Going through Charles Dickens' Christmas novellas. This one was written after [b:A Christmas Carol|5326|A Christmas Carol|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406512317l/5326._SY75_.jpg|3097440], and this banger's about Christmas goblins showing a guy visions of the inevitable destruction of everyone he loves because of his lack of hope in his circumstances and because of his belief that poor people chose their poverty from inherent wickedness - from seeing relatives go through forced sex work to suicide. It's like if Bernie Sanders wrote fanfiction about Christmas.

It's a powerful commentary on poverty, and quite the tone shift from the whimsical folktale that was only written a year earlier.

A part of me kept shaking my head reading it: "You can't put Muppets in this," I whispered.