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Krampus
Krampus
Krampus
Audiobook16 hours

Krampus

Written by Brom

Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

“Terrific. A wild ride….I loved it. It hooked me and I couldn’t put it down.”
—Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy

"Brom is that rare breed: a person who is skilled in more than one area of artistic expression. Here's hoping that he will continue to share his dark and often beautiful dreams with us for many years to come." --Christopher Paolini, New York Times bestselling author of Eragon

Acclaimed author and artist Brom raised eyebrows and pulse rates with The Child Thief, his grim, brilliantly audacious, gorgeously illustrated reimagining of the Peter Pan legend. So what does this innovative fantasist do for an encore? He tinkers darkly with the beloved mythology of Santa Claus.

Set in Appalachia, Krampus the Yule Lord is a twisted fairytale about a failed West Virginia songwriter who gets ensnared on Christmas Eve in an eternal war between a not-so-saintly Saint Nick and his dark enemy Krampus, aka Black Peter, an ancient trickster demon. Krampus the Yule Lord is Gregory Maguire (Wicked) meets Susanna Clarke (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) in the realm of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, as Clive Barker (Mr. B. Gone) works his dark sorcery from the shadows. Once again featuring Brom’s chillingly beautiful artwork throughout, Krampus the Yule Lord is a feast of wonder straight from the kitchen of Sweeney Todd.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateOct 30, 2012
ISBN9780062205247
Krampus
Author

Brom

Over the past few decades, Brom has lent his distinctive vision to all facets of the creative industries, from novels and games to comics and film. He is the author of The Child Thief and the award-winning illustrated horror novels The Plucker and The Devil's Rose. Brom is currently kept in a dank cellar somewhere just outside of Seattle.

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Reviews for Krampus

Rating: 4.208211110850439 out of 5 stars
4/5

341 ratings37 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Brom delivers! Everything and more - his story telling is so captivating, you can pay attention to him even in a crowded noisy room

