'Twas the night before Christmas and poor Miss Devel Was hassled and harried and not feeling well... Off in the distance she heard such a clatter She sprang from her slab to see what was the matter. Off down the stairs she flew like a flash, Threw open the doors just in time for the... CRASH!" The little monsters, led once again by Frankenstein, have been busy getting ready for the arrival of Saint Nick, but in this creepy old castle nothing goes quite as expected... Halloween and Christmas collide in Ludworst Bemonster's unique send-up of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Little monsters everywhere will be screaming with laughter!

A parody of "The Night before Christmas," sees Santa visiting the castle of Miss Devel where a very excited Frankenstein and his monster friends live.

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Step into the dark roots of Christmas past where the Krampus punishes the bad boys and girls. Christmas time is truly the darkest and creepiest time of the year filled with devilish creatures lurking in the shadows waiting to get us. Best known is the Krampus who has been the subject of films and songs. There was a time in the late 1800s when people sent Krampus cards, not holiday greetings. There are other violent and dangerous monsters from all over northern climes who have been hunting naughty children for centuries. From shapeshifters to mountain trolls, to elves, to heavy-handed cohorts of Saint Nicholas, the Christmas holiday has been filled with ghosts and monsters ready to dole out punishment to those who need it. The Fright Before Christmas will delve into the folklore of Krampus and his friends with the elf-like Tomten and the goblinesque Karakoncolas. The Belsnickel is ready to hit us with his switch of sticks and Gryla may drag you back to her mountain lair. And watch out for the Yule Cat ready to pounce! These are just a few of the yuletide beasties coming for us in The Fright Before Christmas in the hope they can save us from ourselves. The folklore roots of Christmas under its many other guises (Yule, the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia) is examined in a different, darker light. The Winter Solstice is a time to be afraid. It's the shortest day of the year. The longest night. In some parts of the world, the sun doesn't rise at all. It's dark, and we have to wonder if the sun will ever come back at all. Christmas has always been creepy and with The Fright Before Christmas you'll see the other side. This is a book for everyone who loves a little darkness around the holidays. Be good or the Krampus will get you!

This is a laugh-out-loud funny and devilish send-up of Ludwig Bemelmans's Madeline for little monsters everywhere. Frankenstein is the scariest of all the monsters in Miss Devel's castle. He can frighten anything—animals, parents, even rocks. Until one night, Miss Devel wakes up and runs downstairs to find that Frankenstein has lost his head! Frankenstein by Rick Walton and illustrated by Nathan Hale is a delightful twist on a classic story that parents and kids can both enjoy together. This is the perfect funny picture book read for Halloween or the fall season. Praise for Frankenstein: “Walton twists the classic rhymes of the original with glee ('In two crooked lines, they bonked their heads / pulled out their teeth / and wet their beds') while Hale reenacts each scene with devilish mayhem.” -Booklist “The illustrations have traded sunny yellow for pumpkin orange backgrounds and make comically sly allusions to the original title.” -Kirkus Reviews

"Daniel Randolph Deal is a Southern aristocrat, having the required bloodline, but little of the nobility. A man resistant to the folly of ethics, he prefers a selective, self-indulgent morality. He is a confessed hedonist, albeit responsibly so."--Back cover