In Tim Burtons stop-motion animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas, three creepy, ghoulish children are ordered to kidnap Santa Claus.

Its not an explicitly malicious order the films protagonist, Jack Skellington, is simply trying to meet Santa to learn how he makes Christmas so jolly. But the kids Lock, Shock, and Barrel cant help but understand it in a nefarious way, and they detail their vicious plans in the barely child-friendly song, Kidnap the Sandy Claws .

At malls across Canada, those maniacal kids seem to have prevailed in getting Santa out of the way. Spooky alternatives to Santa visits are popping up all over and theyre enormously popular.

Last year, construction worker, father of four, and avid cosplayer Rob Folk started dressing up in character as The Mean One a play on the Grinch at Victoria Square Shopping Centre in Regina. He had figured out the costume, makeup, and airbrushing required when he dressed as the Grinch for a fan expo a few years ago. So when the mall considered bringing the character in, he was the first person they thought of.

Hes got his costume routine down to a science, and it usually takes him about half an hour, he said. The longest part is waiting for the adhesive glue to dry.

Its all in the details of making sure it looks good, Folk told HuffPost Canada on the road to Alberta, where hes bringing the character to Westbrook Mall in Calgary for the weekend. Hell move on to Prince Albert, Sask., and Saskatoon in December.

One thing hes learned from his experience last year is to get costume back-ups, he said.

All that handshaking and holding babies and all that other stuff, that takes a toll on your costume, he said. So we definitely prepped for that this year, making sure we had a second and third outfit to go.