BellaOnline Forums Career Fiction Writing The Darker Side of Santa Writing Prompts

Did you know that there was a dark side to jolly old Santa Claus? Well, maybe not a dark side to Santa himself, but he does have different dark companions that are supposed to accompany him on his gift giving journey, companions whose job it is to punish the ones that have been naughty.

The Darker Side of Santa Writing Prompts

Yikes, I did not like seeing the "darker side" beside Santa's name(lol).

Thanks for the article.

The darker side of Santa shocked me more than a bit when I discovered all of this the other day. His dark companions bring to mind the original versions of all of Grimms Fairy Tales. People would use them to scare their children into behaving. Not sure if it succeeded in giving them more than nightmares.

Anyway, you could use Santa's evil companions to bring about good in a story. Have someone's encounter with one of these dark sidekicks change a person for the better. It all depends on the kind of story you want to write.

LOL Lisa, I am the most timid person on this planet. My daughter would do good with doing this. I guess I like to focus on the good side of things = I try not to watch horror stories. Yikes! If I do, I would not be able to be home alone when it gets dark. Yep, at age 53, I am still a big baby...

Some people like scary stuff, some people thrive on scary stuff, and some need to stay away from it because, well, it scares them. Every person is different. Focus on the light side of Christmas and Santa for your writing if that is what you need to do.

Good grief, Lisa -- the article and discussion here is making our dear ol' Santa look like a Jekyll and Hyde. I think some deeper research needs to be done to clarify that Krampus and the other beasties are not part of Santa nor even "allowed" by Santa to do their little tricks and scare the children. This discussion is making it look like Santa has evil companions which he approves of.

I am in the process of doing deeper research from old articles I wrote about Santa and St. Nicholas.

The feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 5 and Santa bringing gifts is December 25 (or the eve of Christmas).

I am sure this is going to confuse a lot of people when they read about Krampus and the other beasties that are not "part of Santa" and that Santa does not have "a darker side".

It is interesting though about the European stories of the beasties. To connect the European customs/stories to the American version of Santa is really not presenting an accurate legend or image of our Santa Claus.

PS: In America, the "naughty children" simply get a lump of coal in their stocking. No beasties sneak into their rooms at night.

Krampus and the others are a part of the St. Nicholas celebration and feast on December 5 and 6 in Europe -- and are not "companions" of St. Nicholas, who was an actual person revered for his compassion and giving gifts to the needy. This has nothing to do with Santa Claus in America.

Fascinating writing prompt!

I think that the benign eternal spiritual hierarchy is well aware of the ' dark side ' of the shortest and coldest day of the year. That is precisely why they decided long ago to move the birth of Christ from MAR to DEC intentionally. Ancient dark records are stirred at this time of year and the yule log tradition of bringing light into the dark is well over 350,000 years old. It is a time of accidents and family arguments that mar the season. It is not na�ve to look at the beauty and the joy of the various holiday traditions because they were put in place for all of our protection. Choose to put your attention on the beauty or align yourself with forces beyond our ken that do not have your best interests in mind. Old Records do come up at this time of year, so your acknowledging the dark side of an iconic figure is a natural and normal out-picturing of these planetary-wide ' vibes ' -- Connie and I are going through bad dreams of betrayal -- old records. Childlike appreciation of healthy and wholesome traditions is not na�ve -- it is built-in spiritual protection much like a seat-belt because there are rough waters to navigate during the season.

It is wonderful that by Christmas, light triumphs over dark in the northern hemisphere.

Here in The Netherlands and in Germany, St. Niks is celebrated December 5th. That is the day children receive gifts.

Christmas Day, Dec. 25th is kept as a religious holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ. Families go to church and on the 25th and 26th have festive dinners with family and friends.