Al Ridenour is a veteran freelance writer for newspapers, magazines and websites as well as co-founder of Krampus Los Angeles, which since 2013, has organized Krampus parades and other events in the greater LA area. In 2014, Krampus LA hosted the first Europeans visitors to appear stateside in traditional costumes.Throughout the 1990s, he served as leader of the Los Angeles lodge of the Cacophony Society, a national network of art- provocateurs and urban explorers responsible for founding the Burning Man festival and serving as prototype for “Project Mayhem” in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. His experience of improvisational street theater with this group, along with undergrad study of German culture, continued on a Fulbright scholarship to Berlin post-graduation, worked together to inspire his interest in the Krampus.