The Horrorday Gang Story Pack

Of the pack itself

 * Description 1

Do you want your Sim kids reminded of how bad they are? Do they need to know about the year Santa didn't come, but something worse came instead?

While the pieces are still missing to make a DzMD Sims 4 upload of Michael Doughtery's Krampus franchise; Dozerfleet Comics has its own version to share: The Horrorday Gang&trade;!

It's Gerosha canon, as well as partially canon to the Every Ape and His Brother music collection! Hide from the world in Nordreichdun Castle, in northern Greenland! Play as Krampus, and plot wisely whom you need to prey upon when your annual feeding time comes! Play as the Straggele, and defend the castle - or the kingdom - or, aid the Horrorday Gang in their raid on some of the lowest scum on Earth, as they enact their twisted morality.

Icy Finger baddies especially posing a problem? Blow 'em away, with Luca the Snowmobster and his trusty Tommy gun! Or, learn at the end of a chainsaw why all of the other reindeer live in fear of Jerry! (Hint: They deserve it!) Want to send human traffickers to their graves? The vengeful Perchta has a thing or two to say to them!

Or, play as the corrupt Dickey County Sheriff Chad Estahm, and plot your next sinister move to curry favor from the Icy Finger's Dark Lord, Rappaccini! Or, play as his brother Anton, who escapes from prison on a quest to expose corruption in North Dakota; but expects the Navyropes, rather than some supernatural menace, to be the solution.

If Chad gets too far ahead of himself, back him up as Wilma Menka, an evil witch from the Icy Finger's Screwworm Network, who is one of many to have taken over CPS. Traffic the children of North Dakota into the Hebbleskin Gang's sinister Gleeful-N'-Young cartel, and make their mothers cry as you cackle, "legally" hauling them away to their doom! Just make sure the Horrorday Gang doesn't get too jealous of you taking kids away, or they may voice an opinion on it in a manner you're not gonna like!

Aid Estahm to avenge your butthurt as the rebellious son Jack Strainer - but beware of what happens if you should ever disagree with the insane sheriff on any small detail!

Want some good to survive in this world? Play as Leah Strainer, and seek to find a meaningful existence in the halfway house. Or play as Ted or Jemma, trying to find a way out of the makeshift dungeons they're being kept in by their captors.

How did the judge not realize that the CPS lady was wrong, or that she was a trafficker that was barely even hiding it? How to get back to your loving parents, when your own brother Jack teams up with the local judge to betray you?

Barring all of that, play as Rob Strainer - whom the media blood libeled and whom Estahm went to extreme lengths to personally ruin. A man who was robbed of nearly everything. He has but two reasons left to live: win back his family, and / or avenge them! Little does he realize the help he's about to get - of a sort he'd never dare ask for!

When one corrupt sheriff ignores warnings to stay out of Greenland, all of the towns of Forbes and Oakes in North Dakota become battlegrounds of fairly bad vs. pure evil! The wisest move for what little is left that is good in this setting? Run away! Your homes and possessions aren't worth it!


 * Description 2

Since 1990, the Dark Kingdom of the North, Nordreichdun, had been the domain of Adolphus Kraus and his gang: better known as Krampus and the Horrorday Gang! They only terrorized the outside world when necessary for their annual rituals, and maintained a relative isolationism otherwise.

In 2018, that isolation was violated. Wanting to seize an entire subdivision to use as a blood sacrifice while merging several confiscated Marlquaanite rubies in an effort to forge a new Earth Abdygalis Shard, Icy Finger affiliate Chad Estahm needed to keep his plans a secret until the exact right moment. Estahm had spent years developing cover; acting as a sheriff over Dickey County. With his influence, he had managed to corrupt nearly every office of local government, bending more and more of the bureaucracy to his will.

But he had one small problem: his brother! Refusing to partake in the "Great Reemergence," Anton Estahm instead tried to get in touch with the Navyrope Society - and to expose his crooked brother. Chad was having none of it! Hearing wind that the remnants of Washington - slowly being phased out by Halal Affadidah - were giving him the green light; Estahm used his powerful connections to make Anton a political prisoner. Yet, Anton escaped from prison, desperate to continue his mission to expose his brother's villainy.

