'Twas the night before Christmas, when all down the coast

Naught but a stifling silence arose;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with prayers,

That only St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were huddled, restless in bed;

While visions of darkness danced in their heads;

Mamma stayed quiet, her thoughts on the deep.

We had just settled into a weak fitful sleep,

When out from the sea there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Cast a sick eldritch light on objects below,

When what to my maddening eyes it revealed,

But a creature of darkness, a nightmare made real,

With a look at the horror my mind was now broken,

And the last thing I knew was that Cthulhu had woken.