9 Horror Movies For People Who Want To Be Scared Into the Holiday Spirit
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection1/11While the twinkling lights, festive music, and seasonal Starbucks drinks might be enough for some to feel Christmassy, others like to be scared into the spirit. Krampus, a horror movie about Santa’s evil shadow, is out in theaters, but that’s just one of many options. If you’re looking to be terrified in a festive manner, here are some movies that are already out, and fully capable of doing the job.
Tartan Films/courtesy Everett Collection2/11P2
On Christmas Eve, a woman leaving work can’t get her car to start. A security guard offers her help, but then winds up knocking her unconscious and chaining her to a chair in his office. Now, she must find a way to escape the crazy man and the locked up parking garage.
Photo: Courtesy of YouTube3/11Santa's Slay
Santa decides to stop spreading joy and start getting real, and by real I mean he embraces his inner demon. Literally, Santa is the devil — apparently, the only reason he’s been the happy Santa we’ve come to know is because he lost a bet with an angel that forced him to not be horrible for 1,000 years. Well, now that millennium is up, and he’s back with a vengeance.
©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection4/11Black Christmas
FIRST AND FOREMOST, I’D LIKE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THIS MOVIE STARS GRETCHEN WIENERS (Lacey Chabert). FOUR FOR YOU, GRETCHEN WEINERS. That in itself should be a good enough reason, but if you’re interested in the plot then just know that basically a group of sorority sisters are stranded in their campus house because of a snowstorm, and an insane killer is running rampant, taking all of ‘em out.
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection5/11Jack Frost
A serial killer named — you guessed it — Jack Frost, is headed to his execution when the truck is in an accident. The crash transforms ol’ Jacky boy into a mutant snowman. He continues to be a murderer, as the authorities try to stop Jack Frost from nipping at people’s lives.
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection6/11Disney's A Christmas Carol
So uh, technically this movie wasn’t intended to be a horror flick, but you have my word, IT IS TERRIFYING. Years ago I remember leaving a theater feeling levels of fright that no Paranormal Activity movie has ever filled me with. Enjoy a Christmas story made by some people who clearly don’t understand how easy it is to scare a small child...or an adult.
SAGITTARE FILMS / Ronald Grant Archive / Mary Evans7/11Dead End
On Christmas Eve, a dude and his family are headed to his in-laws, when he gets a grand idea to take a shortcut that he’s never taken before. Bruh should’ve checked Google Maps, because the wooded area he goes towards leads to a crazy, scary, grisly disaster. In his defense the movie is from 2003, so you couldn’t just ask Siri for directions.
©IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection8/11Saint
There’s a full moon on December 5th, and you know what that means!... Wait, you don’t? Oh, well apparently medieval legend has it that when this happens, a murderous, non-chill St. Nicholas springs up, killing folks.
Oscilloscope/Courtesy Everett Collection9/11*Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale *
This is a Finnish movie about some people who think they’ve discovered where Santa Claus is buried but it’s your happy, cheerful Santa, oh no. Suddenly reindeer are dying, kids are disappearing, and the person in the grave they uncovered is supernatural and evil, choosing not to reward the good kids, but the punish the naughty ones.
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection10/11Gremlins
Yep, it’s another movie that takes place on Christmas Eve! This one is about a salesman who buys a gift for his son at a store in Chinatown, but the salesperson warns him not to expose it to light or water, and of course, not to feed it after midnight. Of course this wouldn’t be a movie without things going awry, which they do, resulting in a squad of gremlins wreaking havoc the night before Christmas.
