Rare Exports Inc., a short Finnish film, explains the startling origins behind the legions of mall Santas found across the globe.

Note: Video contains Santa nudity and is thus NSFW.

And its sequel offers instructions for the safe care and handling of your Father Christmas.

And now the notion of Santa as cryptid is getting a feature length treatment. It looks like next December, we'll be seeing a full-length Rare Exports, but the teaser shows something scrawnier and meaner than jolly old Saint Nick. Is this the sinister stuff Father Christmases are made of, or Santa's vicious companion Krampus?

[via Twitch]

[Custom Creature Taxidermy via Super Punch]

Three-headed Frankensquirrel
Capricorn
Chimera
El Chupcabra
Feejee Mermaid
Flying Monkey
Frankensquirrel
Gold Griffin
Unicorn
Vampire Squirrel
Two-headed Chick
Two-headed Squirrel

For many webcomics creators, their first webcomic is also their first foray into comics publishing. But Karl Kerschl is already a comics veteran, having worked for DC on Superman, The Flash, and Teen Titans. In The Abominable Charles Christopher, Kerschl trades cities and superheroes for forests and the Missing Link.

The beautifully rendered animals of Kerschl's forest have led, up to this point, a fairly idyllic existence. Birds, bees, rabbits, and weasels all crack wise, have parties, and raise families. But Vivol, who still bears the emotional scars of his past as a circus bear, senses that life in the forest is experiencing a deadly shift. Humans, who once stuck mainly to the outskirts of the forest, have begun to encroach deeper into the woodland, their presence evidenced by toothy bear traps and the occasional blare of gunfire.

It's into this world that our dimwitted yeti protagonist, Charles Christopher, stumbles. In a forest filled with chattering and frequently witty critters, Charles stands out in his silence. He travels wherever the forest's more supernatural denizens — a bear made of moonlight, a seemingly omniscient lion — drive him, sucking on a pacifier and picking up the occasional traveling companion.

Charles is neither man nor beast, and so is put on a quest that will halt human advancement into the forest. But The Abominable Charles Christopher is a delight more for its atmosphere than for its slowly unfolding plot. Kerschl neatly balances realistic illustrations with cartoon expressions, creating animals that are visually stunning and at the same time easy to relate to. And the characters feel immediately real, conveying entire personalities and histories with a bit of bravado or a narrowing of the eyes. The interactions are humorous, almost human, while drawing on the unique qualities of the animals — the first flight of baby birds, the poisonous quality of toads, and a bumble bee's need to dance. This focus on the joys and humor of everyday life — and on characters who are earnest and naive — make it all the more heart-wrenching when tragedy eventually strikes (The Abominable Charles Christopher is one of the few comics in recent memory that has actually made me cry).

And the way Kerschl deals with the portrayal of humans adds to the emotional impact of the comic. Certainly tales of humans disrupting the tranquility of forest life is nothing new, but Kerschl does a brilliant job of making humans the mysterious "other" rather than a group of mindless, brutish monsters. In fact, humans are never seen on panel. We see evidence of their presence, like the muzzle of a gun peeking through the brush, and we hear their voices in Vivol's flashbacks to circus life, but we never see their faces or bodies. It makes humans not so much villainous as a potent threat the fun-loving animals are not prepared to face — almost more mystical and more powerful than the actual mystical creatures we encounter. It also builds up our anticipation for the moment when Charles will inevitably meet an actual human being and see if their lives are as rich as those of the animals he has befriended.

The Abominable Charles Christopher updates once a week, making its archive a quick read by webcomic standards, but also keeping readers in months-long stretches of suspense.

[The Abominable Charles Christopher]

Sanctuary: The Complete First Season [Koch Vision]

Crappy Taxidermy, the latest on the ever-growing list of one-note Tumblr blogs, logs the most egregious crimes against dead animal skins. In addition to pumps made from former hedgehogs and a truly disturbing number of kitten tea parties, there are the creature-makers, who transform once-normal animals into mermen, deer people, double headed critters, and cryptozoological monsters, with varying degrees of expertise.

[via Morbid Anatomy]

Natives of the Gobi Desert region have long told stories about the Mongolian Death Worm, and the creature came to Western attention through the writings of Roy Chapman Andrews, the man said to be the inspiration for Indiana Jones. As if it's resemblance to a Graboid were not enough, its acidic saliva and ability to discharge electricity could, if real, kill any curious cryptozoologist it believed to be a threat. Still, the Death Worm has captured the imagination of the cryptozoological community, inspiring curious artwork and numerous expeditions. In 2005, zoological journalist Richard Freeman mounted one such expedition, but came up empty handed.

Freeman resolved that the tales of the worm must be apocryphal, and that reported sightings probably involved non-poisonous burrowing reptiles. But that hasn't stopped others from trying to find the worm for themselves. Entertainment reporter David Farrier was inspired by an interview with Freeman and his crew to try his hand at tracking the monster. He'll also be bringing a documentary crew to film the hunt, so should Farrier actual encounter the worm himself, at least he'll leave some photographic evidence behind.

David Farrier goes on hunt for Mongolian death worm [via Cryptomundo]
Images and background via Environmental Graffiti
"Lair of the Red Worm" via BoingBoing

The exhibit “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” was created by the American Museum of Natural History and is currently on display at the Museum of Science in Boston. The exhibit looks at mythical creatures from all over the world, from Greek legends of cyclopean giants to modern sightings of Bigfoot. It also compares similar regional myths, such as contrasting European images of the unicorn with similar Asian legends.

But the cornerstone of the exhibit examines the real inspirations behind these mythical creatures, displaying various models, animals, and remains. For example, the aeropyornis, a giant, now-extinct bird likely inspired the legends of the roc. Fossilized remains of the protoceratops found in the Gobi desert resemble descriptions of the griffin, alleged denizens of that region. Legend claimed that the skull once mounted in an Austrian town hall belonged to a slain dragon, but was, in fact, the head of a woolly rhinoceros. It might risk shattering your childhood dreams, but it’s also a fascinating object lesson in how “proof” of a creature’s existence has been misinterpreted as well a look at the genuinely remarkable animals that have tread the Earth.

The exhibit will be at the Boston Museum of Science through March 22, 2009.

Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids [American Museum of Natural History via Biology in Science Fiction]

Called Magnapinna, these relatives of the squid have only been spotted a handful of times by vehicles like the one that recorded it here. Four of their bodies have been recovered by researchers, but were so badly damaged that it was hard for scientists to figure out their anatomy. What we do know is that they can grow to about 23 feet in length, about half the size of the biggest giant squid, and they have 10 long legs (instead of the normal squid setup of 8 short legs and 2 big tentacles).

Nobody is sure why their legs have that elbow-like crook in them, but researchers speculate that it could be to keep the legs from tangling as the creature drifts along catching prey in its long, long tentacles. Apparently these creatures are quite common in the dark depths of the ocean below 4,000 feet, and there are perhaps four subspecies.

So maybe this is the long-lost relative of the Cloverfield monster?

Alien-Like Squid with Elbows Filmed at Drilling Site [via National Geographic]