The spirit of Christmas isn’t always so cheerful. Here are four unusual and a little scary Christmas traditions from around the world.

In order to make houses free from bad spirits for the New Year, Guatemalans do a full house clean in December. The dirt and dust is gathered from every home and each neighborhood creates a large amount of garbage. A devil statue is built and placed on top of the dirt, and burned. The bad luck is said to burn up with the devil.

To keep kids from stealing on Santa’s cookies, parents tell children a story about a story named Danny who ate all of Santa’s cookies and really angered his grandmother. She killed him and now his ghost visits houses during Christmas time.

Children who don’t receive new clothes by Christmas Eve will be eaten by the Yule Cat, a large and angry cat, which is said to hide in the snow. The strange tradition comes from farmers who used the myth to encourage their workers to finish making the autumn wool before Christmas.

If you find yourself in Ukraine around the holidays, you may be wondering: Is it Christmas or Halloween? Trees here are decorated with artificial spider webs and decorative spiders. The unusual tradition comes from a story where a spider wove a web around the tree of a poor family. When morning came, the white strands turned to precious metals and the family became rich. The webs today show good fortune for the next year.

Finding spare change or an extra dollar in your pocket always feels like a victory. 【小题1】 Without thinking, you might hear the familiar rhyme in your head when you spot one on the sidewalk: "Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you'll have good luck. "

According to one theory, people originally thought pennies would bring good luck because of religious beliefs. 【小题2】 This theory also fueled other superstitions（迷信行为）like charm bracelets and metal horseshoes, which are also "lucky". Plus, metal currency like pennies were linked to more wealth and thus more luck. That might be a straightforward explanation, but other eleven strange origins of other everyday superstition sure aren't.

Another reason people might have claimed pennies would bring good luck comes down to the battle between good and evil, which is like two sides of the coin. Finding a penny heads up meant you'd have luck on your side, but tails up would mean the opposite, 【小题3】. Some people say that if you find a penny tails up, you should turn it over to make it heads up so that it can bring luck to whoever finds it next. 【小题4】. The Irish half-penny, which stopped circulating in 1987, is especially lucky to anyone who finds one. Then there's also the old saying "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a penny in the shoe." 【小题5】

Of all the crazy Spanish festivals, none is wilder than the Carnival celebrations in late February. Carnival is thought to come from the Roman festival, the Saturnalia, where participants had much drinking and dancing. Carnival in Spain is celebrated nationwide though the craziest festivities are in the Tenerife and Cadiz. While each town has its own unique way of celebration, they are both devoted to having a good time. In these main towns during Carnival it seems that no one sleeps as the drinking and dancing go on from dusk till dawn. You’ll see beautiful costumes and people in masks everywhere, and you’ll have a lot more fun joining in the masquerades(化妆舞会)than just watching.

The Carnival in the Tenerife is possibly the biggest party held in Europe and the one most like the famous Carnival of Rio. One of the most popular events of the Carnival in Tenerife is the choosing of the Queen of Carnival. Keep in mind that you need tickets for many of the competitions. But if you can’t get tickets you can still head to the open air parties. The celebrations take place in the whole city, and everyone is eager to have a good time.

Off the southern coast of Spain, you’ll find a different sort of Carnival in Cadiz. While it’s a match for the Carnival in Tenerife in terms of fun and partying, the Carnival in Cadiz is special for its music. The crowded streets are full of musical groups, mostly singing mocking songs. The people in Cadiz are known to have the best sense of humor in Spain, and the music of Carnival reflects this. The costumes have a focus on cleverness.