“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.

The Krampus, a folkloric devil associated with St. Nicholas in Alpine Austria and Germany, has been embraced by the American counterculture and is lately skewing mainstream. The new Christmas he seems to embody is ironically closer to an ancient understanding of the holiday as a perilous, haunted season. In the Krampus' world, witches rule Christmas, and saints can sometimes kill.

YOU BETTER WATCH OUT… KRAMPUS IS COMING TO TOWN. Ancient folklore warns of a mythical counterpart to Santa Claus, who punishes naughty children every Christmas… his name is KRAMPUS. Michael Dougherty presents the official graphic novel based on his festive horror comedy, which expands the mythology of this iconic terror with an anthology of three deliciously twisted morality tales that will leave you praying you are not on the naughty list. At the most wonderful time of the year, a drunken mall Santa comes under siege from some very mischievous Christmas spirits, a dysfunctional cop becomes trapped with the man who ruined his life and the wealthy town “scrooge” must face the shadows from his past as his home comes under invasion from the homeless. This Christmas, Krampus will make sure they all get what they deserve. Michael Dougherty, the writer/director behind cult horror hit Trick ‘r Treat, is joined by a fantastic team of creators, uniting Krampus co-screenwriters Zach Shields and Todd Casey and artists Fiona Staples (Saga), Christian Dibari (Hoax Hunters), Maan House (Witchblade), and Stuart Sayger (Bram Stoker’s Death Ship) to deliver a twisted gift for the holiday season.

This book is a repository of the terms, concepts, symbols and mythological references used in the Heathen path of Urglaawe. The entries include the cultural values, spiritual awareness, and wisdom carried through the centuries in the oral lore of the Elder healing practice of Braucherei, which is also known as Pow Wow. Included in the entries are traditions and customs that are part of the living Deitsch, -- Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch -- folk culture. Adherents to Heathen paths, including Ásatrú, Irminenschaft, Theodism, Forn Sidr, Odinism, and other traditions, will find these entries useful as they provide another voice to the totality of the Teutonic folk experience.

With an additional 32 pages, superior printing and a secure hardcover binding, Krampus! picks up where the paperback edition of The Devil in Design (Fantagraphics, 2003) left off. In the early Christmas traditions of Western Europe, the Krampus was St. Nicholas' dark servant - a hairy, horned, supernatural beast whose pointed ears and long slithering tongue gave misbehaving children the creeps! Whereas St. Nick would reward children who had been good all year, those that had behaved badly were visited by the Krampus.

Meet the Krampus, yuletide terror and punisher of wicked children. Long imprisoned for his outdated methods, the holiday horror suddenly finds himself freed and tasked with a mission: recover the stolen power of the Secret Society of Santa Clauses! With his flying wolf Stutgaard, the Krampus crosses the globe, encountering various figures of winter lore and uncovering a sinister scheme to topple the Santas and change Christmas as we know it forever. Collects KRAMPUS! #1-5 and extras, including all-new material.

Dear Santa, please leave a red-headed lumberjack under the tree. I’ve been a very good boy. Dean Hancock does not have time for the gorgeous, red-haired, cowboy lumberjack that nearly shattered his windshield with a Christmas tree. He’s on the hunt for a long-lost cradle carved by the artistic genius Gustav Gilt. After being lost for a hundred years, the antique appears five days before Christmas in the tiny town of Tinsel. God has a wicked sense of humor. On the verge of an academic and financial breakthrough, he doesn’t have time to ‘get friendly’ with the local cowboy Levi Bruce. If he hasn’t authenticated the manger in the middle of the town square before Christmas Eve, he’ll lose his antique shop and any dreams he had to find a real Gilt. But it won’t stop Dean fantasizing about his lumberjack riding in on a white horse and lassoing him just right. Levi Bruce spends his days waking before dawn, tending his tree farm, going to bed after dark, and starting the cycle all over again. It’s a long, lonely life, but with his dog Harry at his side, he thought it was enough. Then that handsome, charming man from the city had to stroll in and upend everything. The wolves are at the door, a big company threatening to take his family farm out from under him. The last thing Levi needs is distracting dreams of kissing the delectable man under the mistletoe. Will these two fools open their hearts by the fire of the farmhouse’s hearth? Or will the promise of millions, a family secret, and an eccentric artist’s masterpiece rip them apart forever? Tangled in Tinsel was created in part thanks to my wonderful readers who voted on what they wanted to see in a Christmas romance. This gay, Hallmark-influenced romance is a heart-warming, hilarious, steamy mug of Christmas cocoa.

"Children, lovelies, listen here. Perhaps this hasn't been your year..." Join Uncle Kramp for a night of wit & whimsy as you journey round the holiday season in this cautionary tale that will leave even the naughtiest of readers, scrambling to be on the nice list.

Science fiction, fantasy, comics, romance, genre movies, games all drain into the Cultural Gutter, a website dedicated to thoughtful articles about disreputable art-media and genres that are a little embarrassing. Irredeemable. Worthy of Note, but rolling like errant pennies back into the gutter. The Cultural Gutter is dangerous because we have a philosophy. We try to balance enthusiasm with clear-eyed, honest engagement with the material and with our readers. This book expands on our mission with 10 articles each from science fiction/fantasy editor James Schellenberg, comics editor and publisher Carol Borden, romance editor Chris Szego, screen editor Ian Driscoll and founding editor and former games editor Jim Munroe.