Free Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus by Mark Mills, Kate Wolford, Guy Burtenshaw, Jill Corddry, Elise Forier Edie, Patrick Evans, Scott Farrell, Caren Gussoff, Lissa Sloan, Elizabeth Twist Page B

fire.”
    The sounds are familiar. They are agony.
    But I don’t run away.
    The man I love reaches for me with one massive arm, beckoning with his claw. He pats his bent knee. “Come here,” he says. “Come and get your gift.”
    * * *
Caren Gussoff is a SF writer living in Seattle, WA. The author of Homecoming, (2000), and The Wave and Other Stories (2003), first published by Serpent’s Tail/High Risk Books, Gussoff’s been published in anthologies by Seal Press, and Prime Books, as well as in Abyss & Apex, Cabinet des Fées and Fantasy Magazine. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and in 2008, was the Carl Brandon Society’s Octavia E. Butler Scholar at Clarion West. Her new novel, The Birthday Problem, was published by Pink Narcissus Press in 2014, and her first contact novella, Three Songs for Roxy, will be published by Aqueduct Press in 2015. Find her online at @spitkitten, facebook.com/spitkitten, and at spitkitten.com.

Sixth Night of Krampus: “A Visit”
    by Lissa Sloan
Inspiration : Being carried away from home in a basket by a terrifying beast-man, whipped with a birch rod, and possibly receiving heaven knows what other sinister punishments is a harsh consequence for childish wrongdoing. Lissa Sloan wondered what actions would truly deserve such a fate. This question, along with her fondness for 19th century books, inspired “A Visit.”
    Mr. Pennyrake smiled. He was awfully fond of Christmas. No other time of year offered so many, as he liked to put it, opportunities . He admired his new coat in the glass. It was a great improvement on the last one, which that girl Sukie had so carelessly burnt with the iron. She had rather carried on when he had sacked her, sobbing incessantly about her sick widowed mother with an excess of little ones still at home. But he had to make an example of her, or the rest of the servants would think they could be equally careless. And she was much less willing than she had been at the beginning of her employ. So an example was made.
    Mr. Pennyrake straightened his cravat. People said he was a handsome fellow, and who was he to argue? With a final approving look in the glass, he picked up his gloves and made his way towards the stairs, where he nearly collided with Jane.
    “Beg pardon, sir,” she said, blushing prettily and trying to step around him. Like the new coat, Jane was also a great improvement on her predecessor. She was far prettier than Sukie, and Mr. Pennyrake had high hopes of her contributing to his domestic happiness.
    “Not at all, my dear,” said Mr. Pennyrake, putting out an arm to detain her. “You’re in a great hurry.”
    “It’s only Master Henry, sir,” she said. “He’s wet his bed again, and I must get some clean sheets.”
    Here Mr. Pennyrake put an arm around Jane’s waist and told her he was heartily sorry that Master Henry was causing her extra work and that he would have a word with him this very minute. Jane took a step backwards (her modesty was really quite becoming) and replied that Master Henry was only little and she did not mind, but Mr. Pennyrake insisted on obliging her. Truth be told, he would rather stay and oblige himself with Jane, but Mrs. Pennyrake might be along at any moment, so he promised himself he would make another opportunity later and climbed the stairs to the nursery.
    He arrived to find Nurse pulling a clean frock over the young offender’s head. “Papa, Papa!” he cried as soon as his head came back into view, and he held out his arms to be picked up. “When is it Christmas?”
    Mr. Pennyrake lifted his son, holding him at arm’s length for a moment to be sure there was no danger to his new coat. Finding the boy dry, he held him close and carried him over to the nursery fire as Clara dropped her doll and ran to join them. “It’s tomorrow, isn’t it Papa?” she squealed. “I told him it was.”
    Mr. Pennyrake nodded and settled himself in the rocking chair with one