Inspired by the earnest James Brown original from his Funky Christmas album — in which JB implores Santa to please pay a visit to the “soul brothers” — Snoop and his Dogg Pound elves fly through the night in their ’64 Impala sleigh, elucidating the yuletide realities of the “needy and greedy.” But amid all the gangstas and dope fiends, the song is really about the power of Christmas to evoke feelings of innocence and family, even if you’ve gotta harvest your turkey down at the church shelter. C.A. Merle Haggard –“If We Make It through December” (1973) They know from my demeanour what I’m gonna tell them. I tell them and they dissolve in tears, “no it can’t be true” they say, like they always do. “I’m so sorry, there was nothing we could do, he didn’t suffer”. I look at my watch, 8.55pm. How long is this going to take, I’m late for my hot date. In Scandinavia, instead of Santa Claus, children wait for the Jultomte, a jovial man who delivers gifts to children’s homes. Families leave out a bowl of porridge with butter as a gift to him. But the origin of this superstition is a little less appealing. It comes from the legend of the tomte, or the nisse. These sprites were little old men the size of a small child, and they protected the home. They only asked for a bowl of porridge and butter, but the story was if you didn’t leave out the porridge and butter, the tomte would go into your barn and kill one of your cows. Forget turkey… in South Africa, many people enjoy the deep-fried caterpillars of the Emperor Moth on Christmas Day! In 1934, songwriter Haven Gillespie was asked by his publisher to write a Christmas song for children. Having gone to the meeting directly from his brother Irwin's funeral, Gillespie had no interest in the project. Somehow he was talked into it and began writing the song on his train ride home. Thinking of all the pleasant memories he created with his brother during the holidays, Gillespie wrote "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

Dark Christmas: Seven seasonal monsters from myth and legend

Ever since he was featured in the TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Abominable Snowman has been tied to the Christmas season. It’s based on the legend of the Yeti, a monstrous half-man-half-bear creature from the Himalayas, that many people still believe is out there today. Once overground they caused mischief and chaos but, above all, sought to steal any child born over the 12 days of Christmas and turn them into fellow Kallikantzaroi. They could be kept at bay by binding newborn babies in straw and garlic. Join 46,000+ people who read my weekly newsletter about real-estate, entrepreneurship, and what it takes to succeed long-term. I wish it wasn’t so, but I think it’s hard to argue against the reality of where we are with integrated software vs interoperable systems. Chief among Santa's entourage of shady characters is Krampus, a demon with massive horns whose main job is to drag naughty children to Hell. Apparently, Santa doesn't really want to know if you've been naughty, so a few weeks before Christmas, he sends Krampus around to weed out the bad children.

So it’s a joy for those of us who like a bit of pagan magic with our mince pies to see two examples enjoying a revival, on stage and through the power of social media.

Christmas Is a Way Darker Holiday Than You Realize 12 Ways Christmas Is a Way Darker Holiday Than You Realize

This book is of interest to any scholar of World War II, particularly those focused on bridging culture and war. Highly readable, this text is suitable for undergraduate and popular audiences as well. Many should find its analysis to be a refreshing take on the well-trodden field of World War II histories." — Journal of Military History

Another terrifying Christmas legend comes from the country of Iceland, though this one was so horrific that the government eventually banned parents from telling their children the tale. Masefield, who wrote only two stories for children – The Box of Delights is a sequel to The Midnight Folk – was a direct influence on JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, yet the books are far less familiar to children now. Like many people of my generation, I discovered The Box of Delights through the 1984 BBC adaptation; at the age of 10, I found a frisson in its references to pagan folklore, Arthurian legend and medieval philosophy that I had not encountered in more sanitised children’s stories. It nourished my lifelong fascination with Renaissance occultism.

Dark Jokes - Dark Humor! | The Humor Zone 40 Seriously Dark Jokes - Dark Humor! | The Humor Zone

To this day, next to people who dress as Santa, you can find others dressed as Le Père Fouettard, complete with the whip, threatening French and Belgian children. Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46

Maybe NHS IT’s darkest hour is the turning point. It maybe it isn’t too late to build an open NHS IT ecosystem, more like the app store than a 30 year-old monoliths we’ve converged on but it will require leadership who understand the need to put NHS staff ahead of dogma and AI pie in the sky. Maybe NHS IT can save the NHS? Hans Trapp was said to be a rich, cruel man who lived in the Alsace region of France. He worshipped the devil and would do anything to become more rich and powerful. He was eventually excommunicated and had to live in the forest. He became a cannibal and would go out on Christmas dressed as a scarecrow, trying to kidnap and eat bad children. To this day, children in Alsace and Lorraine still fear him.