Christmas Horror Flicks to Ring in The Season With Thanksgiving Weekend

You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry...
Photo by: Jack Lawrence, via Flickr. (CC BY 2.0)

Thanksgiving is just a day away, and while most people might be getting in the holiday spirit with some Christmas tunes and holiday classics, if you're more of a Halloween aficionado, then you might be looking for something a bit...darker to enjoy this holiday. If you're a a Halloween lover, and you're looking for something fun to watch this Thanksgiving that's a little off the beaten patch when it comes to Christmas movies, then you're in luck - we've put together a list of some of our Christmas Horror Favorites for you to enjoy this holiday season.

• Gremlins (1984) - So, this is the most "family friendly" horror movie there is, in my opinion. It's cute, it's camp, and while the Gremlins are committing heinous acts, they're dressed up in adorable Santa and Elf outfits so...it kinda loops itself from horror to hilarity pretty well, making this a fun one to watch. Any kid who grew up in the 80s or 90s knows the rules of having your own Mogwai - (a) do not expose it to bright light, and (b) do not feed him after midnight (or give him any water for that matter).
  
  In the movie of course, on that fateful Christmas Eve night, what the Chinatown Salesman left out was that if you don't follow these rules, the Mogwai will turn into an insane (yet somehow still kinda cute?) little Gremlin, that will terrorize your town, and be tiny little menaces to society.
  
  But that's ok, because you know what? This movie has become a Christmas Classic in its own right, and the fact that it's a campy horror flick is just gravy.
  
  
• Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) - The 1980s really were a prime time for Christmas horror movies, huh? This movie is way darker than Gremlins (actually, they all are), but this one, well - it's particularly dark. A young boy name Billy sees his parents slaughtered by a robber in a Santa Suit, and gets shipped off to an awful orphanage run by nuns, where during his next run-in with Santa, Mother Superior clocks the jolly man in red in the face. Needless to say, Billy develops a serious complex about Sant Claus.
  
  Flash forward to present day, and Billy's all grown up, but he still has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to Santa Claus (fair enough, Billy). After witnessing a violent act, something within Billy snaps, and he decides to start dressing as Santa Claus, and killing off his enemies.
  
  This is definitely a dark take on Christmas Horror, but it inspired a ton of holiday horror flicks that came after it (as well as its own set of sequels, too).
  
  
• Black Christmas (1974) - This movie is often cited as one of the biggest game changers in horror, inspiration for the movie Halloween, and the grandfather of the modern-day slasher flick. More of a horror movie that happens to be set at a Christmas Party, this one is definitely creepy.
  
  A sorority house is having their annual holiday party, but they keep getting creepy, mysterious calls. During this time, members of the group seem to be getting plucked off one by one. But who is the killer? How is he getting into the sorority house? Who is the caller? Why is he calling them? Well guess what, kiddies - the killer has been hiding in the attic the whole time.
  
  This film basically played off of the "the murderer is calling from within the house" babysitter urban legend, and they perfected it in cinema form. This movie was so popular that it was remade in 2006, but it's always good to watch a real classic.
  
  
• Krampus (2015) - So, for those who are not yet familiar with the concept of "The Krampus", he's basically Santa's cloven-hooved counterpart who takes the bad kids away and uh, well, he eats them. So it's no surprise that most modern Christmas stories leave out Mr. Krampus, who isn't...the most family friendly of Christmas ambassadors, so to speak.
  
  Luckily for good ol' Krampy, he's been making a comeback in a big way recently - he's been spotted in "ironic" Christmas sweaters, decor, and now, he even has his own Christmas movie with which to terrify the children, as was intended.
  
  If your kids have been bad this year, or you have a sick sense of humor, this is the Christmas Horror Movie for you this Thanksgiving.

From Our Family to Yours - Have a Happy, Healthy, Safe, (and maybe a little spooky), Holiday!