Christmas Horror Movie Recommendations

It's December, which means that just about everywhere you turn, you'll see houses decorated for Christmas, you'll hear radio stations playing Christmas music, and you'll see way too many channels showing Christmas movies.  What's a horror fan to do during this time?  Can we celebrate the most wonderful time of the year in a way that suits us, or do we have to resign ourselves to watching Elf and Hallmark movies?

Thankfully, there are plenty of Christmas horror films, so we can happily get into the spirit of the season without abandoning our favorite genre.  We just need to know what's out there, and that's what I'm here to help you with.  I've put together a list of five of my favorite Christmas horror movies that you can watch this holiday season.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 

Let's begin with the most universally beloved movie on this list.  People of all ages and with all different kinds of tastes love The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Its monsters aren't so creepy that they'll scare non-horror fans away, but they're cool enough that we genre fans still love them.  It's the perfect middle ground in that regard, so you can watch this film with just about anybody.

But it's not just about the monsters.  It also has a really great story.  It's about a monster who's grown tired of constantly being scary, and when he discovers Christmas, he instantly falls in love with it.  In fact, he loves it so much that he kidnaps Santa and tries to do Santa's job himself.  This all goes terribly awry, and he has to scramble to fix it before it's too late.

It's a heartwarming tale about diversity, broadening our horizons, and recognizing that we need other people, especially those who are different from us.  It celebrates the differences among us and tells us that those differences are a real strength, so if you're looking for a fun horror movie that the whole family can watch and learn from, The Nightmare Before Christmas is just the film for you.  

Gremlins

Gremlins is another beloved classic, although it's not quite on the level of The Nightmare Before Christmas.  It's a horror-comedy about a man who buys his son a pet called a mogwai, and the creature comes with a few very important rules the kid has to follow.  Unfortunately, he gets a bit sloppy, and that one mogwai turns into a hoard of mischievous gremlins that run around town destroying things and causing a whole lot of trouble for all the residents.

Unlike the other movies on this list, this one isn't really about Christmas.  It simply takes place around Christmas time, but there are a few scenes that really lean into the holiday setting.  For instance, at one point in the film, a bunch of gremlins show up at someone's front door, and they start singing a Christmas carol.

All in all, Gremlins is quite possibly the best example of a horror movie that's considered a classic simply because it's really, really fun.  It's just a hoot seeing the creatures run around town and cause a mess while imitating normal human life (the Christmas carol scene is just one of many examples), so if you're a fan of monsters, this should definitely be on your Christmas watch list.

Krampus

As you might've guessed, Krampus is about the infamous anti-Santa figure of German folklore.  Whereas Santa brings children presents if they've been good, Krampus punishes kids who've been bad, and in this movie, the main characters have been very bad.  It's about a family that basically hates one another, and Krampus comes to punish them for their lack of Christmas spirit.

Much like Gremlins, this one is also a horror-comedy about a bunch of monsters.  While Krampus himself is obviously the main bad guy, he brings a bunch of minions with him, and they're almost as much fun to watch as the gremlins.  Then, when the big guy himself shows up, he's just as terrifying as you would expect.

But unlike Gremlins, this one doesn't just happen to take place on Christmas.  It's soaked in the themes, imagery, and traditions of the holiday, so if you want a creature feature that truly revolves around Christmas, you should give Krampus a watch.

A Christmas Horror Story

Of all the movies on this list, A Christmas Horror Story is hands down the most purely horror.  It's not an animated children's horror movie, and it's not a horror-comedy.  This is just a straight up horror movie.  It's an anthology film, and all of the stories in it center around Christmas in some way.  For example, there's a segment about a family going to get a Christmas tree, and there's another one where Santa Claus has to defend his home from Krampus.

Like all anthologies, some of the stories are better than others, but there aren't any complete duds.  They all work to some extent at least, so at no point will you find yourself too tempted to fast forward to the next segment.  In particular, the wraparound story stars William Shatner as a radio DJ, and he's a lot of fun to watch.

So if you're looking for a straight up horror movie this December, give A Christmas Horror Story a shot.  It's a bevy of fun Christmas scares that forms a good counterbalance to many of the other films on this list, so it will round out your holiday horror viewing quite nicely.

Rare Exports

Finally, let's take a look at a horror movie that's all about Santa Claus.  Rare Exports is a Finnish movie that reimagines Santa as a demon-like creature that kidnaps and tortures children who misbehave, and a long time ago, he was trapped in ice by the people he terrorized.  However, his frozen prison has recently been discovered, and it's up to just a handful of people to keep him from wreaking havoc once again.

This movie puts a cool twist on the evil Santa trope (he's not just a guy in a Santa costume who goes around killing people), and it creates an interesting mythology in the process.  It's one of the more original Christmas horror films you'll see, and that alone makes it worth watching.

On top of that, it also has likeable characters that you easily root for, so you become invested in the story.  Unlike way too many throwaway horror films, you actually care what happens to these people, and that makes all the difference.  In short, Rare Exports is a creepily delightful Christmas horror movie, so if you're a fan of creative twists on traditional mythology, I highly recommend checking this one out.