humblebraggers, and Other Seasonal Scourges while you're there might help you avoid talking :)

Well, Wikipedia has no info which contradicts his understanding. He fully sights his sources. For example. http://www.amazon.com/Stations-Sun-History-Ritual-Britain/dp/0192854488 I am not poo-pooing anything. I actually want to get to the truth, no matter what it is. I am little invested emotionally on the question. I find it interesting though. Particularly interesting that you defend a narrative you seem unable to support.

Well, Wikipedia has no info which contradicts his understanding. He fully sights his sources. For example. http://www.amazon.com/Stations-Sun-History-Ritual-Britain/dp/0192854488

I am not poo-pooing anything. I actually want to get to the truth, no matter what it is. I am little invested emotionally on the question. I find it interesting though. Particularly interesting that you defend a narrative you seem unable to support.