“A Krampus Story” by Jessica Brook

“Profits are down,” said the financial advisor, Sam Krupp, from behind his desk.

Santa put his face in his hands. “We already replaced the elves with sweatshops. What else can we do?”

“Start marketing earlier,” Sam Krupp suggested. “How about July?”

Santa banged his fist on the desk. “Six months of holiday jingles on the radio? That’s Hell on Earth!”

“It’s a competitive economy, sir.” Sam Krupp shrugged, which almost made his winter cap fall off his horns. Over the years, Krampus found that rather than dragging people to Hell, it was far easier to bring Hell to the people.

[Author’s note: I wrote this story in response to a challenge to create a dark, 100 word story about Christmas.]