I’ve been known to watch a holiday romcom or two (or twelve) but there’s nothing better than getting all cozy with a snowstorm outside and turning on something scary. Here are my favourite holiday-themed horror films:
Rare Exports (Jalmari Helander, 2010, Finland)
Young Pietari lives with his reindeer-herding father in arctic Finland. On the eve of Christmas, a nearby excavation makes a frightening discovery and an evil Santa Claus is unleashed…
This is a must-watch for me every year. It takes a silly premise and makes it genuinely creepy, but still lots of fun.
Jalmari Helander also directed Sisu, which I recommend if you like Finns kicking ass, and several of the same actors appear in both.
Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974, Canada)
As the residents of the Pi Kappa Sigma sorority house prepare for the festive season, a stranger begins to harass them with a series of obscene phone calls.
Black Christmas is one of the original slashers, and it’s still scary as heck. There have been a few remakes but none have come close to the 1974 version from Canada.
Inside (Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo, 2007, France)
Four months after the death of her husband, a woman on the brink of motherhood is tormented in her home by a strange woman who wants her unborn baby.
This one is a lot. It’s dark and gory and I keep telling myself I’m going to watch it again one day, but I’m not sure if I’m up to it.
You Are Not Me (Moisés Romera & Marisa Crespo, 2023, Spain)
After an absence of three years, Aitana makes a surprise return home with Gabi, her Brazilian partner, and their son. The reception from her parents is surprisingly cold.
This was a new find for me this year and I loved it. The feeling of alienation, coming home for Christmas but knowing something has changed, is so unsettling.
And something to read:
Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories
I am poorly-read when it comes to Christmas horror books, but I love Valancourt‘s anthologies of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories.
Leanne Olson 
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