Wigan striker Henri Camara took advantage of Charlton Athletics's re-working of the traditional Christmas pantomime to plunder a match-winning hat-trick in the Latics' 3-0 victory.
The Senegal international struck in the ninth, 51st and 63rd minutes, with all three goals courtesy of abysmal defending from manager Alan Curbishley's free-falling side.
After five successive defeats, the rot has now stopped for Wigan who can look ahead to the festive season with renewed optimism.
In contrast, and at this alarming rate, there will be little in the way of Yuletide cheer for Curbishley if his players continue to play as comically as they did in this match.
Charlton came into the game having ended their own six-match losing streak with a victory over seemingly-doomed Sunderland.
But the deficiencies in their play that had led to such a demise were again glaringly apparent during an inept 90 minutes.
They were so shocking at the back that a far more skilful team than Wigan would easily have plundered double Wigan's haul.
The embarrassment was prevalent in the ninth minute when a sideways shimmy from Lee McCulloch allowed him to throw off his markers and latch onto a long throw from Leighton Baines.
The Scotland international despatched a crisp, right-foot half-volley against the crossbar from 16 yards, with Camara on hand to drive home the rebound from eight yards and through the legs of defender Chris Powell on the line.
Time and again Charlton were caught short at the back, notably in the 11th minute when the greed of Camara prevented him from teeing up a fuming, and wide open, Jason Roberts.
Jimmy Bullard came within inches of heading home a low right-wing cross from Pascal Chimbonda, before former Irish international 'keeper Dean Kiely made two good saves.
Baines and Roberts teed up Bullard for a 25-yard right-foot strike in the 31st minute that Kiely parried, and from that moment the Latics totally controlled the remainder of the game.
After Chimbonda had headed over a far-post Roberts cross, Kiely again saved his side a minute before the interval, pushing away a shot from Camara following a run from the halfway line.
Captain Luke Young then just did enough to prevent Roberts from sliding home the rebound.
Their relief, however, was short-lived if you take the interval out of the equation which clearly did little to address the mistakes of the first half.
Wigan's second and third goals were laughably embarrassing from a Charlton perspective.
Captain Arjan de Zeeuw, back after a two-match absence with a knee injury and one of four changes to the team beaten by Manchester United, pumped a long ball forward for Roberts to flick on into the area.
Herman Hreidarsson or Kiely should easily have claimed or cleared, instead it allowed Camara to step in and toe poke home from 12 yards, leaving the red-faced Charlton duo to launch an inquest between themselves.
But that was not the end of Charlton's present-bearing as worse followed in the 64th minute.
Camara latched onto Chris Perry's clearance following a Baines cross and made his way to the deadball-line inside the six-yard box, leaving Young trailing, albeit seemingly into a dead end.
However, a charging Kiely palmed the bouncing ball onto the chest of a backtracking Perry and into the path of a grateful Camara to complete his hat trick with a simple sidefoot tap-in.
The best Charlton had to offer was a Darren Bent drive midway through the first half that Mike Pollitt superbly saved.
Other than that, there were no redeeming features in this performance from the Addicks.
