The Dead of Winter
Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures
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Narrated by:
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Hannah Curtis
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Sarah Clegg
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By:
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Sarah Clegg
About this listen
Discover the monsters, witches, and other ghoulish creatures that make up lesser known Christmas folklore in this gleefully creepy guide–perfect for horror fans who love the wintry holidays.
When you think about Christmas, you likely picture mangers, glowing fireplaces, sweet carolers, and snow-blanketed hills. But behind all this bright magic, there’s something much darker lurking in the shadows. In The Dead of Winter, Cambridge-trained historian Sarah Clegg delves deep into the folklore of the Christmas season in Europe, detailing the way its terrifying and often debaucherous past continues to haunt and entertain us now in the twenty-first century.
Perfect for the growing mainstream audience obsessed with horror and monsters, this guide makes the perfect gift.
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"Away from the turkey and tinsel, Sarah Clegg bravely escorts us to the dark side of the festive season, a wintry underworld of witches and demons, sinister customs, and strange ancient rites. A fascinating, menacing miscellany."—Malcolm Gaskill, author of The Ruin of All Witches and Witchfinders
"Sarah Clegg's dark and delicious The Dead of Winter isn't just a frightful and sometimes funny account of Krampus, Mari Lwyd, Christmas ghosts, monster mummers, and a winter witch named St. Lucy, but is also a thoughtful examination of why these stories continue to capture our imagination. I plan on spending every Christmas now revisiting this wonderful book."—Lisa Morton, author of Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween
"A lively, moving, thoughtful, and erudite survey of the more disturbing aspects of the modern world's most important festival. It is probably the best, and certainly the most accessible.”—Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch: A History of Fear from Ancient Times to the Present
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Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
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it's Nearly perfect
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Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
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An interesting set of introductions.
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The narration did not suit the tone and style of the book
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Hugo Award-winning editor, and horror legend Ellen Datlow presents a terrifying and chilling horror anthology of original short stories exploring the endless terrors of winter solstice traditions across the globe, featuring chillers by Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, and many more. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a time when families and friends come together—for better and for worse.
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Excellent and Eclectic
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No country was more deeply affected by 9/11 than Afghanistan: an entire generation grew up amid the upheaval that began that day. Young Afghans knew the promise of freedom, democracy, and safety, fought with each other over its meaning―and then witnessed its collapse. In Twenty Years, the Wall Street Journal correspondent Sune Engel Rasmussen draws on more than a decade of reporting from the country to tell Afghanistan’s story from a new angle.
What listeners say about The Dead of Winter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kimberly L
- 12-11-24
Fascinating and Enchanting!
I absolutely loved this book! If you're interested in fairy tales, folklore, or simply the origins of a beloved holiday, this book is for you! Sarah Clegg does a fantastic job tracing the threads of traditions only now coming back into our collective consciousness like Krampus, the Mari Lwyd, and other tales that we may have heard of but aren't very familiar with. It struck me that I've always known Christmas has a darker side, but I didn't know quite how to describe it or why it existed. Now, I feel well-versed in the subject. My only complaint is that the book isn't longer! I wish I could have made it last the whole Christmas season, but it was too fascinating! I've already sent this book to several friends, and I have a feeling it will get passed around quite a bit before the new year.
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- Karin Conti
- 12-23-24
Maglcal
Oh my Krampus!! Thank you so much for this. I found this one. I wasn’t feeling very Christmasy. I’ve had some health issues this year and this was absolutely delightful.! It will become forever more one of my favorite Christmas traditions to listen to.!
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1 person found this helpful
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- J. Timmerman
- 12-03-24
Dark Christmas
This is such a wonderful collection of the darker traditions of the Christmas season and their origins.
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- ladybrooklyn
- 11-23-24
Fantastic Holiday fare!
I really wish the entire book had been read by the author (she reads the intro and epilogue), as I preferred her vocals... and it would have been fitting given this book is a sort of "travelog" of her research.
Regardless... this is a fantastic little tomb collecting all of the "Christmas monsters" of legend and myth. A must for the season!
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- Anonymous User
- 11-21-24
I liked the multiple tails and histories linked together.
I overall enjoyed this read. I’m not sure why people were complaining about the narrator, I thought her voice was great. While I understand the authors voice may sounded a little little more youthful or something to that effect I don’t think it would’ve changed the story for the better.
Overall, I liked hearing the different stories and histories of how they’re all kind of linked together not really just one overall making up the current holidays we celebrate etc.
The explanation of how older tales may have contributed to other ones that came later that all contributed possibly to once now with no definitive answer.
The only issue I had was at certain times. I wasn’t sure when they were talking about the actual tales or the real life experience of the author, Other than that, I will reread it to listen again it was an interesting take. I think I will even enjoy it more the second time around.
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- Sabrina N. Frang
- 12-12-24
The best non-fiction book about dark Christmas
I did not know what to expect from The Dead of Winter, but I was absolutely in love with this book from start to finish. It talks about how many of our Christmas traditions got started, via their, often pagan. roots. This book reads like part historical text and part travelog as the author engages in Christmas and pre-Christmas traditions. The Dead of Winter mostly looks at the darker side of Christmas-think Krampus, striga witches, the eerie story of Saint Lucy, and Twelfth Night celebrations. I found this book informative and entertaining. The author has a very dramatic tone at times, but it is done on purpose, for certain accounts to read like a campfire tale or a Christmas Eve ghost story. It is all in good fun. She also talks about the truth vs. myths about pagan religions and how pagan traditions and myths have been warped by certain authors to be more insidious than they were.
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- Nicole Talaga
- 12-14-24
Enlightening
Love the writing. It was beautifully performed. The folklore inside is magical and informative. I really loved learning where the folklore comes from.
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- Russell
- 11-18-24
Clegg has a far better reading voice, she should have read the whole thing.
Also, this as a travelogue was only surface level interesting, and weird to wrap it up with cries of misogyny and racism when that wasn’t even the thesis of the book.
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- S Nicole
- 12-02-24
a beautiful tribute to our Yuletide roots
A loving and thorough journey through our understanding and evolution of Yuletide stories. Stunning writing, imagery, and connections through the ages. well researched.
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- Katelynn Robinson
- 11-17-24
A popular history of folklore
It's not boring, but it's also not kids' stories. If you're looking for fiction, this isn't it. It's a popular history of Christmas folklore, going back to pre-Christian practices. It uses plenty of examples of surviving practices, too. It's very good.
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