In many countries, the joyous feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6th. However, in countries like Austria, Germany, and Hungary, St. Nicholas travels with a frightening companion named, Krampus. While St. Nicholas rewards all of the good boys and girls with presents and treats, Krampus handles punishing the bad ones. Krampus is usually seen with a bundle of sticks he switches the bad children with. Even worse is the bag he wears on his back, which he uses to haul away the particularly bad ones for him to feast on at the end of the day. We don’t know about you, but the idea of a horned beast beating children or eating them for dinner is much stronger motivation for being good than a jovial and sweet looking St. Nicholas.
Krampus Day is typically celebrated on December 5th with a Krampuslauf, which is where people dressed as Krampus run through a town. These Krampus runs are taking place in more and more locations across the globe as the legend gains popularity. The Krampuslauf in Graz, Austria is one of the biggest runs and is known for its amazing display of costumes. This is definitely one of the trips on the list of “must do trips” for the team at Believe It Tour.
Even though we’re a little late on wishing you a Merry Krampus and reminding you to be good for more than goodness sake, we felt it was time for a Believe It Tour Krampuskarten (a Krampus card). Please heed our warning this Christmas season to be as good as you can be in the hope that St. Nicholas comes knocking at your door instead of Krampus.
Are you still looking for that one-of-a-kind item that will absolutely thrill and completely excite the people you’re getting gifts for this holiday season? Here are some great ideas to help fill Santa’s bag.
Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost Shirt
There is still time to order from our Believe It Tour store. You’ll find merchandise like the Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost T-Shirt, which is perfect for late night paranormal investigations. Extraordinary artifacts from mysterious places like sand gathered from what is thought to be the Lost City of Atlantis off the Island of Bimini. There are even some fun toys for all of you Zombie lovers.
Now when you want to get specific with your favorite cryptozoology subjects you can head over to our other store, Bigfoot Surplus. The original supplier of Bigfoot merchandise that has something for everyone from active field researchers to pop culture followers. The most popular item is the real Bigfoot track cast from the Patterson Gimlin film site of 1967. Followed by the favorite Bigfoot t-shirt designs for men, women, and children. There are even some special holiday items that are perfect stocking stuffers.
Patterson Film Site Track Cast
If you’re interested in supporting other active cryptozoloogists or Bigfoot researchers there’s even a holiday Bigfoot gift bag stuffed with many of the favorites from Bigfoot Surplus that are offered at a special price. A portion of the proceeds from this holiday gift will be going to our friends at the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
If you want to be reminded of Bigfoot all year round, our friend Sharon – The Bigfoot Field Reporter, put together a 2012 Bigfoot Researcher Calendar with each month featuring a different Bigfoot researcher. (It even features your’s truly along with fellow Believe It Tour explorer, Diana Smith, for the month of June).
The countdown has begun, so hurry and finish up your Christmas shopping with some very unique gifts that all the cryptozoology enthusiests, ghost hunters, or UFO trackers on your list will really appreciate and love.
Fitting for Halloween our spooky photo collection from the recent Believe It Tour – Old Haunts trip is now available for viewing. This includes the days spent in Transylvania visiting all the legendary Dracula locations.
Believe It Tour’s official tour guide, Michael Esordi, also shares images from his search for other vampire and werewolf hotspots. Plus other creatures, legends and folklore from the region of Michael’s roots.
Days away from the favorite holiday of Believe It Tour, Halloween. Here is our Ghoul Log to get you all in the spirit of the night. Makes for a great background loop to play at your Halloween party too.
The human race had come to an end. That much was certain. Centuries of culture, ingenuity, and bloodshed were all gone. Erased. A mere fabrication of universal imagination.
This was the final campaign for V’ry Captain M’Tal and his crew. A definitive conquering point to his celebrated career. What he didn’t count on was the last stand from a band of beings left on a sloppy little planet called Earth.
M’Tal hated humans. They should have been eradicated by the V’ry onslaught. He would make these humans pay for surviving the V’ry genocide.
There was just one troubling aspect…the survivors weren’t human.
BelieveItTour blogger Joseph Mazzenga’s exciting new novella is available through Amazon and Whispers Publishing:
A Believe It Tour adventure just wouldn’t be complete without including Santa Claus. This trip is especially exciting since we’ll get to see the jolly old gentleman not once, but twice during our travels. The first time we saw Santa and Mrs. Claus was at a Christmas extravaganza known as Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
Bronner’s lays claim to being the world’s largest Christmas store in the world and from all appearances it certainly lives up to that title. This store is a Michigan landmark having been founded in 1945 by Wally Bronner. From it’s humble beginning almost 60 years ago it’s grown into a huge enterprise that’s all about Christmas almost 365 days of the year.
As soon as we walked into Bronner’s we were greeted by Santa, so that got everything off to a good start for all of us. Not only was a live Santa there talking to everyone, but all things Santa were surrounding us from Christmas ornaments to large moving figures. We not only got to talk to Santa Claus, but we also found some mermaids, aliens, and Sasquatch ornaments while exploring the store.
After a quick walk-about through the store and a quick group photo with Santa the crew was back on the road and speeding off to our next destination.
Elmwood Historic Cemetery Site of the Battle of Bloody Run
Saturday was off to a great start when the Believe It Tour crew had a history discussion over morning coffee before heading off for a day of adventure.
Detroit is a city filled with rich history. Many people unfamiliar with the area only think of the automobile industry, which was certainly an important part of the city’s history and current day identity. However, Detroit’s history is a rich one that stretches back to early American Indian days.
