Victorian Christmas Card with Santa and Holly Die-Cut

What exactly is Santa's emotional state in this composition? He's staring out from this card with the haunted intensity of a man who has seen too much — his deep-set eyes and rigid expression suggest less 'gift-giver' and more 'witness to unspeakable things in the pine forest behind him.' His red coat, decorated with small cross or diamond motifs, is doing its best, but the real conversation starter is the reindeer he's clutching to his side like a hostage, both of them emerging from a moody teal night scene framed by aggressively oversized holly that clearly has its own agenda. The arched vignette layout, the 'A merry Christmas' text rendered in that cursive script with its elaborately swirled capital C, and the cozy snow-dusted cottages in the background are all working overtime to scream 'wholesome holiday card' — and yet Santa's thousand-yard stare suggests the cottages are not as peaceful as advertised.