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Honestly this one was a lot of fun. Brom can be a little too firm dark sometimes but this story was fun and wild. It touched Norse mythology just enough, and the shifting dynamic between ancient magic and the modern day south was really fun. Kirby Heybourne was also a nice addition, his voice acting always knocks it out of the park. If you're a cynical Christmas celebrator like me, this book is just what you're looking for.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great! Couldn't believe how great it was, I loved it! Lore and myth mixed with just the right amount of hillbilly hilarity!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I Enjoyed it even though was written with simple vocabulary.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The narrator is awful. His accent is painful listening to. If you want to write a book set in West Virginia, get someone who can do the accent justice.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Reason for Reading: I loved "The Child Thief", a horror re-telling of the Peter Pan story and was anxiously awaiting reading the author's next book. I was quite excited to find this has a Christmas theme.Based on Viking mythology the book brings back the gods and backstory of that culture including Baldr and mythical beasts; with this he mixes the history and tradition of Santa Clause to create a pagan god vs modern fairy tale. Krampus is the real traditional Lord of Yuletide centuries before the arrival of Santa on the scene and he has come back to claim what belongs to him. These two are pitted against one another and the reader does not know which of them is bad or good. They both seem to have both qualities and while the story is told from an insider's view of Krampus' side we get a biased opinion of him and while we may not have wanted to at the beginning, it is easier to feel for him, rather than the strong Viking-like Santa who is out to destroy Krampus.I had a hard time getting into this book. I enjoy Viking mythology and that is what kept me reading otherwise I may not have made it past the first half of the book as I found it underwhelming and tedious to read. I would not call this story horror. Sure there is some violence, but Krampus keeps insisting he is not a devil and while there is some paranormal activity there are none of the classic horror elements to be found and it certainly wasn't scary in the least. I mentioned halfway through the book, this is where things picked up for me. The action picked up, the characters had become more fleshed out and we were delved further into the Viking mythos. It took me several days to read the first half and only two sittings to finish the second half. This book is nowhere near as good as "The Child Thief" which is a masterpiece of writing and illustration. The illustrations here show off Brom's talent but since each is of a devil of some sort, they become similar after a while and did not stimulate me like the gorgeous art in his previous book.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a fun audiobook. I recommend this to any Gaiman, King, or fantasy lover!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved the way the narrator did Krampus. It wasn’t as dark as I expected. I know of Krampus. I hope he’ll be celebrated more. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas arrives end november by boat from Spain. With zwarte Piet (black Pete). I believe the Dutch teacher that “invented” Piet, based it on Krampus and slaves. Bad kids would be beaten with a switch and put in the sack, taken to Spain. Every Piet has a burlap sack with candy and gifts. Children put their shoes in front of the door, but inside the house. Put messages in them and carrots. Because Sinterklaas rides a with horse on the rooftops, while Piet goes down the chimney. Anyway, sorry about all this Sinterklaas stuff, but I was so happy to hear it in the book! Definitely a book for Christmas time! I enjoyed it immensely.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I listen to this every Christmas. It’s entertaining, thrilling, fantastic and inspiring
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I especially loved the tidnits from European holiday traditions, Norse mythology, and Yuletide folklore. A violent novel, but quick, exciting, and engaging.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved Krampus. Loved the writing. Loved the narration. *chef’s kiss*
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Well writing story teeming with interesting mythology while simultaneously illustrating the problems of an everyday man
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was great! The audio was perfect and I loved it!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Awesome in every way! Rest assured I'm going to be loving Krampus more than Santa from here onwards! Superb narration!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    His ability to take polar opposites (santa, krampus and Christians, demons) and give them a common ground worked well. I loved that he brought in back ground story of the Norse God's and had them in the modern world.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Love this book. Great writing, fun story. Totally celebrating yule tidings every year.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I love his books and I hope scribd will carry more audiobooks in the future. It’s a slow starter but still utterly fascinating, I love the twist to the normal. It really makes you believe.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Brom's stories always find a way to captivate me and this was no different.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I did a mix of read the book I have and listen to the audiobook. The book is well-written and I love the art inside the book. The narrator did a great job with tone, narration, emotion, making different voices and more. Overall I really enjoyed Krampus.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent audiobook, narrator was amazing, different voices for different characters. Story was well researched and well thought out.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Krampus: The Yule Lord Audio narration = 5 Kirby Heyborne did such a phenomenal job narrating this story that I would say that it was probably what I enjoyed most about the book. He brought these characters to life in such a way that I thought there were several different narrators and was surprised to find that this was not the case. I wasn't surprised to find that Heyborne also narrated parts of Cloud Atlas which was also done brilliantly. I look forward to enjoying more audio books with this narrator. I am almost sad to say that I didn't enjoy Krampus as much as I thought I would. I loved Brom's retelling of Peter Pan in The Child Thief so much that I was anticipating the same kind of dark and disturbing storytelling in this story about a Christmas demon. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't by any means a fun, happy story, it just didn't have that element of creepiness that I expect from this author or that I anticipated with this particular subject matter. How can a story about a Christmas demon known for dragging naughty children off to Hell be anything less than terrifying? Unfortunately, there is a way. The images of Krampus seem pretty terrifying but for some reason this story presented him as far less than intimidating, and even a little ridiculous at times with all too human-like flaws. Since Krampus is said to carry naughty children off to hell, I thought he would be a bit more imposing with less obvious weaknesses of character. There were definitely some bloody & violent moments involving The Yule Lord but I didn't find him believable as a God or descendant of Loki. Also, the background of the conflict between him and Santa was a little confusing at times, especially near the end. The way this story was resolved was even more baffling. However, an afterword explains a lot of the mythology that the author used to inspire parts of the book and does actually answer some questions.While several aspects of this book left me less than satisfied, many others I really enjoyed. For example, exploring the origins of the Santa Claus and Krampus mythology and their relationships to the Gods Odin and Loki. I am always fascinated by the way many pagan rituals have been absorbed into Christian celebrations and I enjoyed reading about how that applied to Santa and Krampus' legends. There was also some wicked humor interspersed throughout that I found genuinely entertaining. Those moments when Krampus was attempting to function in today's world was at times amusing and at other times just sad. I would have liked to have seen this explored a bit more. One of my favorite things about Krampus- The Yule Lord was the main character Jesse. I don't know how many of you watch the TV show "Breaking Bad" but there is also a character named Jesse in that show who consistently makes all the wrong decisions and isn't very likable but somehow has some endearing quality that makes you root for him all the same. Jesse in this novel was much the same and so, in my mind, this is who I saw playing this tale out. This and the incredible audio narration were, in my opinion, this books best qualities. But while I loved Jesse's character, sometimes I felt like what was going on with him overshadowed Krampus' story and I was left wanting more from both. Overall, Krampus is a story I would recommend, especially for the Christmas/Yule season. There is a lot going on in this story; violence, mayhem, mythology, gods, goats, magic, thugs, domestic violence, murder, and belsnickels. You definitely won't be bored. If you are thinking of reading this, I HIGHLY recommend the audio, it is one of the best narrations I've ever listened to.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow! What an adventure! This is a must read book for anyone who loves folklore and wild tales, especially around Yuletide! I had such a great time reading this book I didn't want it to end. Long live Krampus!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I first stumbled across the tradition of Krampus, a figure in Alpine folklore and holiday tradition, only a couple of weeks before finding this book in December 2013. Krampus is a sort of “anti-Santa” who either precedes or accompanies St. Nick on his rounds. But where St. Nicholas rewards good children, Krampus, a distinctly demonic creature – shaggy, horned, and terrifying – carries a bundle of switches with which to beat disobedient children, even stuffing the worst of them into his sack to devour. Brom's tale hearkens back to a supposed pre-Christian root of Krampus, in which Krampus was the guardian of Yule, responsible for seeing to it that the traditions surrounding the holiday were properly observed, so that the seasons would turn properly and the earth would be renewed. Brom's tale revolves around Jessie, a down-and-out wannabe country singer in a dirt-poor part of West Virginia. Jesse's wife has left him, taking their daughter, and has moved in with Dillard, a corrupt lawman. As the novel begins, Jessie is a contemptible character: weak of will, lacking in self-confidence, and self-pitying. But when one of Krampus' henchmen falls through the roof of Jessie's trailer during a pitched battle with Santa Claus, Jessie is quickly drawn into the orbit of Krampus, the Lord of Yule, who has been imprisoned in a cave for centuries. Santa, it soon emerges, is none other than the reborn Norse god Baldr, who has re-imagined himself as Santa Claus. Krampus, who seeks to rekindle the traditions of Yule as a pagan celebration of the renewal of the earth at midwinter, despises Santa/Baldr and seeks his death. The story moves rather slowly until Krampus is liberated from captivity and begins to take a more active role in events. Krampus is easily the book's most interesting character. He unapologetically uses the humans he meets to serve his own ends, but even so is not entirely unsympathetic. Overall, this was a fun little read, certainly enough to make me check out Brom's other works, The Devil's Rose and The Child Thief. A late-breaking update, Oct. 2016 - according to Al Ridenour's recently published The Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas (2016), the pre-Christian roots of Krampus are overstated. Still, Brom's novel remains an entertaining read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not the tale of terror I expected, but there’s still much to like about this book, not least of all the drawings by Brom, artist and author. I didn’t find the pace terribly fast, and I questioned Jesse’s patience/impatience, which seemed erratic, even though Krampus doesn’t give him much choice. In short, I would have liked the book to be a little more emotional, both in the feelings portrayed and what it invokes, but for anyone who likes the darker side of Christmas tales, this is easily deserving to be identified as classic.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Not in the mood for this right now. Santa as Odin and vicious just isn't working for me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well, the West Virginian's were as stprettyyo typical it was sad. But the fact the Krampus is from Norwiean Gods. True portrayal of WV, meth use.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3 stars for the writing, but 4 stars for the story itself. I loved learning the backstory of Krampus and his rivalry with Santa. His Belsnickels were amazing (and Belsnickel is fun to say.) Jesse and Isabel were great characters. Jesse's story was especially compelling. So many evil people in his town. Almost every character in the book kills at least one person. No one is completely good or completely evil. Everyone is shown in varying shades of gray.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I am thoroughly surprised how much I loved this book. I was expecting Krampus to be dated in the pre-christian times and read like old timey folklore, but it's not that at all. In this story, Krampus has been in a cave in West Virginia for 500 years due to Baldr, aka Santa Claus, and he is getting out to bring back Yuletide. Jesse gets mixed up when he finds a sack that can produce any toy he can think of, he uses it to give his daughter from his estranged wife toys and to make a deal with a local gang leader that backfires. Santa's and Krampus' minions come after him and he ends up making a deal with Krampus to help them as long as Krampus helps Jessie protect his daughter and wife from the gang.

