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SantaCon, explained by Dante’s ‘Inferno’

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

 

Cooper Fleishman

Internet Culture

Posted on Dec 14, 2013   Updated on May 31, 2021, 11:50 pm CDT

It’s that time of year to dress like an asshole and bar hop and drink all day. #santacon #santaconnyc https://t.co/2xICL3VJ8Y

— Susan Ho (@susan_ho) December 14, 2013

In the middle of the journey of our life
I found myself within a dark woods
where the straight way was lost. (Inf. I. 1–12)

WE OUT CHEAHHHH #santaconnyc pic.twitter.com/8y5eoBqtEp

— Jillian⭐️Rocco (@Jill_Rocco) December 14, 2013

It’s starting Santa Con NYC #santaconnyc pic.twitter.com/wN47QI30YE

— Sibel Durak (@Sybella33) December 14, 2013

Through me the way into the suffering city,
Through me the way to the eternal pain,
Through me the way that runs among the lost. (Inf. III, 1–11)

I reached a place where every light is muted,
which bellows like the sea beneath a tempest,
when it is battered by opposing winds.
The hellish hurricane, which never rests,
drives on the spirits with its violence. … (Inf. V, 28–39)

#SantaconNYC sickest time ever pic.twitter.com/XGeC01tyw4

— James D Gordon (@JimmyIrish12) December 14, 2013

Here, more than elsewhere, I saw multitudes
to every side of me; their howls were loud (Inf. VII, 25–36)

@RinconesNY: Pese a la nieve, éxito de participación en la #SantaconNYC. Se calcula alrededor de 30.000 Santa Claus pic.twitter.com/fcmjMH4Jtk

— Samuel Gonzalez (@samgonzalez22) December 14, 2013

“On march the banners of the King of Hell.” (Inf. XXXIV, 1–2)

The Santapocalypse has begun! #SantaconNYC #santacon #Santacon2013 #santas pic.twitter.com/ZdB51voavE

— istillheartnewyork (@istillheartny) December 14, 2013

Can u not pic.twitter.com/Er8SdZNBRf

— Amber (@missambear) December 14, 2013

RT if this is your worst nightmare: #santaconnyc meets #citibike pic.twitter.com/8agAeCbsLL

— Bedford + Bowery (@bedbow) December 14, 2013

[T]hree winds blew from him in one great storm:
it is these winds that freeze all Cocytus.
[Satan] wept from his six eyes,
and down three chins the tears ran mixed
with bloody froth and pus. (Inf. XXXIV, 52–55)

Well, I saw a Santa with ICP makeup so nevermind about going outside I guess

— Silvia Killingsworth (@silviakillings) December 14, 2013

[Virgil to Dante]: “But fix your eyes below, upon the valley,
for now we near the stream of blood, where those
who injure others violently, boil.” (Inf. XII, 46–48)

There are souls beneath that water. Fixed in slime,
They speak (Inf. VII, 119–120)

Santa Con has turned the snow orange with dehydrated pee and melted self-tanner

— Veronica de Souza (@HeyVeronica) December 14, 2013

Do not ask, Reader, how my blood ran cold
and my voice choked up with fear.
I cannot write it: this is a terror that cannot be told.
I did not die, and yet I lost life’s breath:
imagine for yourself what I became,
deprived at once of both my life and death. (Inf. XXXIV, 22–27)

PeepsOut Live Stream Bar Network for #SantaconNYC to Know-Before-U-Go! Get the app for free! @santacon #santacon2013 pic.twitter.com/TASh0MDl9P

— PeepsOut (@PeepsOut) December 14, 2013

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. (Inf. III, 9)

Madness at @13thstepnyc right now. Santas hurling broballs at cabs. #santacon #santaconnyc pic.twitter.com/HBUs1wOvxm

— Bedford + Bowery (@bedbow) December 14, 2013

Santa’s junk in a box #santaconnyc pic.twitter.com/t4b1ZXNqvZ

— Rob Zoocal (@Rzoocal) December 14, 2013

Their sighs, lamentations and loud wailings
resounded through the starless air,
so that at first it made me weep;
Strange utterances, horrible pronouncements,
words of pain, tones of anger,
voices shrill and faint, and beating hands,
all went to make a tumult that will whirl
forever through that turbid, timeless air,
like sand that eddies when a whirlwind swirls. (Inf. III, 22–30)

Drunk Santas in Union Square NYC. #santacon #santaconnyc pic.twitter.com/mBU29OmiCy

— Amy Braun (@amybraun7) December 14, 2013

Village Pourhouse isn’t too crowded yet #NYCSantacon #santaconnyc pic.twitter.com/a3AeXrVog9

— Jonathan Milack (@jmilack) December 14, 2013

Merry Santacon, you filthy animals. #SantaconNYC pic.twitter.com/oKxttnAbr4

— Prestige Worldwide (@Wrecklectic) December 14, 2013

Ooo I found hell pic.twitter.com/jeIhrUd9bv

— Marisa Kabas (@MarisaKabas) December 14, 2013

This miserable state
is borne by the wretched souls of those
who lived without disgrace and without praise. (Inf. III, 34–36)

Ugh, Santacon participants, didn’t anyone ever hug you

— Caroline Moss (@socarolinesays) December 14, 2013

#santaconNYC Santas circus ain’t bad pic.twitter.com/WUIoZPKrbb

— James D Gordon (@JimmyIrish12) December 14, 2013

Heaven, to keep its beauty,
cast them out, but even Hell itself would not receive them
for fear the wicked there might glory over them. (Inf. III, 40–42)

Come celebrate #santaconNYC at the Pig on 2nd today #boozybrunch #SantaSat https://t.co/HT1R9FIZG3 pic.twitter.com/TZNnf8qlen

— Pig ‘n’ Whistle on 2 (@pigNw2nd) December 14, 2013

There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery. (Inf. V, 121–123)

@_Cooper GET ME OUT OF THE EAST VILLAGE.

— Andy Moore (@andykmoore) December 14, 2013

Consider your origin;
you were not born to live like brutes,
but to follow virtue and knowledge. (Inf. XXVI, 118–120)

Photo via @bedbow/Twitter

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*First Published: Dec 14, 2013, 3:20 pm CST