Hand Carved Krampus Masks by Stefan Koidl

A year ago, I wrote about my dream to one day own a custom, hand-carved Krampus mask from one of a wide array of European artists. In fact, one of my bucket list items would be to one day travel to Europe and participate in an annual Krampuslauf parade. It really is a wintertime equivalent of working in a Halloween haunt, and every video I've seen looks like an incredibly crazy time! 

I recently discovered the work of Austrian sculptor and painter, Stefan Koidl. His hand-carved Krampus masks are truly stunning, with intricate carving and finishing details on each piece he produces. Seeing his work makes me want to refocus on getting that Krampus mask to add to my collection and book my flight to Europe!

Do yourself a favor and go check out all of his art here.

The detail and intricate carving on this Norse King mask is some of the best that I have ever seen. I can't even imagine the work that we will be seeing in the coming years...

All photos courtesy of The Art of Stefan Koidl

  

And enjoy a quick interview where Koidl talks about creating his masks...

Teufellauf 2015 - Hollabrunn, Austria

What could be greater than watching a town's annual parade of Krampuses in the middle of Europe?

Here's an incredible video from this year's Teufellauf (Devil Run) in Hollabrunn, Austria. More photos here and here.

 

Teufellauf 2015 @ Hollabrunn, Austria (Pochod čertů) 28.11.2015

Posted by Jehla Web on Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Thank you to Jehla Web for the video.

One Week To Go!

This is it! One more week until Halloween. The countdown is on!

And that means I have to get back out to the garage right now. Just seven days to finish and repair all the props I'm working on, finish printing up this year's shirts, get the costumes and makeup ready AND pull everything out and get everything staged for the big show next Saturday. No sweat. Good luck, everybody!!


Halloween Weather Forecast Update:

Please, please, please stay like this! No rain this year, please!

 

Walpurgisnacht

We are half way to Halloween, group! And tonight (April 30th) also marks the European festival of Walpurgisnacht.

From Wikipedia:
Walpurgis Night is the English translation of Walpurgisnacht, one of the German names for the night of 30 April, so called because it is the eve of the feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess in Germany. In German folklore Walpurgisnacht, also called Hexennacht (literally "Witches' Night"), is believed to be the night of a witches' meeting on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, a range of wooded hills in central Germany between the rivers Weser and Elbe. The first known written occurrence of the English translation 'Walpurgis Night' is from the 19th century. Local variants of Walpurgis Night are observed across Europe in the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Estonia.

Walpurgis Night (in German folklore) "the night of 30 April (May Day's eve), when witches meet on the Brocken mountain and hold revels with their gods..."

The current festival is, in most countries that celebrate it, named after the English missionary Saint Walpurga (ca. 710–777/9). As Walpurga's feast was held on 1 May (ca. 870), she became associated with May Day, especially in the Finnish and Swedish calendars. The eve of May Day, traditionally celebrated with dancing, came to be known as Walpurgisnacht ("Walpurga's night"). The name of the holiday is Walpurgisnacht or Hexennacht ("Witches' Night") in German, Valborgsmässoafton in Swedish, "Vappen" in Finland Swedish, Vappu in Finnish, Volbriöö, (Walpurgi night) in Estonian, Valpurgijos naktis in Lithuanian, Valpurģu nakts or Valpurģi in Latvian, čarodějnice and Valpuržina noc in Czech. 

And thanks to Damian Michael for the reminder!