    Krampus is hilarious, he doesn't give a damn and will do what he pleases to remind people of Yuletide. The story pokes fun at Christians getting upset about how people leave christ out of Christmas and "steal" their time and traditions to celebrate the time of the year without it being religious. The story shows how Christians stole a lot from the pagans traditions for Yuletide. The plot does a good job at explaining where Krampus came from, but I would of liked to of read a little bit more about the history. The book keeps you interested through out and the pace is fast moving. Really a great Christmas read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great read with many surprises, more than a few horrific or gross out moments (I'm not too squeamish, but portions of this were a bit bloodier than I like), but a well-told tale with a fascinating spin on the Santa Claus & Krampus myths/stories.

    Highly recommended as a read in any fashion, though I'll confess I wish I now had a hard copy on my shelves, as Brom's art is gorgeous and my black/white Kindle Touch did not do his art pieces the justice they deserve. I'll have to hunt up a print copy as this may be a book to reread every few holiday seasons.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Read this with my wife and that made it even more fun. We laughed a lot and learned a lot about Krampus and Yule, though there are obviously different versions. Loved Brom's interpretation of the legends and how he mixed in Norse mythology. Krampus was great as the old-fashioned-guy-who-doesn't-really-understand-modern-culture and people mistaking him for Satan was hilarious. Fun, fun, bloody graphic fun.