12 Days of Christmas Horror

#1 Krampus

This is one of my absolute favorite Christmas horror movies. I come from a very loving family so this depicts the exact opposite of what the holidays are like for me. But…. the story is awesome, the creatures are awesome and the ending was not what I expected. So much fun to watch!

Watch on AMC+, Peacock, Plex and Prime Video

IMDb description: A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Creature feature

#2 There’s something in the barn

One of the most enjoyable parts of this movie is watching how Europeans perceive Americans. References to “shooting people in the face” is every bit as funny as the interactions with the creatures in the barn.

Watch on AMC+, Plex and Prime Video

IMDb description: An American family fulfills their dream of moving back to their roots after inheriting a remote cabin in the mountains of Norway, but there’s a surprise waiting for them.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Comedy

#3 Black Christmas 1974 original

This movie is one of the genre originals and is on the list of any horror fan. There are two more movies with the same title that some call remakes but I think of them as the sisters of the original. The story is a little different for each one and all are fun to watch.

Watch on Tubi, Prime Video, AMC+, Peacock and Roku

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

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#4 Black Christmas 2006

The middle child of the Black Christmas sisters is not quite a part 2 but also not a remake. It is a different story all together.

Watch on Tubi, Amazon Prime, Plex and Roku.

IMDb description: On Christmas Eve, an escaped maniac returns to his childhood home, which is now a sorority house, and begins to murder the sorority sisters one by one.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#5 Black Christmas 2019

The youngest of the Black Christmas sisters is a supernaturally fueled, fast paced edition to the trilogy, firmly seated in the “me too movement”.

Watch on Tubi, Amazon Prime, Plex and Roku.

IMDb description: A group of female students is stalked by a stranger during their Christmas break. That is until the young sorority pledges discover that the killer is part of an underground college conspiracy.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#6 It’s a Wonderful Knife

The 2020’s have seen a wave of time jump/ reality shift movies including this little gem. I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did.

Watch on AMC+, Hulu, Prime Video and Pluto

IMDb description: After saving her town from a psychotic killer, Winnie Carruthers’ life is less than wonderful. When she wishes she’d never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe where without her, things could be much, much worse.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#7 A Christmas Horror Story

I love the anthology style movies. Mini stories inside a main story… too much fun.

Watch on AMC+, Prime Video and Plex

IMDb description: Interwoven stories that take place on Christmas Eve, as told by one festive radio host: A family brings home more than a Christmas tree, a student documentary becomes a living nightmare, a Christmas spirit terrorizes, Santa slays evil.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#8 Christmas Bloody Christmas

OMG… the music, the mood, the mayhem, the murder. I cannot love this movie enough.

Watch on AMC+, Prime Video and Plex

IMDb description: It’s Christmas Eve and Tori just wants to get drunk and party, but when a robotic Santa Claus at a nearby toy store goes haywire and begins a rampant killing spree through her small town, she’s forced into a battle for survival.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#9 Black Friday

Ummm… Bruce Campbell… need I say more? In all seriousness, this is a great little holiday horror comedy.

Watch on Roku, Prime Video and Plex.

IMDb description: A group of toy store employees must protect each other from a horde of parasite infected shoppers.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Comedy

Get your Dour Dennis tee here!

#10 Silent Night Deadly Night 1984

Another old school classic that it is blasphemy not to have on this list. How do you not include the film that pissed off so many parents that they got it removed from theaters within a week of the premier. I love love it for that reason alone. PUNISH!!!

Note: Watch for the remake in December of 2025!

Watch on AMC+, Prime Video and Plex

IMDb description: Little Billy witnesses his parents getting killed by Santa after being warned by his senile grandpa that Santa punishes those who are naughty. Now Billy is 18 and out of the orphanage, and he has just become Santa himself.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#11 Creepshow Holiday Special – Shapeshifters Anonymous

Werecheetah… weretortoise… werepig…. Demon Santa and Derek Russo without a shirt on. A holiday movie in true Creepshow fashion. Thank you Greg Nicotero.

