Brom: Krampus: The Yule Lord—“I love the idea of Krampus returning to reclaim Christmas”
Author photo courtesy of the author
“A wild ride…. It hooked me and I couldn’t put it down.”—Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy
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.
REVIEW: “Krampus is all the rage these days, most recently being featured in a horror flick. Brom’s Krampus is a different sort of story. It’s not horror at all. It’s dark fantasy and southern gothic set in meth-ravaged West Virginia…all set against a pagan, Norse mythology. If that sounds like it’s up your alley, you’ll love it. If it doesn’t? You’ll probably still love it.” (Every Day Shall Be Tuesday)
“Hard not to love a figure that revels in putting naughty children in a sack and beating the snot out of them,” Brom told A Little Lost. “In addition to his child minding, I enjoy his long history that extends far back to pagan times, long before Saint Nicholas came along and stole the holiday season from him. I love the idea of Krampus returning to reclaim Christmas, which is probably why it’s the premise of my novel.”
Krampus: The Yule Lord
Brom
Harper Voyager
Category: Horror Fiction, Fairy Tale Fantasy
