Krampus 2019

This past Saturday was a super busy day!  Luke was finishing up his first sleepover birthday party, then had to go to jiu-jitsu, and then had another birthday pool party later that afternoon!  Despite all that, we managed to make time for our annual family tradition: Pictures With Krampus!

This is our third year having our picture taken with Krampus at Mike Winland Studios in Charleston and every year we have a blast.  Mike is a wonderful photographer and his Krampus is the best I've seen!  Our pictures are always a great mix of creepy and hilarious and it really has become a fun, family holiday tradition to take Luke to see Krampus, who seems to remember him and is delighted to see him each year. I personally look forward to it even more than taking him to see Santa, lol.  This year, Luke showed some real bravery and even HUGGED Krampus before we left, which he talked about for days afterwards.  I'm proud of my boy, and I'm so happy that Mike and his staff have brought the opportunity to share a little spooky holiday culture with us, here in the tri-state!

Unfortunately, Krampusnacht 2019 is over...but if you missed pictures with Krampus at Mike's studio this past Saturday, you've still got a few other opportunities to meet Krampus!  Mike and Krampus will be at the Glade Springs Resort for the Fright Before Christmas haunted attraction on Friday the 13th!  Get tickets HERE.

There will also be pictures with a different Krampus available this Friday in Winfield, WV at Fear on the Farm's I'm Screaming of a Fright Christmas haunted attraction!

And lastly, Krampus will be making an appearance at the Sissonville branch public library on Thursday, December 19th from 6-8pm for photos! Check out their Facebook Event Page for more information. 

Krampus also made an appearance last Friday at Oddbird Gift Emporium in Charleston, but I had to miss it this year.  However, that was our very first Krampus experience back in 2016 and it was awesome.  Krampus and St. Nicholas arrived together and assured Luke that he had been a good boy that year, lol.  I'm really happy to see that so many locations throughout the Kanawha Valley are really embracing a little bit of history and culture, especially since I've got quite a bit of German ancestry myself. It's a nice change of pace from the usual Christmas activities and just a really fun tradition, at least in our family!

Merry Christmas 2018 from Theresa's Haunted History!

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate!  This is such a positive time of year---a time to enjoy the company of friends and family, a time to show kindness and charity to your fellow man, and a time to honor those who have passed on.  The Christmas season is filled with so many strange and wonderful traditions and celebrations that give Halloween a run for its money!

I've tried to share some of those traditions of Christmas witches, monsters, and ghosts this month on Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page, and I hope you've enjoyed it!  I encourage you to do further research on the traditions that interest you the most and see if you can work them into your own holiday celebrations.  And, speaking of holiday celebrations, keep your eyes and ears open at all those parties and family get-togethers.  A festive gathering of family and friends always seems to attract visitors from the other side who want to share in the fun.  Keep your camera handy and be ready to experience some uninvited guests...and then be sure to share your stories and evidence with me through email or on Facebook.

Have a great day and let's finish out 2018 on a positive note.  I appreciate each and every one of you who reads and/or shares my work, who tell me your own stories, and who follow and support me on social media.  I can't wait to see what 2019 has in store for all of us! 

An Old Fashioned Christmas with Krampus!

On Saturday, December 8th my family and I dove head first into Christmas with a double dose of old fashioned Christmas fun.  Our first stop...pictures with Krampus.

This was our third year meeting and second year having our family photo taken with everyone's favorite Christmas demon.  Krampus is a hard-working guy; after making it through another Krampusnacht on December 5th, he took the time to meet and greet both pets and families at Mike Winland Studios in Kanawha City!  We loved our pictures from last year so much, that we absolutely knew we had to go back again this year...and once again, we were not disappointed.  Luke was a little braver this year...but not too much!  When it was our turn to have out photo taken, the photographer (Mike himself) recognized Luke from last year.  In fact, Luke's photo from last year was used on one of the ads for this year's event, so he was feeling pretty famous and important.  And then, he was feeling abject terror as Krampus stood behind him and giggled maniacally at seeing him back for another year.  We took a few fun poses, and as we waited to choose our photo, the Krampus stared at Luke, waved at him, and generally creeped him out fully.  I loved it, lol!  We are so lucky to have this opportunity to share a little culture and history with our son AND support a local artist/business owner. This Krampus was so detailed and spooky, and his actions and mannerisms were so spot on that it was really easy to forget that this wasn't an actual Germanic monster straight out of folklore, ready to beat you with a birch branch.

We bought an 8x10 portrait, but I also walked away with this gorgeous bracelet by Tiffany's Twisted Creations!  It's a real rat jaw bone! Tiffany was in the shop and we got to chat for a few minutes about her unique jewelry, much of which is made up of natural materials collected from her farm. You can find more of her work on Facebook and Etsy (Tiffanystwistedmind on Etsy).  Everything is reasonably priced, well-made, and if you're local, you can arranged a pick up/meet up to save on shipping.  Christmas is just a few weeks away and if you've got someone a little...different...on your list, you're likely to find the perfect gift at Tiffany's Twisted Creations.

Meeting Krampus and buying rat bone jewelry was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit, but our day wasn't done yet!  We headed straight back to Hurricane to take part in the town's Victorian Christmas and annual parade. The town of Hurricane was officially 'created' in 1888, and to celebrate the occasion, this year's town holiday festivities was to take on a Victorian flair.  There was a lot of potential with that idea, but unfortunately, it just didn't really come together.  There were very few activities being offered, but what there was, well...it was pretty awesome.

We started off with a kid's card making craft at Rock Paper Sisters, a local business.  The craft was free, and Luke had a great time making a card for me and Aaron. The girls who own the shop were extremely helpful and sweet, and made sure Luke had everything he needed to make a beautiful Christmas card. While we were there, a group of carolers in Victorian dress sang some Christmas favorites for us, which was fun.  Afterwards, we headed over to the Hidden Creek Mercantile to see a dramatic reading of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

I wasn't really sure what to expect going in, but wow, was I impressed!  Two narrators read an abridged version of the famous Christmas ghost story, while cast members acted out the scenes. The costumes (by Dale Morton Studios) were excellent and the cast did a great job.  I thought this would be the sort of thing that Luke wouldn't be overly interested in, but he really, really enjoyed it.  It was a story he was familiar with (thanks to Disney!) and the actors/narrators were so engaging that you couldn't help but be drawn in.  As an added bonus, FREE copies of A Christmas Carol book were given to the audience members! 

If you've been following me on Facebook, you know that I'm a huge supporter of bringing back the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas time, so actually seeing such an awesome portrayal, in person, of the most famous Christmas ghost story of all time was perfect. And, as always, the parade was fun, but after all the more 'paranormal' elements to our day, it kind of took a back seat position in my mind, lol. Overall, we had a really fun Saturday filled with classic Christmas traditions. I love being able to make memories with my son and being able to add a little bit of a spooky element in there makes it even better.

I hope you and yours are also having a great holiday season!  I've got more spooky Christmas season fun coming to the blog and Facebook all month long, so keep checking back!  Happy Holidays from Theresa's Haunted History!