Krampus - Merry Krampusnacht - Brian Manton

1.
Liam Cartwright (36) walks down the street. He looks in need of a wash and a sleep and a friend. He carries a light plastic carrier bag which holds a six pack of beer.

It's Christmas time, evening, just getting dark. There are Christmas shoppers on the streets in groups of twos and threes.

CAP (Liam):  Christmas.

2.
Liam walks down a different street, lined with pubs instead of shops.

A couple kiss in the background - the girl holding her kebab to the side, trying not to spill it.

Three teenagers kick at a bouncer on the ground.

Liam doesn't make eye contact with anyone, keeping his haze on the path ahead of him.

CAP (Liam):  The season of good will.

3.
Liam sits in a small kitchen. The six pack is on the table and Liam holds one of the cans. There are a dozen scattered empty cans on the counter behind him.

CAP (Liam):  and the demons of Christmas past come back to haunt you.

Krampus - Oh What Fun - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: Krampus speeds through the forest, his bag in tow.

Cap: DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW
CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS DAY

Panel 2: Children run through the streets, frightened out of their wits.

Cap: O'ER THE STREETS THEY RUN
TREMBLING ALL THE WAY

Panel 3: Krampus graps a screaming child and puts him in the bag.

Cap: CAN'T ESCAPE HIS GRASP
MAKING CHILDREN CRY

Panel 4: Krampus chases after more children, a manic grin on his face.

Cap: OH WHAT FUN TO HEAR THEIR SCREAMS
A STEALING SONG TONIGHT!

Krampus Strikes Back - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: Wide shot. Krampus and Santa stand upon a cliff edge in the North Pole. They are sword-fighting with candy canes, locked together, intensely staring each other down. Santa's back is to the edge.

SANTA: You can't win, Krampus! Strike me down and I shall become more jolly than you can possibly imagine!

KRAMPUS: I don't need to strike you down!

Panel 2: Close-up of Krampus slicing off Santa's hand with his candy cane.

SFX: SCHWING!

SANTA: AHHH!

Panel 3: Santa kneels, clutching his hand, by the cliff edge, his candy cane discarded. Krampus stands over him, hand extended, candy cane pointing down.

KRAMPUS: There is no escape. Join me! With our combined power, we could rule Christmas!

SANTA: I'll never join you!

Panel 4: Close up on Krampus, gloating.

KRAMPUS: If only you knew the power of the Naughty Side. If only you knew what happened to your father...

Panel 5: Close up of Santa, in pain.

SANTA: You killed him!

KRAMPUS (O.P.): No, Santa...

Panel 6: Medium shot of both. Krampus clenches his fist, grinning. Santa looks utterly defeated.

KRAMPUS: I AM YOUR FATHER!

END OF PAGE

Krampus – Empty Beds – Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 7 PANELS.

Layout.

123

455

466

777

1.1

All black panel.

SFX:

Crash.

1.2

Close up on young OTTO. A boy of eight. His eyes open wide a smile on his face as he wakes up from his sleep. It is very early christmas morning.

OTTO:

<Santa?> *

CAPTION BOX

* Translated from German.

1.3

The empty bed of Otto, the sheets pulled back and left in a hurry as he rushes out to find Santa. The fuzzy dark blue light of pre dawn casting a chill over the room.

NO COPY.

1.4

Otto holds on to the banister as he creeps as quietly as can down the stairs. A doorway has been left ajar in the hallway running next to the staircase. A pool of light, flickering red and green spills from the half open door.

NO COPY.

1.5

Close up on Otto his face illuminated by the same flickering lights as he peaks in past the doorway, still to scared to enter and really meet santa.

OTTO:

<Is, is that you Santa?>

1.6

Large panel. Cut to inside the living room. A huge and beautifully decorated christmas tree twinkles with red and green lights.

KRAMPUS stands tall next to it, hunched over to fit into the room designed for humans. Krampus, is covered in blood red fur, he stands on two legs each with a large hoof in place of a foot, his hands have bird like talons, his face sharp and harsh, his nose more like a beak than a nose. Atop his head or a set of large rabbit like ears and a pair of twisted and savage looking horns. His belly is huge and round, but not jolly like Santa's.

(lettering note: Krampus speaks with a rough and scratchy font.)

KRAMPUS:

Didn't your mother tell you? You're on the naughty list little Otto.

1.7

Cut back to Otto's room. The sheets still pulled back exactly as Otto left them. The room is now filled with a bright light from the christmas morning sun.

NO COPY.

Krampus – A Merrily Busted Christmas – MK Stangeland Jr.

(6 Panels)

PANEL 1: Scene is night, inside a child’s room in a European home somewhere near Germany. The KRAMPUS stands over the bed, with what looks vaguely like a child underneath a number of blankets.

