Hi! I’m Courtney
Alameda, author of the soon-to-be published YA horror novel, SHUTTER. I love
Christmastime and all things scary, so I wanted to celebrate by sharing some of
my favorite Christmas beasties with everyone this year—twelve of them, to be
exact! Join me and a few of my blogger friends every day from December 13 – 24,
as we feature different holiday nightmares . . . if you dare!
Nightmare Eight: Belsnickel, Santa’s
Snitch with Switch
Belsnickel is another one of Santa’s little minions: A week
or two before Christmas, Belsnickel shows up on your doorstep, looking like a
Listerine-drinking panhandler in his heavy, filthy-dirty furs:
Yep, he’s worse. Much, much worse.
Belsnickel’s name comes from the German word belzen, which translates into wallop. And he puts his name to good use,
as has an uncanny sense for
children’s naughtiness(almost on-par with Gryla’s but not nearly as bloodthirsty). He identifies the children in the house
who aren’t nearly acting good enough and beats
them with his birch switch. The children may escape (mostly) unscathed,
hopefully scared into being good enough to receive presents from old Saint Nick
on Christmas day.
Basically, Belsnickel’s the narc in Santa’s vigilante
posse. He scouts the countryside, beating children and taking names, only
slightly less dangerous than the likes of previous Christmas nightmares. He
reminds me a lot of Rupert Knecht, the filthy, dirty creature Saint Nicholas
brought out of the woods as a companion for his travels. The major difference
between the two is that Belsnickel is a harbinger of Saint Nicholas, rather
than a traveling companion. He’s also a little like the Elf on the Shelf in the
way he spies and reports back to Santa . . . and nobody likes a snitch.
Thanks to the
wonderfulSara for hosting this post!
Enter the Rafflecoptergiveaway below for a pre-ordered copy of SHUTTER, a
“Reaper” necklace, and a signed bookplate. Please note that the giveaway is US
only, and we promise prizes will not be a horse’s skull on a stick.
Happiest of holidays,
everyone!
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