Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland

'Tis the season: December brings warm gingerbread and heaps of toys, stuffed stockings on the mantle and magic in the air. But it also brings on screaming, crying and sheer panic! Christmas comes just once a year, but with the terribly hilarious image of howling children squirming atop the knee of a podgy, white-bearded stranger, it's a wonder that kids still make the annual trip to Santa's lap.

Chicago Tribune editors Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins take a look —and a laugh—at some of the funniest, creepiest and downright scariest Santa photos ever taken in their collection, "Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland."

After overwhelming response to a newspaper feature that culled funny photos from good-humored families, the authors realized that what made each universally hilarious, were, as Joyce says, "all the endless variations on how everything can go wrong." This book pokes fun not at the scared kids, but at the wacky expressions, cheesy costumes and wild outbursts that ensue in Santa photo-ops.

Organized by category, including reactions from the blasé veteran Santas to the shrieking baby's first visit, the work comes to life with witty captions. You might assume, as Joyce did before starting the project, that "once you've seen one kid crying on Santa's lap, you've seen them all," but these photos are unique. Vintage black and white snapshots from the 1920s prove that Santa-dread is a timeless phenomenon, while the matching mother-andson holiday sweaters donned in a recent mall photo ensure that this tradition will continue as long as loving parents have a wicked sense of humor.

"Visiting Santa is such a rite of passage. We even found a picture of a parent crying on Santa's lap with her child!" says Joyce. "Whatever your traditions might be, if you celebrate Christmas, Santa is always part of it."