PANEL 2: KRAMPUS pulls back the sheets to reveal that the person in the bed isn’t a child at all – it is instead DR. PETER VENKMAN, who has his proton pack armed and aimed up at KRAMPUS.

KRAMPUS: !!!

VENKMAN: Happy Holidays!

PANEL 3: KRAMPUS makes a sloppy retreat as he tries to get away from VENKMAN, who is firing his proton pack.

VENKMAN (1): Hey, where you going?

VENKMAN (2): I’ve been a bad boy this year!

PANEL 4: KRAMPUS stops short of the rooms main window as DR. RAY STANTZ comes out of hiding and shoots his proton pack across the window.

STANTZ: Egon, that’s your cue!

PANEL 5: DR. EGON SPENGLER bursts into the room through the main door. He’s wielding a Wave Radio-Plasmic Tracking gun (a “Wrapped Gun”), which he shoots at KRAMPUS.

SFX: Wong!

EGON: On it!

PANEL 6: The blast from the Wrapped Gun hits the KRAMPUS to tag him as he makes his way out through the rooms secondary window.

EGON: Got him!

(END PAGE)

Krampus - Double Standard - Ben Rosenthal

1.  A father sits on his child's bed on X-Mas eve.  He is putting his little girl to sleep.

GIRL
Daddy.  I'm scared.

DADDY
Scared of what honey?

GIRL
That the Krampus is going to come and get me.


2.  The father is smiling.  He is amused at her youthful gullibility.

DADDY
Remember darling the Krampus only takes away little girls who have been naughty.
Have you been naughty?

GIRL
I don't think so.

DADDY
Well there you go.   Now you just have to make sure you keep on being good and the Krampus will leave you alone.


3.  The father is up and is walking out the door, turning off the light to the little girl's room.  The corridor in front of him is dark.

DADDY
Good night darling.

GIRL
Goodnight Daddy.


4.  The father is in  his dark room.  He looks around cautiously as he readies himself for bed.  He thinks he can hear something.

DADDY
Is someone there?

VOICE (off panel)
Lying to your daughter?


5.  The man is petrified.  Behind him we see two large eyes, two large horns and a row of teeth glistening in the moonlight, emerging from the shadows of the room.

KRAMPUS
That's naughty.

Krampus - Sweet Christmas - R.A. Wonsowski

Splash Page - Setting: the cave lair of the KRAMPUS. Foreground, the KRAMPUS is locked in combat with a powered-up SANTA CLAUS, who is wreathed in Christmas light-like Kirby crackle. In the background, LUKE CAGE is leading the captive CHILDREN to the cave mouth exit as IRON FIST smashes open another prison pen, next to a gigantic Simonson-esque bone-pulverizing, bread-making machine. 

IRON FIST: Hurry, Luke! Get the kids to the sleigh!

CAPTION: It's a Cruel Yule in the Mighty Marvel Manner! The Heroes for Hire in an epic battle between Naughty and Nice, In a Xmas tale we hadta call...

TITLE: LUKE CAGE'S SSSSSSSWEET CHRISTMAS SONG!

CAPTION: a Wonsowski-Aja joint.

Why Krampus?

c'mon...just look at him!

Everyone should have a Grampa Joe.  My Grampa Joe was a working class blue-collar man who worked himself to provide the best for his family and had a religious fervor that comes from living what he preached.  And he came from the culturally rich country of Slovakia.  I bring this up, because he is also the man who bought me my first comic books.  So, in my own way, I'd like to think I'm tipping the hat in his memory with this week's Why.

So Why Krampus?  The Krampus legend mostly crops up in Germanic and Northern European countries, and most often paired with Saint Nikolas.  Saint Nikolas would reward "Nice" children with toys and candy.  The Krampus, however, in the original legends, would kidnap the "Naughty", stuff them in his sack, take them to his cave, and eat them.  In the original pre-Christian legends, he was associated with the barbarian horned-god of witch covens, and ran free every Winter festival.  With the rise in popularity of St. Nick during the Middle Ages, Christianity could not suppress the legend, so the church incorporated him into the Christmas pageantry (although now sporting chains and irons).  Slovakia and Austria still boast incredible Krampusnacht festivals every 5th of December, the eve of the feast day of St. Nikolas.

Still relevant!

The Krampus legend is still popular today.  He doesn't do as much child abduction today, but he sure leaves a lot of coal in stockings for the wicked children.  He is still seen as the "Anti-Claus" to Santa Claus, and is a vital pop culture icon.  He's popped up in cartoons, was featured in a special Christmas episode on Supernatural, and this year got his own comic published by Image.  Not bad for Kris Kringle's older brother.

So that is my pick for ThoughtBalloon's annual Christmas Week.  If you have a Krampus story to tell, please share it in the comments below.  Make it big, and boisterous, and legendary...

Like Grampa Joe.