I am sure you have all heard the origin of the Elf on the Shelf. Wikipedia has the breakdown of its story as follows..

“The Elf on the Shelf story was created in 2004 by Carol Aebersold and daughter Chanda Bell over a cup of tea. Bell suggested they write a book about their own family tradition of an elf sent from Santa who came to watch over them at Christmas time."

What most people don’t know is that (like many childhood stories) this is just fairy-tale. Sure, it isn't the most “magical” fairy-tale but it was never intended to be. Sometimes the biggest cover-ups are just a simple story. It is tough to question something that is simple enough that the person reading it or hearing it can think “that sounds possible”. Any good tale is believable, and that is exactly how this story was intended to be told.


My friends, we assure you that the origin of Elf on the Shelf is no fairy-tale. It isn't as simple of a story. We recommend that if you are weak stomached with tales of blood and gore that you refrain from continuing this story. Here is THE TRUE STORY about the Elf on the Shelf.

In 1980, Michelle Hughes went through one of the saddest and most troubling things that somehow still happens in our society. She was sexually assaulted. The man who was guilty of this was a recently escaped patient at a mental hospital in Whitby, Ontario. Here is their story…

Michelle worked at a 7-11 a city over in Oshawa. It was Christmas eve and her boss forced her to fill in for him. He had promised her a week earlier that she could have the night off to be with her family. Turns out, he met a nice “lady” that night and it was a great opportunity for him to “get to know her”. Michelle knew what that meant. It wasn't the first time her boss met up with a hooker and tried to pass it off as a new lover. Hell, Michelle could recall 4 times that week seeing the lady come in to buy condoms around 3 in the morning. That was none of her business. Sadly, Michelle needed this job.

Michelle had just turned 19 and this would be her last Christmas with her family before they moved. Her dad was a police officer in Durham Region who had just retired and they decided that they would be moving to Florida to “Never deal with the bullshit winters in Ontario”. The plan was that when they left they would leave the house for Michelle.

It was midnight and very snowy. You could imagine how dead it was on Christmas eve. The TV that the boss had was locked away in the back room and only he was able to use it and the radio was not able to get a clear reception due to the nasty weather outside. She had already mopped up and knew her shift was over in an hour so soon she would be free.

A man came into the store and was buying baking soda, tin foil, a can of coke and a pack of Players Light King (Yes, there was a time when smokes were referred to as being “light”). Michelle was no fool. She knew this guy clearly just got a rock of crack and as she heard crack heads say in the past, he wanted to “wake up". She wasn’t hired to be the moral police and wasn't judgemental. Her father always told her that anyone can fall on hard times and never to judge them for how they fall but on how they attempt to pick themselves back up. So like any other customer she ran him through to get him out of the store.

As she dropped the change on the counter for the man, she realized that he was bleeding. She asked the man what happened to him. He told her that she wouldn't believe her if he told her. She offered to take him to the bathroom to help clean him up and bandage him up. The man gratefully accepted so they went back to get things started.

When they were in the back the radio finally came on but you are not able to hear it from the back washroom. It was a report of breaking news!

“A man has escaped from the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital. He is known to rape and murder women. There is no understanding of where he is at this time but police are on the look out. Not sure if this is related or not but a man was found dead near down town Oshawa as well. Police say that the man was drunk and walking home from working at the Oshawa Centre as a Santa. The man was left in a snow bank wearing nothing but his underwear. Police advise that everyone stay in”

As the report ended, Michelle and the man came back from the wash-room and he grabbed his things, thanked her and left. Michelle was pretty happy to hear that the radio seemed to be working alright. Always the way, thing fixes itself when she is less than an hour away from being free.

Shortly after, the phone rang. It was her boss. “Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I am going to be an hour late here. I know you want to get home but my lady is too drunk to drive me in so I am going to call a cab and because of the weather I may be a while.“

This was not new. Michelle normally would let this slide because it was her job but she was at the end of her rope. And as she started to gain the courage to speak her mind the phone went dead. Just her luck. Right when she has the courage to share her thoughts she is prevented by weather that she hates.

She slammed the phone down and started dropping expletives. She looked up and noticed a man dressed as Santa. “Oh shit, I mean shoot. I have been a good girl all year and the one time you show up, I decide to grow a sailors tongue” she laughed.

