+
upworthy
Most Shared

10 fricking awesome photos from a gigantic Krampus parade. Happy holidays!

If the holidays were a drink, they'd be a venti vanilla peppermint mocha frappacino. With extra whipped cream.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas carols, cookies, and terrible sweaters as much as the next guy, but after a couple of weeks, it can be a little much.

I can feel my blood sugar rising just looking at this picture. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images


But you know what cuts through all that sugar like a big splash of strong black coffee? A pretty little thing called Krampus.

[rebelmouse-image 19533186 dam="1" original_size="333x500" caption=""OK, say cheese and whatever you do, don't turn around." Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images." expand=1]"OK, say cheese and whatever you do, don't turn around." Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

If you're not familiar with this increasingly popular Christmas icon, Krampus hails from Alpine countries, such as Austria and Slovakia. A holdover from pre-Christian traditions, Krampus is basically St. Nicholas' half-devil, half-goat frenemy(?) who goes around scooping up naughty children into a sack and hitting them with sticks.

Originally more obscure, and even banned during the '30's, Krampus has enjoyed a resurgence lately that's even extended beyond Austria. I mean, you know you're doing well when you get to square off against Adam Scott in an extremely campy horror-comedy flick.

On Dec. 6, Getty photographer Sean Gallup was in Pongau, Austria, where hundreds of actors marched in the annual Krampus Parade. Check out some of the pictures below:

Here come the Krampuses! Pretty awesome, no?

Krampusi? Krampusfolk? What is the plural here? Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Some of these wooden masks are incredibly detailed and beautiful, in a Guillermo Del Toro kind of way.

[rebelmouse-image 19533188 dam="1" original_size="750x500" caption="Anyone else excited as hell for "The Shape of Water," by the way? Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images." expand=1]Anyone else excited as hell for "The Shape of Water," by the way? Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

The kids seem to love it. Because of course they do. Have you met kids?

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

This little girl seems positively delighted.

You just kind of want to hug it. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Some children even find costumes of their own and take part.

Austria has the best Halloween costumes, and it's not even October. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

For a half-devil-goat-thing, this Krampus sure looks bashful once their classmates came over to say hi.

Aww. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

It must get pretty stuffy under those costumes though. These actors get a last gasp of air before the parade.

Plus, you know, they're basically wearing a giant fur coat. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Meanwhile, St. Nicholas and an angel are there to reward the children Krampus doesn't steal away.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Soon enough it'll be time to go back to sweetness and light. But, for now, at least, Krampus is the star of the show.

[rebelmouse-image 19533195 dam="1" original_size="750x487" caption="By the way, if you haven't watched the other weird Christmas horror movie "Rare Exports," it's pretty great. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images." expand=1]By the way, if you haven't watched the other weird Christmas horror movie "Rare Exports," it's pretty great. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Listen, the holidays can be pretty overwhelming. It can feel like if you're not happy and chipper and holding twin babies all the time, you're kind of letting the spirit of season down (even though, psychologically, it's important to be able to accept your darker emotions sometimes).

But maybe that's why people are starting to really love Krampus. He's not just an interesting cultural touchstone, he's a chance to let loose, flirt with fear and darkness a little, and ... relax. As weird as I know that sounds.

Plus he's metal as fuck.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less

A nasty note gets a strong response.

We've all seen it while cruising for spots in a busy parking lot: A person parks their whip in a disabled spot, then they walk out of their car and look totally fine. It's enough to make you want to vomit out of anger, especially because you've been driving around for what feels like a million years trying to find a parking spot.

You're obviously not going to confront them about it because that's all sorts of uncomfortable, so you think of a better, way less ballsy approach: leaving a passive aggressive note on their car's windshield.

Satisfied, you walk back to your car feeling proud of yourself for telling that liar off and even more satisfied as you walk the additional 100 steps to get to the store from your lame parking spot all the way at the back of the lot. But did you ever stop and wonder if you told off the wrong person?

Keep ReadingShow less
Innovation

A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." ⚡️⚡️

There's an old saying that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There's no better example of that than a 2016 discovery at the University of California, Irvine, by doctoral student Mya Le Thai. After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

8 nontraditional empathy cards that are unlike any you've ever seen. They're perfect!

Because sincerity and real talk are important during times of medical crisis.

True compassion.

When someone you know gets seriously ill, it's not always easy to come up with the right words to say or to find the right card to give.

Emily McDowell — a former ad agency creative director and the woman behind the Los Angeles-based greeting card and textile company Emily McDowell Studio — knew all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of uncomfortable sentiments.

At the age of 24, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin's lymphoma. She went into remission after nine months of chemo and has remained cancer-free since, but she received her fair share of misplaced, but well-meaning, wishes before that.

On her webpage introducing the awesome cards you're about to see, she shared,

"The most difficult part of my illness wasn't losing my hair, or being erroneously called 'sir' by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo. It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn't know what to say or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it."

Her experience inspired Empathy Cards — not quite "get well soon" and not quite "sympathy," they were created so "the recipients of these cards [can] feel seen, understood, and loved."

Scroll down to read these sincere, from-the-heart, and incredibly realistic sentiments.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

This woman's powerful 'before and after' photos crush myths about body positivity

"Body positivity is about saying that you are more than a body and your self-worth is not reliant on your beauty."



Michelle Elman, a body positivity coach, helps people who are struggling to find confidence in their own skin.

After persevering through numerous medical conditions and surgeries in her own life, Elman realized a few years ago that body positivity wasn't just about size or weight. Things like scars, birthmarks, and anything else that makes us feel different of self-conscious have to be a part of the conversation, and she tries to make the movement accessible to everyone.

Sharing her own journey has been one of her most effective teaching tools.

Keep ReadingShow less
via wakaflockafloccar / TikTok

It's amazing to consider just how quickly the world has changed over the past 11 months. If you were to have told someone in February 2020 that the entire country would be on some form of lockdown, nearly everyone would be wearing a mask, and half a million people were going to die due to a virus, no one would have believed you.

Yet, here we are.

PPE masks were the last thing on Leah Holland of Georgetown, Kentucky's mind on March 4, 2020, when she got a tattoo inspired by the words of a close friend.

Keep ReadingShow less