Weird Christmas Podcast

Latest Episodes:

2025 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction ConThology (ex-Contest/Anthology) Dec 26, 2025

Show notes

Please check WeirdChristmas.com for the text of all the stories along with links to the authors' bios, other works, and all the show notes.

Please help support the show, the podcast, and Weird Christmas website by donating/gifting any and all amounts at Ko-Fi.com (click here). The money from the prizes is all from donations. And the more donations I get, the more I can give to the contestants. My long term goal is to make every story count as a professional sale by most writing organization’s standards. You can also donate any amount through PayPal by giving to weirdxmas@gmail.com.

Benito and Christkindlmarkt Travel PART TWO Dec 22, 2025

Show notes

If you’re looking for any of the links mentioned in the show, they're all at WeirdChristmas.com on the post for the first part of this conversation, which, yes, is technically a different episode, even though I probably should have made them all one, although there were a couple years inbetween the talks, so it kinda makes sense, and once you've started a truly epic run-on sentence, you really need to see it through. But all the links we discuss are there in one place.

The only differences are the intro/outro tunes:

Music:

“Christmas Market (Demo)” by Tris
“Durch die Durch die Straßen auf und nieder” (trad., go read up on Martinmas in Germany; it’ll be important later)

It’s probably Christmas-time (ish) when you’re reading this, so remember the spirit of the season is giving. Any donations go toward hosting fees and paying the authors for the annual story show. If you’re feeling generous, you can leave a donation at Ko-Fi.com. Or PayPal me a direct donation using weirdxmas@gmail.com.

You can also LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!

Benito Cereno and Christkindlmarkt Travel (Christkindlemarkets in English for the searches) Dec 21, 2025

Show notes

Craig talks with Benito Cereno about Benito's tour of Christkindlmarkets (Or Christkindlmärkte to be accurate, but we're also gonna call them Christkindlemarkets just to make sure the search engines fine anything for my fellow Americans).

If you don't know Benito, you should. He knows more about Christmas history than anyone I know. He's also a talented writer, especially for comics. He's written most recently the Hector Plasm series (the latest one tackles Bigfoot), Startling Tales of Santa Claus, but he's also written for The Tick, the Invincible series, and the incredibly fun Tales from the Bully Pulpit that feature an ass-kicking Teddy Roosevelt. He's also working on a much longer mythology of Santa that will create a (mostly) self-consistent set of myths, stories, and legends about the man, integrating all of the folklore that he can find.

Benito's Instagram account, where he always posts his travel pictures.
Benito’s Christmas history videos (THESE ARE AMAZING SO WATCH THEM NOW!!!!)
Benito’s writing at Gumroad
Apocrypals podcast
Friends ‘Till the End podcast
Progressively Horrified
Benito's podcasts with us:
- Tomtar and Nissen (Christmas elves)
- Mari Lwyd
- Christmas Witches
- Christmas Werewolves
- The Yule Lads
- Christmas Comics (from 2018 -- a bit out of date by now)

Music:

"At the ChristkindleMarkt" by mark and the mongrels
"Iche geh mit meiner Laterne" (trad., also, just go read up on Martinmas in Germany)

You can also LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!

Weird Christmas Baking with Linda Raedisch Dec 14, 2025

Show notes

Baking: Recipes & Stories from Tomb Offerings to Gingerbread Boys. Talk about disgusting food and wondrously delicious treats, along with some of the strange stories that lay behind them all

Buy the book direct from the publisher (Llewellyn). (Or that other place.)
Her author site at Llewellyn where you can also get her classic The Old Magic of Christmas.
Past episodes with me:
- We talked about the strange, darker legends of Christmas.
- and the history of elves/fairies and their relation to Christmas.
- She also shared some writing advice for the story ConThology after helping me read the entries one year.

Music:

"Sweet Gingerbread Man" by Bradford Trojan
"Flaming Christmas Pudding" by The Swedish Shortsnouts

You can also LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!

