NNtG: Ghosts of Fear Street #15: Fright Christmas

 
At the time of writing this blog, it's the beginning of April. But you know what they say, Christmas comes earlier every year. Deck the halls, it's time to celebrate with another Ghosts of Fear Street. It's Fright Christmas.

COVER STORY

This cover is really good. I love the really warm lighting, with some deep blues to give us a cold feeling as well. Nice use of Christmas decorations and items to give that feeling of the holiday. And then there's the ghost itself, which looks really cool. Reminds me of the ghost from the cover of Ghost Beach, but only you get freaky skeletal hands and face for a nice nightmare. Ghosts of Fear Street has some quality covers and this one is no exception.

STORY

Kenny Forbisher is our protagonist, for lack of a better term. See, Kenny's a real sack of coal. While at Dalby's Department Store with his six year old sister Kristi, he picks on her constantly. Messing with a ballerina doll she wants, telling her that she can't visit Santa because he left the store, then pulling the big cardinal sin, telling her that Santa isn't real. He runs into a rather diminutive kid from school named Timmy Smathers, who Kenny calls an elf due to his stature. He eventually takes Kristi to Santa Street, the section of the store where Santa is to see the man himself. But not long after she gets on the fat man's lap, Kenny grabs the Santa's beard and tears it off. Kenny, already loving the idea of breaking kayfabe, then recognizes the Santa as Joe, the custodian from school and blurts it out to all the traumatized kids. If you haven't gotten the gist yet, this is gonna be a Christmas Carol adaptation.

Kenny, now realizing he's about to be punished by his mom for his stunt, makes a dash for it. He eventually finds a strange room filled with computers and switches. He screws around with the switches, but instead of hearing the sweet sound of panic outside, he hears nothing. However, his issue is now even worse as the door is locked behind him. He panics and bangs and pulls at the door, hoping for it to open. The room makes a sizzling sound and the computers hum louder. Soon, the door does manage to open. The department store is dark, all but the red glow from Santa Street, which reminds Kenny of Fear Street, where he lives, because of course he does. He then sees what appears to be Joe again. Joe tells him that he's been very naughty this year. Believing this to still be Joe, Kenny grabs the beard to yank it off, but it doesn't. 

The man tells Kenny that he is the real Santa Claus, but Kenny doesn't believe it, since he doesn't believe in Santa to begin with. Kenny is about to leave when Santa tells him that he'll be visited tonight by three ghosts, and by the end of the night he'll change his ways. So, yeah, now it's really a Christmas Carol adaptation. One at nine, one at ten and one at the stroke of midnight. Santa then vanishes in front of a still bewildered Kenny. As he tries to leave, Kenny is unable to find any doors to leave. He bumps and fumbles around the store, knocking over standees and mannequins until he finds a bed and lays on it. His rest is interrupted as a man in a large motorcycle arrives. The biker, covered from head to toe in tattoos calls himself the Night Watchman, and he's been watching Kenny. He tells Kenny to grab a hold of the bike and the boy obliges. Then the wheels turn to blue flame and Kenny discovers the Night Watchmen isn't just a rider, but a ghost. A ghost rider if you will. OH YOU WERE ALL THINKING IT!

The Night Watchman takes Kenny up to the third floor of the store, to the TV aisle. The TVs show images of Kenny's past, including a scene where he pulled a platform out from under Timmy Smathers as he was giving a presentation, which humiliated Timmy in front of the whole school. Kenny finds it hilarious, but the Night Watchman is angry, saying that Kenny will pay for his actions. This gives Kenny a chance to run for it, but as he tries to get to the second floor, the hardware section, he sees saws and blades below, pointed at his direction. The Night Watchman arrives again and Kenny pleas for his life, only for the motorcycle to continue revving. With no option, Kenny jumps the railing to the floor below.

Kenny wakes up, back in the bed of the department store. No sign of the Night Watchman. He falls asleep again, only to be awakened by a powerful gust of wind. Another figure arrives, a strange ice man with a long robe. He tells Kenny that he's the Iceman (well, duh), and he has cometh. He is Kenny's ghost of Christmas Present. The Iceman grabs Kenny's shoulder as the chill makes him freeze. Soon Kenny then sees himself out of the department store. He's taken to see his family, devastated that Kenny is missing, Kristi especially in a panic. But, being a ghost himself currently, he can't respond to them. But, surprise! It's not Kenny they missed, but their dog Rags who arrives just in time to pour some salt in ethereal Kenny's wounds. It was Timmy who found the dog and gets to eat with them. Also, I guess who this book's literal version of Tiny Tim is, huh? They also give Timmy Kenny's presents because I guess the point wasn't made hard enough.

After leaving his home, Kenny sees that that Iceman has disappeared on him. He's now outside on the snowy streets of Fear Street, only to wake up again in the bed in the department store. He hears the sound of people mocking him. He discovers it's the department store dummies who then give chase, including some in soldier costumes. Kenny runs into an elevator which goes down. Way down. When he exits, he finds himself in a strange brown room with trees above him. It doesn't take Kenny long to realize he's in an open grave. As he tries to escape, a skeletal hand bursts from the grave and pulls him down. He sees another figure. A hooded being with a skull face and fiery red eyes. It's the ghost of Christmas future. 

The ghost points to the other side of the graveyard and three children arrive. Kenny thinks this means he'll be safe, only to see the three children are hideous zombies. The children mock Kenny, saying that they were like him once, bratty kids who made others suffer, but they paid the price for it, and now so will Kenny. Kenny panics, promising he'll be good. He then wakes up, back in the security room inside the department store. A security guard tells him that they were looking for him ever since the Santa incident. Kenny realizes it's still Christmas eve, so he rushes to buy a ballerina doll for Kristi. Others around are shocked to see Kenny being so nice.

Kenny arrives home, just as his dad is reading A Christmas Carol, in case you didn't get the reference of this whole story. Christmas comes and the family are in a panic as Rags has disappeared. But Timmy shows up with the dog to save the day, much like the Iceman's vision predicted.

TWIST ENDING

Kenny invites Timmy to help him wrap Kristi's present, but he notices that Timmy has a skeletal finger. Timmy was not our Tiny Tim, but the ghost of Christmas future the whole time. Timmy leaves with a ghostly laugh, wishing Merry Christmas to all and to all a good fright.

CONCLUSION

I liked this one. It's not an entirely deep adaptation of a Christmas Carol, but hits on all of the notable beats of that story. Our Scrooge stand-in Kenny is a fine enough protagonist, who you do feel a bit bad for by the end. Especially upon the realization that he's lower tier to the family dog. I like the imagery presented in the story, particularly the descriptions of the ghosts. Although I wonder if this book's author Stephen Roos is a big Ghost Rider fan with how he presents this book's take on Christmas past. I'd say the twist is a bit too obvious as you'd figure Timmy was involved in some way, but it's never in a way that detracts from the story. The only real downside is there's not much to say about this one. A Christmas Carol is a work that's been adapted by almost everything, from the Muppets to Mr. Magoo, the Flintstones, even My Little Pony, so if you've seen one take, you've really seen them all. But, I was never bored with this one and it flowed super fast for its mere 107 pages, so I'll call this one a win. Fright Christmas gets an A-.