Le Père Fouettard: The French Christmas Cannibal

Santa Claus has become the dominant international figure of the holiday season, but he does have a variety of sidekicks depending on where in the world you are. One of the craziest without a doubt is northern and eastern France’s Le Père Fouettard (Father Whipper), a sort of anti-Santa.

Across Europe, traditions have monstrous beings accompany St. Nicholas on his rounds, either as mismatched good cop/bad cop type pairings (Krampus, Necht Ruprecht, Schmutzli) or as stand-alone villains (such as Frau Perchta and Iceland’s feline menace, the Yule Cat). Like mobsters doing their boss’s dirty work, Krampus and Le Père Fouettard set out into the cold December night to deal with the children who have been naughty. They’re more likely to deck the halls with Holly’s bowels than boughs of holly. Children are given a choice: presents or a sound beating with a bag of ashes. If you’ve been naughty, cheeky or not said your prayers, it’s possible an evisceration is all you’ve got to look forward to. Le Père Fouettard basically terrifies you into being good.

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