One of the spots of particular interest to us was the Elmwood Historic Cemetery. A section of the cemetery was actually the site of a brutal battle on July 31, 1763, which took place during the French and Indian War. Under Captain Dalyell’s command, the British were viciously defeated by a confederacy of various Indian tribes led by Chief Pontiac. The battle took place at Parent’s Creek, which supposedly ran red with British blood. The creek was renamed Bloody Run and the military forever became known as the Battle of Bloody Run. Today, a section of the original creek can be seen running through the Elmwood Historic Cemetery.
Now this is where another Detroit legend has a deep connection with the battle of Bloody Run and that’s the legend of Nain Rogue. This is Detroit’s famous red dwarf, which has been a part of Detroit history for over 300 years ago when the city was founded. Nain Rogue is considered a portent of catastrophic events for the city as it’s usually seen just before something disastrous occurs. For example, the Nain Rogue was seen by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac shortly before he lost his fortune and was ruined and the creature was also seen the day before the Battle of Bloody Run in 1763.
I’ll leave you with that teaser about Nain Rogue as we’ll be exploring him more the last day of our Michigan adventure. Stay tuned for more.
Saturday wouldn’t have been complete without the Believe It Tour crew making a quick trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts. Located in the African art collection is a fascinating sculpture of a man, covered in shards of woods, that’s known as the nail man. This roughly 3 ½ foot tall statue has tales around it that are much taller than it is.
Museum legend has it that workers have claimed to see the diminutive wooden man come to life and perform an ancient African dance after the museum is closed. Others have also claimed to hear loud crashing noises. However, most people that experience the noise feel it sounds more like something associated with a painting falling rather than something coming from the statue.
The nail man has an interesting history that goes back hundreds of years. In the African Congo there are fetish statues known as Nkisi that are broken into two main categories called Nkondi (Minknodi) and Nkonde (Minkisi). Of the two the Nkondi were considered the most powerful and usually rather malevolent. Nkisi were considered a talisman against illness, evil spirits, and anything else that could be considered negative.
The Nkisi statues were made active by a ritual performed by a tribe’s magic or holy man. The basic statue was carved by one person and then finished by the magic or holy man with the addition of items such as the nails and by placing a magic substance somewhere in the body or head of the statue. The wood shards or nails were used as a means to provoke the statue to pursue whatever was causing a problem or to show potential evildoers what their fate might be. The older the statue was the more powerful it became as supposedly its power increased over time the more people believed in it. When missionaries first saw the Nkisti figures in the late 1600s they immediately said they were images of the devil.
I can’t say while we were there that we saw any statue dancing or heard anything amiss. However, the piece did have some interesting energy around it, so I can almost imagine some strange things going on in the museum at night or how a tribe in the Congo felt it had mystical powers hundreds of years ago.
Driving Through Monroe, Michigan in Search of Cryptids
The Believe It Tour crew decided a quick stop in Monroe, Michigan was in order to see the infamous spot where a frightening incident occurred in 1965. This was an encounter that was rather unique since it took a violent turn when a Sasquatch hit one of the witnesses in the face.
It was mid August when Christine van Acker and her mother encountered a Bigfoot in Monroe. The cryptid reached into the car and hit van Acker in the eye giving her a black eye just before the two women quickly drove away. At the time of the incident the media picked up the story and published a photo of van Acker’s injuries and a drawing of the creature that attacked her.
As the Bigfoot encounter happened 45 years ago we knew it would be a challenge to find anyone still living in the town with first hand knowledge of the incident. However, it was still part of the adventure to drive through the area where such an encounter took place.
In planning the Believe It Tour trip to Michigan, there is no doubt that we would have to cover the legend of the Nain Rouge that haunts Detroit.
To learn as much as possible about the Nain Rouge I started corresponding with an expert on the topic, Josef Bastian. Josef is the author of the book aptly titled, Nain Rouge, and will be guiding us to some of the historic locations in Detroit tied to sightings of this creature.
The Legend of the Nain Rouge As Told By Josef Bastian
The Nain Rouge (or Red Dwarf) had been a part of the natural world, existing long before the coming of humans. In the region the Chippewa called “Meicigama”, meaning great water, The Nain Rouge made his home near the narrow straits between the two lakes. This was the area that the later French settlers were to name “Detroit”, or the straits.
As the Steward of Straits, the Nain Rouge was responsible for keeping harmony and balance in the natural world near the straits of the great river. He befriended all living things; plants, animals and eventually the native tribes that began to settle the land.
It was not until the French settlers arrived that the Nain Rouge began causing trouble. It seemed that Antoine de Mothe Cadillac and his band of explorers bought some land from the natives, while stealing other tracts of land without cause or permission. The Nain Rouge could feel the discord resonating around him and knew that he must confront Cadillac and his men.
At first, the Nain Rouge was cordial and diplomatic. All this changed when Cadillac welcomed him into his quarters, only to mock him and decry his stewardship over the land. A quarrel began and soon turned into an angry brawl, causing great injury to Cadillac and his officers. The Nain Rouge was beaten mercilessly during the fight and fled from the settlement in anger and pain.
It is said that as he ran away, a curse was flung from his lips onto the entire region of Detroit. The curse, it is rumored, befalls anyone who creates evil of their own will, empowering the Nain Rouge with greater and greater strength throughout the centuries.
Now, the Nain Rouge is often seen just before a tragic event; a harbinger of doom that revels in the downfall of humanity.
Recently, there have been many more sightings of the Nain Rouge. He seems to be growing in power.
Some say the times are bad. Some say it is only getting worse.
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