Around the same time, Estahm saw fit to begin harassing local farmer and truck delivery man Rob Strainer - whose overt Christianity and sympathy for the Navyropes got under Estahm's skin. He began a relentless, spiteful campaign to destroy the family - Rob especially. But he underestimated Rob's determination to get his family back, come whatever may.

Pushing his luck further, Estahm staged an invasion of Nordreichdun, injuring the Tomte and using a diversion to get Jerry, Perchta, and Luca to forget about the compound. Using a fancy wristband, Estahm enslaved Krampus. He assigned the monster but one task if he wished to live: hunt down and kill Anton, before Anton could cause any more trouble! Krampus eventually finds a way to get the wristband off; and mayhem ensues when Estahm's men try to kill the monster. They realize that if Krampus won't kill Anton for them, then they need Krampus dead - before his gang comes to retrieve him!

Perchta and Jerry head out, on orders from Luca, to find a lead on the boss and his whereabouts - while Luca and the Straggele heal the Tomte. They discover some of Rob's abducted children - about to be trafficked. Anton trying to turn to Rob for help proves disastrous for Anton, who dies anyway amidst the fighting when the Screwworms arrive. Yet, Rob is able to kill most of them, and take in an injured Krampus.

A truce forms, and intensifies when they get a call from an injured Perchta. The attempt by Perchta to get a lead on the boss's whereabouts ended badly. The Screwworms left her badly wounded, but she was saved by Strainer's daughter. However, Jemma was killed by the Screwworms for her interference - along with several other children that rose up, that were supposed to be sent off to Arfaas' Gleeful-N'-Young operation!

Perchta is forced to retreat. However, she does so only after contacting Jerry. Jerry has more success locating Rob's son, Ted. He's unable to learn much from the Screwworms, but manages to kill them before they can kill Ted. Luca and a handful of the Straggele arrive at Rob's house, with Perchta retreating to Nordreichdun to watch over the kingdom while the boys do their thing. From there, she'd receive medical treatment from other guardsmen. The Tomte, rested up, heads south to join the fight.

It soon dawns on the Horrorday Gang and on the two reunited Strainers that their families have been dealt a blow. And many more families - many of whom don't deserve it - are about to be dealt an even worse one! Estahm was out of control. The Strainers wanted to be reunited, and end the rule of Estahm's corruption. The Horrorday Gang had a simpler idea: revenge!

As the crooked sheriff continued his pursuit of the ritual, his Screwworms capturing all of Forbes and Oakes, Estahm would soon learn one very uncomfortable truth: Santa and his reindeer weren't coming this year. He had a meeting to attend...with the other guys!

Nordreichdun Castle
Not long after gaining a cult following in northern Greenland, Krampus established the construction of this small castle. He kept the interior relatively basic, and modified it throughout the years to improve the efficiency of his operations - with Luca's help. It bears some subverted festive garments, enough to indicate that it's the home of a bad Santa who sucks the joy out of Yuletide.

Most don't even know the castle exists; as even Denmark reluctantly and begrudgingly complies with the formation of Nordreichdun. However, this doesn't stop the Icy Finger from trying to raid the castle, and make off with the king inside! Nordreichdun - the Dark Kingdom of the North - has interfered with Icy Finger operations for too long, and now Chad Estahm wishes to make sport of this strange, defiant spit of land!

However, Estahm's superiors are less than amused by how much Tug tech was required to pull off a successful invasion of Nordreichdun! Was it even worth it? Apart from one time a year, Krampus otherwise doesn't usually bother anyone. It may have been wiser to leave this place alone!

Adolphus Kraus / Krampus
Adolphus Kraus was transformed into a near-ageless monster by a Marlquaan storm on February 23rd of 1672. To avoid too much backlash for his actions, he adopted the folklore of Krampus, and adhered to his own version of making the mythical demon his alias.

