'Short Trips': 'The Night Before Christmas' (1 Part) by Nic Ford

Christmas is a time of terror for writer Clement Clarke Moore, whose dreams are plagued by the Krampus, a demon from children’s stories. One night, Moore receives a visit from a man called the Doctor, who brings an offer of help. The man is gone the next morning, when Moore’s house staff decide to leave after seeing how the local church steeple has a chunk bitten out of it. Summoned by the Doctor to meet in town, Moore sees a trail of devastation on his journey: buildings marked by teeth and claws, the ground covered in a strange type of snow. Finding the Doctor at the broken church, Moore wonders if the Krampus from his nightmares is to blame for the damage. After the Doctor identifies the odd snow as icing sugar, the two men go for coffee; when Moore tells the Doctor about his nightmares, in which the Krampus turned into a candy monster, the little man declares that the fiend has become real: Clement is host to an infestation of Dreffen, alien psychic parasites that have made Moore’s creative imaginations into reality. Outside the coffeehouse, strong winds whip up the sugar and sharp candy canes slice down from the sky; panic breaks out in the town, as everyone runs for safety. Racing to the church, the Doctor urges Moore to confront the Krampus, which has now manifested as a huge creature made from candy and sweetmeats. At the Doctor’s behest Moore tries turning his negative feelings towards the seasonal “Eviltide” to pleasant thoughts of a happy Christmas; he shouts out a rewrite of his festive poem, ‘’Twas the Night Before Christmas’, which halts the Krampus’ rampage and causes the monster to melt to the size of a mouse. Defeated, the Dreffen depart from Moore’s body, leaving the writer to experience Christmas as it was meant to be…

Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

Release Date:
December 2017

Notes:

*Featuring the Seventh Doctor

*A Big Finish Audio Production