Overtime by Charles Stross

Introduced to readers in the novels The Atrocity Archive and The Jennifer Morgue, the Laundry is a secret British government agency charged with preventing dark interdimensional entities from destroying the human race. Now, in "Overtime," the Laundry is on a skeleton staff for Christmas—leaving one bureaucrat to be all that stands between the world and annihilation by the Thing That Comes Down Chimneys. Written especially for Tor.com's holiday season, Charles Stross's novelette is a finalist for the 2010 Hugo Award. Charles Stross is the Hugo-winning author of some of the most acclaimed novels and stories of the last ten years, including Singularity Sky, Accelerando, Halting State, the "Merchant Princes" series beginning with The Family Trade, and the story collections Toast and Wireless. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Really a 3.5 due to the humor.

Overtime (Laundry Files) by Charles Stross

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On the night before Christmas, I was looking for something short and fun to read. So, I decided to go with this Laundry File short story that has been on my Kindle since 2010. So, I was really surprised to find that this was the perfect Christmas read.

This is story features a young Bob before he becomes the Eater of Souls but after he's met Mo. Mo is out of the story on a trip, which allows Bob to volunteer for overtime as the Laundry's night duty officer over the Christmas holidays. Bob starts his tour after the Christmas party, where an agent of the forecasting department explains that this is the last Christmas party ever. Bob eventually comes to realize that as the stars align the door has been opened to the “Filler of Stockings, who oozes through chimney and ventilation ducts every Dead God's Birthday-eve to perform unspeakable acts against items of hosiery.”

This is a fun story and a quick read. If you are a Laundry fan, this is one to check out.