Plot: Christmas Eve. On his way to his in-laws with his family, Frank Harrington decides to try a shortcut, for the first time in 20 years. It turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life.

KBZ’s Take: Though this film is more of a Mystery film that feels like a Twilight Zone episode, when the Horror elements appear, they’re that much more impactful. What makes it one of the better Christmas Horror films is it’s setting and atmosphere. We’ve all been on the family Christmas drive before, so the slow developing mistrust and fear between the family members resonates more than it normally would.

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Plot: Little Billy witnesses his parents being brutally murdered by Santa. Years later, when he has to fill in for an absent in-store Santa Claus, his childhood trauma materializes once again.

KBZ’s Take: One of the early 80’s Slasher Films that rode the wave of the subgenre’s popularity at the time. This film, however, decide to go all in on a homicidal Santa. While it’s much better than it’s remake – Silent Night (2012) – it’s still an average Slasher Film. But as a Christmas Horror film, it’s one of the better films of the lot that has some inventive Santa kills.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3OQ0maC

Plot: A horror film that depicts St. Nicholas as a murderous bishop who kidnaps and murders children when there is a full moon on December 5.

KBZ’s Take: This Dutch Comedy Horror film has one thing going for it – a cool holiday creature in Sinterklaas (Sint Nicklass). If you grew up celebrating St. Nicholas Day on December 5^th (and received your holiday candy), you’ll likely be a bit familiar with the tale of Saint Nick. However, this film takes a much different approach to Saint Nick’s origins as an evil tyrant and saint that returns every 32 years to slaughter. It’s a film that doesn’t take itself seriously and is an enjoyable Christmas Horror offering.

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Plot: Nell, Simon, and their boy Art are ready to welcome friends and family for what promises to be a perfect Christmas gathering. Perfect except for one thing: everyone is going to die.

KBZ’s Take: Probably the most depressing film on our list, Silent Night doesn’t offer Slasher-type Santa kills but slowly builds into an existential crisis within the family. To talk more about the plot will ruin it but we can say that though the film starts off with a more satirical comedic tone, it soon turns to horror elements that will have you questioning not only the existence of family but of life itself.

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Plot: When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.

KBZ’s Take: This is one of the mainstream films on our list that has likely been seen by Horror fans. For those who have not seen it yet, it’s one of the better Christmas Horror films that gets more chaotic as its plot develops. It also has a humorous side once a gingerbread cookie and other children’s toys come to life. Though it’s not for younger children, older family members will likely enjoy watching it together as it’s one of the tamer Horror films on our list.

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Plot: A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven at Christmas forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.

KBZ’s Take: Will start off by saying even if you hate (and we mean HATE) musicals, move this film to the top of your holiday film queue now – especially if you’re a Horror and Films About Zombies fan. This breaks new ground in the Zombie film microgenre and it also has some genuinely scary scenes. There are musical scenes in the film, but they’re done in such a way that they help advance the story (and almost always incorporate said Zombies). And the music’s not that bad either.

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Plot: Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, peace and goodwill. But for some folks in the small town of Bailey Downs, it turns into something much less festive.

KBZ’s Take: This is a Horror Anthology film of sorts, but the anthology stories aren’t told separately but intertwined throughout the film. That works for some of the segments but hurts others. However, this film is worth seeing for one segment alone – Santa Claus dealing with his now zombified elves and his eventual fight against Krampus. The reveal of this segment is one of the best in any Horror film and this segment would have made a great feature film.

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Plot: During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.

KBZ’s Take: It’s hard to believe that this Christmas Horror classic was made by Bob Clark who also directed another Christmas Family Classic – A Christmas Story (1983). The film has been remade twice in 2006 and 2019 but the original film is still the best film to see. It’s a film that helped establish quite a few Slasher Film tropes that were used in later classic Slasher films like Halloween (1978), Friday the 13^th (1980) and others. While the film is a bit dated, it’s a true Holiday Horror classic that no Horror fan should miss.

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Plot: When Billy Peltzer is given a strange but adorable pet named Gizmo for Christmas, he inadvertently breaks the three important rules of caring for a Mogwai and unleashes a horde of mischievous gremlins on a small town.

KBZ’s Take: Gremlins is a classic Christmas film, and it’s usually near the top of any Christmas film list. The only thing preventing us from listing it as #1 on this list is that it’s not a true Horror film but rather a classic Dark Fantasy film. The film has some very dark elements and genuine scares and it’s a good time capsule film to see why the PG-13 rating was developed in 1984. Gremlins was rated PG at the time, but even parents nowadays likely don’t let their youngsters watch the film until their old enough. For those of us who grew up in the 80’s and saw this while we were younger, the answer is yes, we were scarred for life by the mother fighting the gremlin in the kitchen scene.

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Plot: On a quiet suburban street tucked within a safe neighborhood, a babysitter must defend a twelve-year-old boy from strangers breaking into the house, only to discover that this is far from a normal home invasion.

KBZ’s Take: This is not only the best Christmas Horror film on our list, but one of the best Home Invasion horror films. It takes many Christmas film AND Home Invasion film tropes and completely up ends them throughout the film. The film also starts as a Black Comedy before quickly switching gears into a much darker film. Again, it’s a film where the less said about the plot the better, and it’s best viewed without knowing anything about it. If your significant other or family members are in the mood for some Christmas scares this upcoming holiday, you can’t go wrong with this film.

Additional Lists: Top Christmas & Holiday Movies You’ve Never Seen #3, Top Home Invasion Films You Haven’t Seen #4

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