Monster Merriment: Frankenstein and the Fright before Christmas by Ludwurst Bemonster

IT WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND POOR MISS DEVEL
WAS HASSLED AND HARRIED AND NOT FEELING WELL.
THE MONSTERS' BED MANNERS HAD TAKEN THEIR TOLL.
THEY'D LOST THEIR HEADS! THEY WERE OUT OF CONTROL.

SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT!

Miss Devel rises from her gurney, dons her lab coat and goggles, and scurries downstairs where the little monsters are sporting various household appliances--laptops, toasters, vintage Victrolas--where their heads should be. She does her best to sort out the mixup, with marginal success. But no sooner does she get the small monsters to pull out their teeth, wet their beds, and settle down, something else is not quite right.

FOR OFF IN THE DISTANCE SHE HEARD SUCH A CLATTER
SHE SPRANG FROM HER SLEEP TO SEE WHAT WAS THE MATTER!

Little Frankenstein crashes through the castle door with a fir tree fresh from the graveyard decorated with bats and bones, just as Miss Devel hears a sound from the rooftop:

ON WHOZIT, ON WHATZIT, ON ALL OF YOU OTHERS!

Santa, his sleigh, and his full pack crash through the rickety roof, and among the creepy contents of his sack are replacement heads for all the little monsters. After having a giggly good time trying on each other's heads, the monsters finally get it right, and as a reward Santa offers them all a sleepover at the North Pole, while Miss Devel gladly takes the option of a night off and returns to her gurney for a monster-free GOODNIGHT!

In their Frankenstein's Fright Before Christmas (Feiwel and Friends Fiends, 2014), Rick Walton and Nathan Hale morph together to take on the tropes of two classics, Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline and Clement Clarke Moore's The Night Before Christmas in a monster mash that would tickle even the Grinch's funny bone. Using Bemelman's familiar verse form and illustrative style with a haunted castle setting for St. Nick's visit, the two create a Christmas spoof that brings down the house (almost). Parodying two classics of kid lit simultaneously is no small feat, but as Ludworst Bemonster, this duo carries off this rather sophisticated parody with elan, frightful fun, and monstrous mirth. Savvy young readers will recognize what Walton and Hale are up to here and find this one a happy seasonal stocking stuffer.

Walton's and Hale's first collaboration was Frankenstein (read my 2012 review here.)