When Winter Wears a Face

The Devil Within

EVIO Creative

True Crime

0.0 • 0 Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

🎙️ The Devil Within When Winter Wears a Face Winter can feel empty — silent landscapes, long nights, and the sense that the world has gone still. But in the mountain villages of the Alps and northern Italy, winter was never seen as empty. It was seen as dangerous. In this episode of The Devil Within, we explore three chilling winter traditions born from isolation, fear, and the psychological weight of the dark season. 🐐 The Schnabelgeiss — Switzerland Masked figures known as the “beaked goats” storm through villages wearing grotesque costumes and ringing bells. The noise and spectacle aren’t for entertainment — they’re meant to drive away illness, misfortune, and the lingering spirits of winter. 🌊 The Anguane — Northern Italy Beautiful but dangerous water spirits said to lure travelers off safe paths and toward icy streams and hidden drops. Their legend reflects a harsh truth: in winter, the mountains deceive, and one wrong step can be fatal. 🔥 Giubiana — Burning the Winter Witch In Lombardy and Piedmont, communities build and burn a straw effigy representing hunger, illness, and hardship. The ritual marks a psychological turning point — the moment when people believe the worst of winter is finally behind them. These traditions didn’t change the season. But they gave fear a face — and when fear has a face, it can be chased, confronted, and burned away. 🎧 Call to Action ⭐ Follow and subscribe to The Devil Within 📝 Leave a rating or review — it helps others discover the show 📲 Share this episode with someone who loves folklore and the darker side of history 🌲 And join us next time as we investigate a real and haunting mystery in the mountains — the death of Canadian hockey player Duncan MacPherson. 💼 SPONSORS 🧥 QUINCE Luxury essentials at affordable prices. Free shipping + 365-day returns: 👉 http://www.quince.com/MISCHIEF 📱 MINT MOBILE Premium wireless for just $15/month. Switch and get free shipping: 👉 www.mintmobile.com/DEVILWITHIN 🛰️ EXPRESSVPN Protect your data anywhere. Get up to 4 months free: 👉 http://www.expressvpn.com/DEVILWITHIN 🌿 MOOD CBD and THC gummies shipped nationwide. 20% off with code DEVILWITHIN: 👉 http://www.mood.com/DEVILWITHIN 🐶 OLLIE DOG FOOD Real, fresh, human-grade meals for your dog. 60% off your first box: 👉 http://www.ollie.com/IDES 💰 MONARCH The only finance app you’ll ever need. 50% off your first year: 👉 www.monarchmoney.com/IDE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Meet Alex Cross, a detective driven by instinct, empathy and an unrelenting mind.
0:06.0	Pushed to the brink of his moral and physical limits, he takes on the world's most dangerous criminals.
0:12.0	To understand him, you have to get inside his head.
0:17.0	Dive into James Patterson's definitive best-selling thriller series.
0:21.6	Brand new audiobook, Cross and Sampson and the full Alex Cross series are on Spotify now.
0:28.6	EVO Winter is the season that we pretend is empty.
0:44.3	Bear trees, frozen fields, mountain trails erased under snow.
0:50.3	The landscape looks stripped down to its bones, quiet and still, like the world has exhaled and stopped.
0:59.9	But in the high places of Europe, right near where these Winter Olympics are being held, people never believed that winter was empty.
1:07.0	They believed that it was crowded, crowded with things that only come out when the days are short, when the air bites, when the world goes silent enough for older sounds to return.
1:20.8	And villages tucked beneath the Alps in valleys, shadowed by the Dolomites, in towns where smoke curls from chimneys into early darkness.
1:30.0	Winter was never just weather.
1:33.2	It was a presence.
1:35.3	And for centuries, people didn't just endure it.
1:39.6	They dressed it up.
1:41.4	They gave it faces.
1:42.8	They gave it beaks and horns and cloven hooves.
1:46.2	Witches made of straw and bone. They built monsters out of winter and then marched them through
1:51.9	the streets. Because sometimes the only way to survive the dark season is to make the dark
1:59.1	visible.
2:06.8	Tonight on The Devil Within, we step into three winter figures from alpine folklore.
2:11.9	Beings meant to scare, to warn, protect, and purge.
	...

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