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Bits ‘n’ Pieces: Legend of Krampus to hit the air

By Sue Vorenberg
Published: December 6, 2014, 12:00am
2 Photos
Krampus and Saint Nicholas visit a Viennese home in 1896.
Krampus and Saint Nicholas visit a Viennese home in 1896. Photo Gallery

Yes, Virginia, there is an Anti-Claus.

In Germany and Alpine countries, Santa is often accompanied on his rounds by a horned demonic-looking creature called Krampus, who takes care of the bad kids while his counterpart brings presents for the good ones.

Krampus’ method? He carries the misbehaving children away in a sack for future drowning, eating or transit to Hell.

When Vancouver playwright and filmmaker Dennis Sparks first heard of the dark holiday figure, he knew what he had to do.

So the 68-year-old created a radio play for the holidays called “A Krampus Christmas,” which will air Dec. 20 at 7:07 p.m. on FM News 101 KXL in Portland and Vancouver.

“A friend of mine took me to see a foreign language film called ‘Rare Exports’ about this legend of what happens to bad little boys and girls on Christmas, and that’s how I first came across Krampus,” Sparks said.

For the play, he decided to use Krampus as a figure in a Christmas truce in 1944 during World War II. In the story, a woman and her family take in an American soldier and a Nazi solider for the holiday, insisting that they set their differences aside for the day.

“So the Nazis, I would call them more than bad little boys, and I wondered what would happen if we combined that with Krampus in a story,” Sparks said.

The story is told by a witness to the tale who is now an old man.

“He’s telling this talk show host on the radio about a haunting part of the story that he could never forget,” Sparks said.

Vancouver actor Joseph LeBard plays the role of both a boy at the dinner and the old man telling the tale in the radio program. And two young actors from the Oregon Children’s Theater, Thom Hilton and Haley Ward, also play roles in the show, he said.

Sparks reviews theater productions in Portland and Vancouver on his blog at dennissparksreviews.blogspot.com/. He also wrote and produced a full-length movie in 2012 called “Nightbumpers,” and prior to that a 16-minute short film called “Wordspeaker,” which was shown at Sundance and other film festivals.

The radio program will air on Dec. 20 either way, but Sparks and show producer Dave Paull are hoping to find a sponsor for it. If interested, email Paull at paulldave52@yahoo.com.

“A Krampus Christmas” is also expected to air on national radio on Dec. 24, but the time hasn’t been fully worked out yet. It’s likely to be on at 7:07 p.m. on that night as well, streamed online at groundzeromedia.org.


Bits ‘n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, email bits@columbian.com.

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