Unlike the monster of folklore, however, Adolph was a bit more rational. He also only fed when the time for feeding was upon him. To save his energy in his new vampire-like state, he also needed to hibernate six months out of the year.

He spent centuries honing the art of being Krampus, preying on the naughtiest of children shortly before Christmas, as well as going after random adults whose criminality especially bothered his sensibilities. In this way, he felt that he'd become more of an antihero, rather than be seen as an outright villain. Either way, he was someone understood to be not anyone to mess with!

He forged a reluctant truce with the Order of the Oraphim, as he and they had a common enemy in the Society of the Icy Finger. When his feeding frenzy got out of hand in Hawaii one year, however, he found himself facing the wrath of Kamohoalii - who had him banished permanently from the Hawaiian islands. Paku and Adolph would remain frenemies ever since, doing their best to respect and avoid each other's domains - but also work together against the Icy Finger.

Kraus did, however, develop a soft spot for a band of Inuits on the northern end of Greenland. So much so, that he started his own cult following among them. They eventually broke away from the rest of Greenland in 1990, around the same time that the Battle for Gerosha was being fought. The new kingdom, dubbed "Nordreichdun," managed to live in relative peace and isolation - in spite Denmark being miffed.

A lost, angry, confused Luca Ricci finally found his way to Nordreichdun, where his helping the locals earned him sanctuary from the US military. It wasn't long before Krampus noticed how effective Luca was at organization, and agreed to let Luca stay in Nordreichdun - pending several prior conditions. This made Luca the Snowmobster into Krampus' official Underboss, and the Horrorday Gang was born as the rulers of Nordreichdun.

After rescuing Jerry, Perchta, and the Tomte, Krampus had secured a basic collection of Marlquaanite misfits unto himself, to keep control of his dark northern kingdom. The Nordreichdunni royal guard even had a division within known as the Straggele - who dressed up as the mythical monsters!

Kraus had a system. But he never anticipated that one corrupt Screwworm-affiliated sheriff from North Dakota would have the audacity to invade Nordreichdun. Yet, the Screwworms finally had him! One way or another, he was determined to reunite with his gang, and take back control! And Sheriff Estahm? Needed to pay! One fateful December in 2018, it was evil vs. evil, for the fate of Dickey County!

Gerald Smack / Jerry the Psycho Reindeer
Not much is known about Jerry's origins. But what is known, is that two generations of Anarteq guarding Canada made things difficult for the Icy Finger. As Warren "Rappaccini" Buntine was making his way up the ranks of Icy Finger leadership, it was decided that more extreme measures would be needed eventually.

Early tests on the Anito Squad proved helpful to finding minions that could be controled easily, that were also much more durable than the easily-defeated (by Order of the Oraphim Marlquaanite standards, anyway) Qalupaliks.

However, Anitos were mindless, tortured creatures that didn't fare too well in arctic weather. Plus, the program of kidnapping pinay prostitutes to create Anitos with was in its infancy at that time. They didn't just want the new Anarteq, Isitoq Sundue, to be defeated. Wishpon could possibly do that one day! They wanted an associated mythological counterpart to Anarteq to defeat him once and for all, in order to completely demoralize the Inuit chapters of the Order! Anitos weren't gonna cut it!

A few twisted geniuses decided that they would capture random men for a program that showed promise: Project Ijiraq. Inspired by the Hebbleskin Gang's werewolf Meethexo program, a band of Icy Finger scientists set to work either kidnapping random individuals or recruiting volunteers - either from inside or outside Icy Finger ranks! Gang members were preferred, as they'd already understand how they were expected to function.

Of those captured, two severely mentally unstable individuals without families were abducted for recruitment to the ranks for the Tariaksuq facility: the neurotic and speech-limited Gerald Smack and the sadistic and mostly quiet George Lawence. An explosion occurred at the facility, as Stephen Harper sent in troops to deal with an exposed, obviously illegal operation just outside of Cape Dyer.

