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5 Retro Horror-themed Cartoons that Got into the Christmas Spirit

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The Real Ghostbusters

Because the holidays are a time for family, gathering around the TV tends to be one of the least stressful ways of spending time together. But most holiday horror offerings aren’t very family friendly. There’s always kid-appropriate cartoons, though. And what better way to get kids into horror than with cartoons? These horror themed cartoons not only hail from an era where Saturday morning cartoon binges hailed supreme, meant to be accompanied by the consumption of the sugariest of cereals, but they’re great for both adults and kids alike. For grown-ups, these cartoons are a trip to fuzzy nostalgic past, but for kids they’re an entertaining new discovery. The best part? These five horror-themed cartoons get into the holiday spirit, and offer perfect holiday horror viewing the whole family can appreciate.


Count Duckula – “A Christmas Quacker”

A British cartoon that ran from 1988-1993, Count Duckula followed the adventures of a vegetarian vampire duck and his servants in his sprawling gothic castle. This season 3 holiday episode sees poor Santa Claus getting lost in the castle’s intricate chimney system. It also wouldn’t be the holidays without an appearance by Count Duckula’s vampire-hunting adversary Von Goosewing. There’s Santa cosplay, gift giving, and lucid dreaming by way of Christmas pudding to round out this festive holiday episode. Even vampires can learn than it’s better to give than receive. 


Aaahh!!! Real Monsters – “Gone Shopp’n” 

Before Monsters, Inc., there was Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, a ‘90s cartoon on Nickelodeon that followed three monsters attending a school for monsters that taught how to frighten humans. Though the episode aired in December, the plot sees the core trio of monsters terrorizing shoppers in a mall that’s celebrating Christmas in July. For Oblina, Ickis, and Krumm, they soon become the terrorized themselves when they’re accidentally locked in the mall. Malls are horrifying no matter the time of year, but Christmas season is the worst.


Bump in the Night – “T’was the Night Before Bumpy”

This stop-motion animation series from the ‘90s revolved around Mr. Bumpy, a monster that lived under a little boy’s bed and feasted upon socks and dust bunnies. He was best friends with toilet monster Squishington and a Frankenstein’s monster-like rag doll named Molly Coddle, and each episode almost always ended in a music video breakdown of the ep. While the episodes were the usual cartoon length, Bump in the Night received its own hour-long Christmas special that had Mr. Bumpy enlist Squishington in his quest to steal Santa from the North Pole, while Molly Coddle served as director of the annual holiday pageant. The episode included numerous musical numbers and nods to other holiday specials.


The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries – “The Nutcracker Scoob” 

Despite the “new” in the title, this holiday-themed episode aired in December of 1984, and saw Scooby, Scrappy, and the gang helping Tiny Tina and other kids in a children’s home put on a Christmas pageant. But they’re interrupted by an apparition with nefarious intent. The gang, sans Velma, must sleuth out whether it’s evil businessman Nickleby behind it or something much spookier. The halls are decked with Christmas cheer; there’s snow, Christmas trees, nutcrackers, and Scooby and Shaggy in ballerina costumes. While Scooby-Doo has had many Christmas specials throughout the decades, this one ranks among the absolute best.


The Real Ghostbusters – “Xmas Marks the Spot”

Two years after the theatrical release of Ghostbusters, the cartoon spinoff debuted on ABC. The inaugural season concluded with the holiday episode, which saw the Ghostbusters unknowingly pass through a portal that whisks them back in time to 1837 England. They run into Ebenezer Scrooge and save him from the three Ghosts of Christmas, but when they return to the present, they realize they’ve inadvertently destroyed Christmas by not allowing Scrooge to learn his vital lesson. They have to return to the past, and the creepy containment unit, to right their Christmas wrongs.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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