Yep! He's become sort of the anti-santa.  Instead of leaving gifts, he hits the bad children with Birch sticks. In some stories, St. Nicholas 'defeated' him and he's forced to follow St.Nick around, punishing the bad children while St.Nick rewards the good ones.  The origin of Krampus isn't 100% known, but in some of the earlier stories, he actually gave presents to good children too, and there is some evidence that he's even older than St. Nick. As a horned figure, he may have been part of old pagan myths - horns were a sign of fertility, not evil, so he may have been a good character, bringing a lust for life and good cheer at the winter solstice, but we may never know :P