Does anybody believe that R.L. Stine missed out on writing a Goosebumps book that is set during Christmastime?
Now, I know that there's one story called The 12 Screams of Christmas, but I feel that there should've been at least one story that deals with one kid who comes into conflict with what I would describe as a "Christmas boogeyman."
One Christmas story that Mr. Stine should have written if he had the chance would be where the main antagonist of the story is Krampus.
For those that don't know, Krampus is a folkloric figure from Central Europe, featured prominently in Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, Hungary, North Italy, South Tyrol, Trentino, and Slovenia, known by the epithet of "the Shadow of St. Nicholas," appearing as a half-goat/half-demon figure who comes during the Christmas season to punish children that have misbehaved very, very badly during Christmastime. Krampus's origins are unclear and have been debated for years, although it has been postulated that he predates Christianity, first mentioned in the Alpine regions during that time.
The story would deal with a 12-year-old protagonist, whether a boy or girl who is not happy during Christmastime because he/she is the "designated black sheep" in his/her family based on how many older siblings he/she has who abuse and mistreat him/her and their unsympathetic parents don't give a flying chicken butt about all of the abuse and mistreatment, especially if it's done right in front of them because the parents are negligent and suffer from narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) all the while punishing the protagonist for things he/she is not responsible for à la Home Alone.
After being publicly humiliated in front of his/her family by whomever and the parents don't punish the guilty party, but the protagonist instead and unfairly, the protagonist explodes in a rage in front of his/her whole family, maliciously giving them all a much-needed and deserved tongue-lashing and dressing-down by spitting his/her venom at them for their negligence of him/her by allowing the older siblings to get away with their mistreatment of him/her without rightfully punishing the real guilty ones. But the parents are immature and slap the protagonist across the face for being scolded by a child, and the protagonist has had the last straw, saying he/she wishes for them all to go away and "burn in Hades" before storming off to his/her room with an angry and scornful "Bah, humbug" about how selfish and cruel they have been during Christmas.
The protagonist's wish about them wanting to "burn in Hades" brings Krampus to the home later that even when everybody is fixing to go to bed, and the Shadow of St. Nicholas brings forth his punishment of what the protagonist wished for against them.