Easter traditions vary worldwide, with Americans decorating eggs and hunting for chocolate, while Norwegians indulge in Påskekrim, a tradition of reading or watching crime thrillers during the holiday. This tradition began in 1923 with the publication of a popular book about a fictional robbery during Easter.
For Christians, the focus of Easter is celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But all sorts of different traditions have sprung up around the holiday around the world, many of which have little to do with the resurrection. In the United States, people decorate hard-boiled eggs and children hunt for hidden chocolate treats provided by the Easter Bunny. In Norway, there’s a creepier Easter tradition. Since the publication in 1923 of a hugely popular story called The Bergen Train Was Ransacked at Night, Norwegians have been spending their long vacation consuming Påskekrim (“Easter Crime”), a guilty pleasure that comes in the form of a book or a TV thriller full of death, blood and gore.
Easter, time of crimes:
In 1923, authors Nordahl Grieg and Nils Lie wrote about a fictional robbery that takes place during the Easter holidays. The thieves escape on skis, hurtling down a mountain with the loot.
The book and its clever promotion, disguised as an actual event in the newspaper, captivated Norwegians. They rushed to buy the book, making it a bestseller, and spent the Easter holidays enjoying it.
Since then, every Easter, eager Norwegians are inundated with a fresh batch of “Nordic Noir”. Dark and gloomy stories even appear on milk cartons.
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