2024 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest/Anthology Results Show Jan 07, 2025

Show notes

2024 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest Winners:

Weird Card Winner: “The Study of Owls and the Christmas Contronyms” by Daniel Roop

Unreal Holiday Celebration Winner: “The Mycelial Muffinheads’ Annual Pilgrimage to the Cave of Forget-Me-Nothings” by C.L. Sidell

Stocking Stuffer Winner: “All Eves for the Yule” by A.S. Hahrwort

All the stories: (in no special order other than appearance on the show):

“Nativity” by John Nicol
“The Sadly Beautiful Life Cycle of the Mrs. Claus” by Nicoletta Giuseffi
“Rudolpha” by Nicholas De Marino
“Countdown to Christmas” by John Wolf
“Keepers of the Fruitcake” by Carla Rudy
“Liturgy for the Feast Among the Gastroliths” by Cardigan Broadmoor
“O Unholy Night” by Matthew Reyes
“Northern Romance” by Reva Sherrard
“St. O’Clause” by Lancelot Schaubert
“Advent” by Ben Daggers
“There Was Only Ever One Delivery” by Brian B. Humby
“Santa Hooks Up a Sabbatical” by Paul Lewthwaite
“Canary” by Stephanie Kelly
“Growing Season of the Giver” by J. Rohr
“Lightsgiving” by Greg Clumpner
“Niklaus” by Rosa Meronek
“The Study of Owls and the Christmas Contranyms” by Daniel Roop
“The Mythical Muffinheads’ Annual Pilgrimage to the Cave of Forget-Me-Nothings” by C.L. Sidell
“All Eves for the Yule” by A.S. Hahrwort

Please help support the contest, the podcast, and Weird Christmas website by donating/gifting any and all amounts at Ko-Fi.com (click here). The money from the prizes is all from donations. And the more donations I get, the more I can give to the contestants. My long term goal is to make every story count as a professional sale by most writing organization’s standards. You can also donate any amount through PayPal by giving to weirdxmas@gmail.com.

A big thank you to both volunteer readers this season: Dustin Pari (@dustinpari, who is always so wonderfully generous and optimistic and inspiring), and my friend Joel who wants nothing more to do with this whole thing.

Usual opening: “O Holy Night” by Tiny Tim, “Christmas Doesn’t Last” by Make Like Monkeys, “Santa Claus Boogie” by Hasil Adkins, “Space Age Santa” by Ross Christman

Special opening: “Christmas-Procrastination Blues” by Tom DeMasters.

Bumper music (ripped straight from YouTube): by Myuu (for the dark piano) and a host of wonderful theramin artists.

Contest results from previous years: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018.

2023 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest Results Show Dec 31, 2023

Show notes

Please see WeirdChristmas.com for text and info on all the stories and writers.

Nisser and Tomtar (Scandinavian Elves) with Benito Cereno Dec 23, 2023

Show notes

Craig talks with the ever knowledgeable and jolly Benito Cereno about Scandinavian elves, which you're starting to see more and more places in decorations and movies. All links mentioned on the show, along with info on Benito, can be found at WeirdChristmas.com at this link:

https://weirdchristmas.com/2023/12/23/nisser-and-tomtar-scandinavian-elves-with-benito-cereno/

If you’re feeling generous, you can leave a donation at Ko-Fi.com. It’s probably Christmas-time (ish) when you’re reading this, so remember the spirit of the season is giving. And I’m trying not to turn on the guilt machine, but I would like to pay my hosting fees. heh heh

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!

2022 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest (5th Annual Results Show) Dec 31, 2022

Show notes

The best show of the year: 19 stories of Christmas Weirdness from the annual Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest. Please visit WeirdChristmas.com to get information on the authors and to read the stories again.

If you want to support the contest and help make more and bigger prizes for the writers next year, please visit Ko-Fi.com/weirdchristmas to donate any amount.

Ancient Christmas with Earl Fontainelle of the SHWEP Dec 24, 2022

Show notes

I talk to Earl Fontainelle of the SHWEP (Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast). We try to trace down any textual evidence that would connect the origins of Christmas to ancient pagan sources, namely the Mithras cult and Emperor Constantine’s Sol Invictus cult.

Listen here, on your favorite podcast app, or at the Podbean site.

The SHWEP

The SHWEP Oddcast

Music:

"Scriaben Christmas Time is Here" by Kurt Knecht
"Christmas is a Pagan Holiday" by Matt Potako

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!

Mari Lwyd with Benito Cereno Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

Benito and I discuss the traditions surrounding the Mari Lwyd, getting into similarities with other European wassailing and hobby horse traditions.

A recording of the Mari Lwyd rhyme in action by the BBC.

Benito's Links:

Music:

"Here Comes the Mari Lwyd" by The Eugenes
"Mari Lwyd" by Colorama

Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!

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