Watch on AMC+

IMDb description: An anxious man who is trying to figure out his disorder enlists into an organization called Shapeshifters Anonymous without realizing that Santa Clauses are after him.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Creature Feature

#12 Silent Night

Death by Christmas lights, blow torch and wood chipper. There is even a tribute to the deer antler scene from Silent Night Deadly Night. Good thing Santa wore his red pants.

Watch on Tubi, Pluto, Plex and Roku

IMDb description: The police force of a remote Midwestern town search for a killer Santa Claus who is picking off citizens on Christmas Eve.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#13 Gremlins

This is a GenX staple… we watched it as children and now you can’t see the lights and hear the music without thinking of these furry, and scaly, little monsters.

Watch on Prime Video

IMDb description: After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Creature Feature

#14 Terrifier 3

I am a true horror fan. I love them all from tame to over the top and this one is definitely over the top. Not for the faint of heart.

Watch on Prime Video, Screambox, Tubi

IMDb description: Art the Clown is set to unleash chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County as they peacefully drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Body horror

#15 The Christmas Tapes

If you like the V/H/S and Creep series, you are going to love this movie!

Watch on Prime Video, Plex, Tubi, Screambox

IMDb description: In this Christmas-Horror Anthology, a family’s movie night on Christmas Eve is interrupted by a stranger, insistent on making the next Christmas ‘classic’ film himself.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Found footage

#16 The Naughty List of Mr. Scrooge

My description

Watch on Tubi, Screambox, Roku, Prime Video

IMDb description: Former college friends reunite 10 years after a tragedy during a production of A Christmas Carol. Gathering at a winter chalet, they are stalked and killed one by one by someone dressed as a terrifying Ebenezer Scrooge.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset:

#17 P2

My description

Watch on Tubi, Prime Video, Plex, Screambox, Roku, Fawesome

IMDb description: A businesswoman is pursued by a psychopath after being locked in a parking garage on Christmas Eve.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset:

#18 Secret Santa

My description

Watch on Tubi, Plex, Fawesome, Screambox, Roku, Prime Video

IMDb description: Christmas dinner brings tidings of death when someone enacts revenge, and out of the bloody madness rises a hero who must face all odds to stop an outbreak before it’s too late.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset:

#19 Mercy Christmas

My description

Watch on Prime Video, Tubi

IMDb description: When Michael Briskett meets the perfect woman, his ideal Christmas dream comes true when she invites him to her family’s holiday celebration. Dreams shattered, Michael struggles to survive once he realizes HE will be Christmas dinner.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Comedy

#20 Santas Slay

My description

Watch on Prime Video, Fawesome, Pluto

IMDb description: Santa Claus is actually a demon who lost a bet with an angel, so he becomes the giver of toys and happiness. But when the bet is off, he returns to his evil ways.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset:

#21 The 12 Slays of Christmas

My description

Watch on Tubi, Prime Video, Fawesome, Roku

IMDb description: During a snowstorm, a trio of young ladies take shelter in a Gothic manor owned by a sinister old man. He lets them open gifts, with each toy that they unbox corresponding to a macabre story.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset:

#22 He Sees You When You’re Sleeping

My description

Watch on Plex, Pluto, Prime Video

IMDb description: Chester returns to his home after witnessing his parents’ murders 17 years ago by a killer dressed as Santa. A new Santa killer begins killing his relatives. Chester questions if the killer returned or if a more terrifying truth exists.

Genre: Horror

Genre subset: Slasher

#23 Violent Night

This one is techinically an action movie more than a horror but I couldn’t leave it off the list. This is the December 1st movie that starts the holiday off right for me.

Watch on Netflix, Prime Video

IMDb description: When an elite team of mercenaries breaks into a family compound on Christmas Eve, a disgruntled Santa Claus must take them out to save both the hostages and his Holiday.

Genre: Action

Genre subset: Horror

Violent Night 2 coming in December 2026!

#24 Fatman

This is another action movie but I felt like it too needed to be included.

Watch on Fawesome, Prime Video

IMDb description: A rowdy, unorthodox Santa Claus is fighting to save his declining business. Meanwhile, Billy, a neglected and precocious 12 year old, hires a hit man to kill Santa after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking.

Genre: Action

Genre subset: