
The Dead of Winter
Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures
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Narrated by:
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Hannah Curtis
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Sarah Clegg
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By:
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Sarah Clegg
About this listen
Discover the monsters, witches, and other ghoulish creatures that make up lesser known Christmas folklore in this gleefully creepy guide–perfect for horror fans who love the wintry holidays.
When you think about Christmas, you likely picture mangers, glowing fireplaces, sweet carolers, and snow-blanketed hills. But behind all this bright magic, there’s something much darker lurking in the shadows. In The Dead of Winter, Cambridge-trained historian Sarah Clegg delves deep into the folklore of the Christmas season in Europe, detailing the way its terrifying and often debaucherous past continues to haunt and entertain us now in the twenty-first century.
Perfect for the growing mainstream audience obsessed with horror and monsters, this guide makes the perfect gift.
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Critic reviews
"Away from the turkey and tinsel, Sarah Clegg bravely escorts us to the dark side of the festive season, a wintry underworld of witches and demons, sinister customs, and strange ancient rites. A fascinating, menacing miscellany."—Malcolm Gaskill, author of The Ruin of All Witches and Witchfinders
"Sarah Clegg's dark and delicious The Dead of Winter isn't just a frightful and sometimes funny account of Krampus, Mari Lwyd, Christmas ghosts, monster mummers, and a winter witch named St. Lucy, but is also a thoughtful examination of why these stories continue to capture our imagination. I plan on spending every Christmas now revisiting this wonderful book."—Lisa Morton, author of Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween
"A lively, moving, thoughtful, and erudite survey of the more disturbing aspects of the modern world's most important festival. It is probably the best, and certainly the most accessible.”—Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch: A History of Fear from Ancient Times to the Present
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Story
Not so very long ago, Yuletide was as much a chilling season of ghosts and witches as it was a festival of goodwill. In The Old Magic of Christmas, you'll rub elbows with veiled spirits, learn the true perils of elves, and discover a bestiary of enchanted creatures. Rife with the more frightful characters from folklore and the season's most petulant ghosts, this book takes you on a spooky sleigh ride from the silvered firs of a winter forest to the mirrored halls of the Snow Queen.
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An interesting listen.
- By Streetsamurai on 12-18-22
By: Linda Raedisch
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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
- Unabridged
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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.
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Not so much scary
- By TruthSayer on 11-27-23
By: Tim Rayborn
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Never Whistle at Night
- An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology
- By: Shane Hawk - editor, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. - editor
- Narrated by: Erin Tripp, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Joelle Peters, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home. These shiver-inducing tales introduce listeners to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge.
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Just…no…
- By Roger Glenn Duncan on 09-30-23
By: Shane Hawk - editor, and others
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The Scapegoat
- The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham
- By: Lucy Hughes-Hallett
- Narrated by: Lucy Hughes-Hallett
- Length: 25 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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As King James I’s favorite, Buckingham was also his confidant, gatekeeper, advisor and lover. When Charles I succeeded his father, he was similarly enthralled and made Buckingham his best friend and mentor. A dazzling figure on horseback and a skilful player of the political game, Buckingham rapidly transformed the influence his beauty gave him into immense wealth and power. He became one of the most flamboyant and enigmatic Englishmen at the heart of seventeenth-century royal and political life.
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Perfect
- By Greg Murphy on 03-13-25
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The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures
- By: Aaron Mahnke
- Narrated by: Aaron Mahnke
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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They live in shadows - deep in the forest, late in the night, in the dark recesses of our minds. They're spoken of in stories and superstitions, relics of an unenlightened age, old wives' tales, passed down through generations. Yet no matter how wary and jaded we have become, as individuals or as a society, a part of us remains vulnerable to them: werewolves and wendigos, poltergeists and vampires, angry elves and vengeful spirits.
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Just a rehash of the podcast
- By Elan Diamond on 10-18-17
By: Aaron Mahnke
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Krampus
- The Yule Lord
- By: Brom
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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One Christmas Eve in a small hollow in Boone County, West Virginia, struggling songwriter Jesse Walker witnesses a strange spectacle: seven devilish figures chasing a man in a red suit toward a sleigh and eight reindeer. When the reindeer leap skyward, taking the sleigh, devil men, and Santa into the clouds, screams follow. Moments later, a large sack plummets back to earth, a magical sack that thrusts the down-on-his-luck singer into the clutches of the terrifying Yule Lord, Krampus.
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5 stars
- By colleen on 11-17-12
By: Brom
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Lilith
- By: Nikki Marmery
- Narrated by: Lara Sawalha
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Lilith and Adam are equal and happy in the Garden of Eden. Until Adam decides Lilith should submit to his will and lie beneath him. She refuses—and is banished forever from Paradise. Demonized and sidelined, Lilith watches in fury as God creates Eve, the woman who accepts her submission. But Lilith has a secret: she has already tasted the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Endowed with Wisdom, she knows why Asherah—God's wife and equal, the Queen of Heaven—is missing. Lilith has a plan: she will rescue Eve, find Asherah, restore balance to the world, and regain her rightful place in Paradise.
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Gnostic Circe
- By Stefan Filipovits on 01-06-24
By: Nikki Marmery
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Dead of Winter
- By: Darcy Coates
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they'll be safe as they wait out the storm. She couldn't be more wrong. Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing...only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport...and they're far from finished.
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Unpredictable
- By Books 4 U on 12-21-23
By: Darcy Coates
What listeners say about The Dead of Winter
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- ladybrooklyn
- 11-23-24
Fantastic Holiday fare!
I really wish the entire book had been read by the author (she reads the intro and epilogue), as I preferred her vocals... and it would have been fitting given this book is a sort of "travelog" of her research.
Regardless... this is a fantastic little tomb collecting all of the "Christmas monsters" of legend and myth. A must for the season!
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- Anonymous User
- 11-21-24
I liked the multiple tails and histories linked together.
I overall enjoyed this read. I’m not sure why people were complaining about the narrator, I thought her voice was great. While I understand the authors voice may sounded a little little more youthful or something to that effect I don’t think it would’ve changed the story for the better.
Overall, I liked hearing the different stories and histories of how they’re all kind of linked together not really just one overall making up the current holidays we celebrate etc.
The explanation of how older tales may have contributed to other ones that came later that all contributed possibly to once now with no definitive answer.
The only issue I had was at certain times. I wasn’t sure when they were talking about the actual tales or the real life experience of the author, Other than that, I will reread it to listen again it was an interesting take. I think I will even enjoy it more the second time around.
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- Kimberly L
- 12-11-24
Fascinating and Enchanting!
I absolutely loved this book! If you're interested in fairy tales, folklore, or simply the origins of a beloved holiday, this book is for you! Sarah Clegg does a fantastic job tracing the threads of traditions only now coming back into our collective consciousness like Krampus, the Mari Lwyd, and other tales that we may have heard of but aren't very familiar with. It struck me that I've always known Christmas has a darker side, but I didn't know quite how to describe it or why it existed. Now, I feel well-versed in the subject. My only complaint is that the book isn't longer! I wish I could have made it last the whole Christmas season, but it was too fascinating! I've already sent this book to several friends, and I have a feeling it will get passed around quite a bit before the new year.
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- Joseph Sullivan
- 03-23-25
The audiobook was ...
a unique and reflective narrative of darkness during the Christmas holiday. I found the authors authentic, engaging voice personable. The inflections she showed in her stories breathed such life into the words in this book.
I wish the author read the whole audiobook. The other narrator I found emotionless, and flat. The author has a distinct energy in her narration that's full of life, feeling and gives the audience a connect to what she's sharing. This voiceover talent is rare.
A good voice can captive and help bring to life the written word. A bad voiceover can hurt the written word by dull, lifeless narration.
I hope the author reduces this audiobook. She is a gifted writter and narrator. I also hope she will do more audio narrations in the future.
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- Karin Conti
- 12-23-24
Maglcal
Oh my Krampus!! Thank you so much for this. I found this one. I wasn’t feeling very Christmasy. I’ve had some health issues this year and this was absolutely delightful.! It will become forever more one of my favorite Christmas traditions to listen to.!
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- Austin Bow
- 01-14-25
An Amazing Dive into the the History of Winter Tales
An amazing deep dive into the rich history of Christmas beasts and traditions. I learned so much from this work and thought it walked a perfect line of historically based facts and entertaining story telling. The fact that the author has taken the time to personally experience the modern day versions of the traditions she describes really adds to the work!
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- H Johnson
- 12-28-24
So cool
I really enjoyed the story telling and that she made it a kinda ethnography with lots of history! Very enjoyable listen
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- J. Timmerman
- 12-03-24
Dark Christmas
This is such a wonderful collection of the darker traditions of the Christmas season and their origins.
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- Ruthie
- 12-30-24
fascinating
This was a fascinating look at the history behind some of Christmas's spookiest characters. loved learning about Christmas folk lores from all around Europe.
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- Sabrina N. Frang
- 12-12-24
The best non-fiction book about dark Christmas
I did not know what to expect from The Dead of Winter, but I was absolutely in love with this book from start to finish. It talks about how many of our Christmas traditions got started, via their, often pagan. roots. This book reads like part historical text and part travelog as the author engages in Christmas and pre-Christmas traditions. The Dead of Winter mostly looks at the darker side of Christmas-think Krampus, striga witches, the eerie story of Saint Lucy, and Twelfth Night celebrations. I found this book informative and entertaining. The author has a very dramatic tone at times, but it is done on purpose, for certain accounts to read like a campfire tale or a Christmas Eve ghost story. It is all in good fun. She also talks about the truth vs. myths about pagan religions and how pagan traditions and myths have been warped by certain authors to be more insidious than they were.
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