A man dressed as a devil performs during a Krampus show in the southern Bohemian town of Kaplice on December 13, 2014. Each year people in traditional costumes and masks parade through the streets to perform an old ritual to disperse the ghosts of winter. #

A participant dressed as the Krampus creature scares onlookers during the Krampus gathering in Goricane, Slovenia, on November 21, 2015. Four hundred participants in 20 groups from Slovenia, Austria, Italy, and Croatia participated in the 4th annual Krampus gathering in the village of Goricane. #

A man dressed as a Krampus, the companion of St. Nicholas and one of Austria's unique Advent traditions, takes part in a traditional Krampus procession in Lofer, Austria, on November 30, 2013. #

A man dressed as Krampus takes part in a parade at Munich's Christmas market on December 14, 2014. Young single men will wear the traditional attires known as ‘Krampus,’ consisting of animal skins and masks, with large cow-bells to make loud and frightening noises and parade through the city. They follow ‘Saint Nicholas’ from house to house in December each year to bring luck to the good and punish the idle. #

A man dressed in a traditional Perchten costume and mask performs during a Perchten festival in the western Austrian village of Kappl, Austria, on November 13, 2015. #

Woodcarver Richard Kranawetvogl starts to carve a Krampus mask in his workshop in Marktschellenberg, Germany, on November 28, 2015. Kranawetvogl specializes in the fearsome masks and makes them for local Krampus associations, which have become increasingly popular in recent years. #

A man dressed in a traditional Perchten costume and mask performs during a Perchten festival in the western Austrian village of Kappl on November 13, 2015. Each year in November and January, people in the western Austria regions dress up in Perchten (also known in some regions as Krampus or Tuifl) costumes and parade through the streets to perform a 1,500-year-old pagan ritual to disperse the ghosts of winter. #