George was the final member of the company to be set up for testing, though the explosion occurred before he could be tested. He managed to escape undetected, getting creative to find ways of surviving and making his way south back to his home streets in Illinois. However, he was intercepted and sent to a mental facility elsewhere. He would later escape, with help from the Gleeful-N'-Young cartel, when Clyde Spendelworth thought George would prove useful. George would later go on to become one of Clyde's hitmen for hire, to help oversee the Sleet Mountain operation near Big Rapids.

This left Jerry and the others on their own. However, Jerry's verbal tics and mental processing issues cause the others to fear and hate him - leading to all manner of abuse that would intensify. That Jerry could take seemingly infinitely more punishment than the rest of them combined, further bothered them.

"How did the retard get all the endurance?", they demanded to know. His glowing red eyes when upset further terrified them.

Jerry and the others eventually found employment under a man known to most only by his first name: Patrick. But Jerry believed Patrick was Santa Claus, and would address him as such. While contemplating their fate, in-between sessions of making Jerry's life miserable, the other Ijiraq took factory jobs for Patrick. However, Jerry's loyalty - and subsequent promotion under Patrick - irritated them to no end.

Icy Finger recruiters offered the Tariaksuq runaways a second chance; and all of them took it - except for Jerry. Jerry remained loyal to Patrick. The recruiters gave the Tariaksuq a main mission: find the new Anarteq and assassinate him! But first, to prove themselves, they needed to assassinate Stephen Harper, to get revenge for the Tariaksuq facility getting blown up!

The Tariaksuq instead made their first mission to prove they were no longer working for Patrick - by burning the factory down! The carnage they wreaked left everyone inside dead - except for Jerry and Patrick. Patrick handed a pistol and a key to Jerry, telling him to go to his shed and get more weapons. Patrick breathed his last, asking Jerry to ensure the other Tariaksuq paid for their crimes against him and his factory workers. In his own special way, Jerry vowed to do exactly that.

Something snapped inside of him that evening. Gone was the completely innocent Jerry. Inside, was now an urge to kill. The more ultraviolently, the better. His "Santa" was dead, and he couldn't cope without an equatable master. After hunting down all of the other Tariaksuq, Jerry wasted no time picking them off and brutally murdering each one of them. This earned him a new nickname: Jerry the Psycho Reindeer.

Being compared to an evil Rudolph was charming to him; but he still felt empty inside. Then, amidst his wandering the world lost, he protected some Nordreichdunni interests from Screwworm attack. He later was invited to Nordreichdun, where he was taken in by Luca. Krampus made Jerry an official soldier, alongside the Straggele, in early January of 2010. Thus, Jerry became Krampus' version of Rudolph - but able to wield chainsaws!

Development
Inspiration for this pack came from the Facebook feed of Bob Miner of North Dakota, at the center of a legal controversy known as "Minergate," involving multiple levels of CPS engaged with state government in some of the most egregious violations of the constitutional rights of citizens ever to be committed in US history. As such, the embellished tale of The Horrorday Gang is Minergate, told from Bob's point of view. It borrows Gerosha mythological elements from the Centipede and Fire Saga, as well as from Anarteq: Guardian of the Soo - and even has influenced retroactively the development of smaller plot points in Blood Over Water!

The elements of this story not interested in telling an embellished tale of the state of North Dakota being involved in racketeering and child trafficking, as well as racist persecution of white families in Dickey County, from the point of view of one of the most prominent victims of state corruption, are mythological elements. They are derived at further integrating Austrian, Inuit, and other cultures into Gerosha mythos. Primarily, elements of mythology regarding Nordreichdun are centered around integrating into the mythos an explanation for how Krampus is (sort-of) "real" in the Gerosha universe, but Santa Claus isn't.

These elements further tie in with earlier efforts to create a Krampus-themed villain for Gerosha content going as far back as a Krampus-modified North Pole lot on the Sims 4 Gallery in December of 2017 - with the original file being released by the user FindJoo from Indonesia. Further efforts to make a compelling Krampus character for Gerosha were enhanced when the Dozerfleet founder got to watch the Michael Doughtery film.