The man just stood there and stared at her. He turned and made his way over to the coffee machine. He grabbed a cup and began to fill it up. When he finished he turned and started to make his way over to the counter where Michelle was waiting with a smile.

“Listen, Santa. You caught me cursing and it was because I am trying to be good and sadly my good deeds have me stuck working late. I wasn't even supposed to come in today. Anyway, your coffee is on me. Merry Christmas” She couldn't get the word Christmas out fully before the Santa threw the cup of coffee in her face and pulled himself over the counter. He forced her to the ground and hit her over the back of the head with the phone on the counter and that knocked her out.

An hour passed and she woke up to her boss there who was asking her what happened. Though she couldn't remember exactly how everything went down, she knew what happened. She felt different, like she somehow was a different person. She told her boss that a man dressed as Santa raped her and that was all she could remember. She started crying and begging for her boss to call her father.

6 Months Later..

Michelle was at the airport with her parents. They really didn't want to leave her but she insisted that they did. Even though the Evil Santa was arrested shortly after the incident, Michelle's father hated leaving her alone. She promised them that she didn't need them to be there with her and that it was their time to go and be happy. Plus, she needed them to be gone. After all, she was pregnant.

After an emotional goodbye, her folks got on the plane and were off to Florida. And though it was sad, it was how it had to be. Michelle didn't want her parents to know that she was pregnant from the incident at the 7-11. Her dad would have insisted she got an abortion but she could never do that. She didn’t have an issue with abortion, but she couldn't do it. She also couldn't tell her parents or anyone about this baby. It is a miracle that nobody has noticed yet. 6 months in but she has hardly put on any weight and never has been one to dress revealing at all.

Almost a month later, she gave birth at her home. All by herself, and 2 months early.. The baby was so tiny. Freakishly tiny. She was conflicted. What does she do? She didn't want anyone to know about this baby but she had no other options. She couldn't kill it. But nobody could know about it. So she did the only thing that she felt was fair, she put it in the attic. Not to die, she knew she would need to take care of this baby. Part of her hoped its being premature would result in its dying. She couldn't kill it but part of her wanted to be free of this baby. She never wanted it and all it did was remind her of that monster. However, she couldn't kill it. After all, it did nothing..

Years pass and the kid still lives in the attic.. She could never meet a man or really bring anyone over because she could never hide the kid. Nobody could love her, not after how terrible she has been with this poor human. Though evil was what caused its being, she could never forgive herself for what she has done. And it is too late to go back.

The scary part is this child barely is developing. So tiny. Doesn't even look real. Years keep passing and the kid barely has grown. Though she has placed many options of clothes up there for it, it has only ever worn one thing. There is a little Elf costume that was on a doll that every Christmas, Michelle and her family would place under the Christmas tree. The kid stripped the doll and has only ever really worn the costume. Even the pointed red hat.

More years have passed and the kid was now 10. He was so skinny and not tall at all. Saying he was 3 foot tall would probably be an exaggeration. It was Christmas eve. Feeling lonely and guilty, Michelle decided she would actually spend Christmas with the kid. She even got him a gift. After she wrapped it, she put it under the tree and went up to the attic to get the boy. She went in, picked him up and carried him downstairs. She couldn't remember the last time he left the room. Funny, she justified trying to remember when he last was out of the room. He never left the room. She never brought him out with fear. Fear she would be caught. She has been alone for a decade, and realized that nobody was coming over. There was no harm in bringing him out anymore.

When she was getting a few things ready for dinner, she came into the living room where she left the kid and he was nowhere to be seen. She called for him, but didn't know what to say. She never named him. She wasn't sure why though. Maybe it was a fear of getting attached or maybe she never expected the child would live for this long. After all, he is so tiny and was so premature. She decided that she would try to lure the kid out by offering it the present she got it. As she bent over to get to the tree to grab it she felt a warm feeling in the side of her neck. When she reached to feel it, she felt a small hand holding a knife. The child pulled the knife out and began stabbing her repeatedly. The wounds were too much and she died..

Later on, after funny smells were coming out of the house; eventually neighbours showed up with cops. What they saw was horrific. Michelle was lying dead in front of the Christmas tree, but that was not near as horrific as what they found on the shelf. A small, dead child in a red Elf costume, staring at Michelle still with his eyes open and clenching on to the knife he murdered his mother with as well as a small teddy bear that was assumed to be the 10 year olds first, and last Christmas present ever.