It was not long after that in which Adolphus Kraus was reimagined as a sort of Doctor Doom knockoff that had taken control of northern Greenland - mixed with a vampire that had a need to feast every December and could attack with Venom-like brutality. The Straggele were then reimagined as his cult following of brainwashed Inuits, taking cues from both Doctor Doom in classic Marvel Comics and from Joseph Seed in Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn.

Along with this came a desire to mix the Krampus reimagining with a dramatization of Bob Miner's legal war against North Dakota state corruption, on reason that Sheriff Chris Estes (the inspiration behind Chad Estahm) "deserved nothing less than to be torn limb-from-limb by Krampus for all he's done." To further drive home the point of the bad sheriff deserving this fate, it's explained that the sheriff, to create a new Abdygalis Shard after the destruction of the one in Romania, needed to take the entire town of Oakes hostage and blood sacrifice them in an occult ritual. This ritual would also resurrect Belay and Astirnah, who had been defeated over two years earlier by the Angelic Army during the events in Cherinob 2.

Estahm was on the brink of following through with this and other diabolical plans, including plans to kidnap every "expendable" child he could from Forbes and have them trafficked to what remained of Gleeful-N'-Young after the death of Clyde Spendelworth.

However, his brother Anton was about to expose him. He has his own brother kidnapped, and made a political prisoner. But after his brother escapes from prison, Estahm ignores his higher-ups in the Icy Finger advising against it, and uses his rank in the organization to stage the abduction of Krampus - whom he tries to turn into a one-man Suicide Squad knockoff in order to hunt down Anton.

Naturally, as Krampus is able to finally break free from the restraints keeping him under Estahm's control, and is rescued by Rob Strainer (Bob Miner's stand-in,) the two realize that stopping Estahm and saving what remains of Rob's family (and the town of Oakes) will require them to work together to visit on the sheriff the one thing they both want on him: revenge. In this very direct way, Estahm (Estes) is shown to be fully deserving of his impending horrific fate.

Thus, a basic pitch was developed for a novel, which was to be dubbed The Horrorday Gang. This angry tale of antiheroes didn't stop at just giving Krampus something to do, however. Jerry the Psycho Reindeer was added to the mythos, as Krampus' chauffeur, giving him an "Evil Rudolph" companion. Jerry had previously featured in the song "Jerry the Psycho Reindeer" off the Every Ape and His Brother album The Chicken of the Opera from 2008, and his song was worked into Gerald Smack's Ijiraq Program origin story to justify his inclusion in The Horrorday Gang. Likewise, this also allowed him and George Lawence to have originated from the same lab, explaining George's psychosis in Blood Over Water.

Following on the heels of giving Krampus (the Bad Santa) an "Evil Rudolph" companion, Luca Ricci was introduced as "Luca the Snowmobster." This gave Krampus his own evil Frosty counterpart - who also got his own song: "Luca the Snowmobster" off the Every Ape and His Brother album Winter Horrorland. Reimaginings of Perchta and the Tomte added to the ranks, until there were a sufficient number of warped Yuletide mascots to feel like a proper cast.

Realizing that a Sims 4 story pack of this concept would be able to be rolled out much sooner than an actual, properly-written novel and in a more timely manner to raise publicity about the plight of the real-life Bob Miner; this story pack was openly pursued in the summer of 2020. The goal was to ensure it got a proper release and promotion cycle across Dozerfleet's greater web network before December of 2020 rolled around - so that a re-issue of promotion for it would arrive in time for the Christmas season.

Distribution
Implementation of this pack was incremental, with members of the cast introduced piecemeal beginning on mid-August of 2020 and continuing until September 2nd. The actual Horrorday Gang members themselves were the first to get uploaded and focused on, followed by the Straggele. Rob Strainer and his family were added next, followed by Anton and finally, the main antagonist villains. Chad Estahm and Wilma Menka took the longest time to upload, as pictures of their inspirations in North Dakota were difficult to find online.