Editorials
15 Fun Christmas Horror Titles You Can Stream Right Now
If you’re looking to get into the holiday spirit with festive, Christmas-themed horror, there’s an overwhelming number of holiday horror titles to wade through. To make it easier, we’ve rounded up some of the best holiday horror offerings available to stream right now on Hulu, Shudder, Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, and even Crackle.
Sorry Netflix, you need to step up your game.
Without further ado, here are 15 great holiday horror picks at your fingertips!
Anna and the Apocalypse – Hulu, Amazon Prime Video
A high school-set Christmas musical collides with the zombie comedy in a surprising mashup. What should be a recipe for disaster instead becomes an infectious and affecting holiday coming of age tale that isn’t afraid to go bleak when it needs to. It helps that the cast is so charming and the tunes utterly catchy.
Better Watch Out – Shudder
For those that like their holiday horror full of pitch-black humor and one nasty mean streak, this is for you. A babysitting job in the quiet suburbs turns into a harrowing night for the babysitter when her ward’s house is under siege by intruders. There’s far more than meets the eye in this twist on home invasion horror, and it’s vicious. A bone-chilling villain and one brutal kill that riffs on a family holiday favorite makes this a memorable and crowd-pleasing pick.
Black Christmas – Prime Video, Shudder, Tubi, Vudu
There’s no excuse to miss this holiday staple over the holiday season; it’s available on four different streaming platforms. A precursor and pioneer for the slasher craze that followed a few years later, this atmospheric gem sees a sorority stalked and hunted by a stranger over the Christmas break. While Olivia Hussey’s Jess is a final girl for the ages, Margot Kidder threatens to upstage her at every turn with her performance as lively sorority sister Barb.
The Children – Tubi
An isolated family and friend gathering over Christmas winds up pitting children against parents when a gruesome virus breaks out. Children have a penchant for creepiness in horror, and The Children ranks high among the killer kid subgenre. If you think the holiday setting means tamer kills, you’d be wrong; these children are malicious little killers.
Dead End – Tubi
Ray Wise and Lin Shaye lead in this road trip horror movie set on Christmas Eve. When Ray Wise’s Frank opts to take a scenic route on the long drive over to Frank’s in-laws, things go awry quickly. But never quite how you’d expect. Essentially a small chamber piece, mostly set within the confines of the car, Dead End is an intelligent horror film with a great cast and unpredictable twists. There’s plenty of humor to help alleviate the tension, too.
Deadly Games – Shudder
Thanks to Shudder, a long-hidden gem finally surfaces to become a new holiday favorite. Released in France a year ahead of Home Alone, with a similar setup, the plot follows the resourceful Thomas as he’s left to protect and thwart an unwanted and dangerous home intruder on Christmas Eve. The stakes are far higher and more shocking than anything Kevin McAllister had to overcome.
Maniac Cop 2 – Tubi, Vudu
Yeah, yeah, so Christmas is about as important to the plot as St. Patrick’s Day was to the original, but this sequel is set around the holiday and makes excellent use of the décor and iconography. Plus, it’s just a damn fun sequel worth watching. This time undead Officer Cordell teams up with a serial killer. A lot of peoples’ holidays are ruined in the process.
Night of the Comet – Vudu
Everything about this horror-comedy screams Christmas, from the setting to the décor to a major character dressing up as Santa to surprise our favorite sisters from the Valley. Besides, any excuse to watch our favorite Valley girls take on zombies, mad scientists, and ruthless survivors is a worthy one.
The Nightmare Before Christmas – Disney+
If you’re looking to bring in the little ones on your holiday horror viewings, this is the perfect fit. Tim Burton’s gothic aesthetic unleashes a slew of monsters when the citizens of Halloween Town attempt to take over Christmas. Chaos and mayhem ensue.
P2 – Tubi
This horror-thriller will make you think twice about devoting too much of your life to work. Rachel Nichols’s Angela is a corporate workaholic, the last to leave the office on Christmas Eve. That makes it the perfect time for a psychopath to hold her hostage in the parking garage. This one’s intense, effective, and pretty savage.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale – Hulu, Prime Video
A holiday horror story that hearkens back to Santa’s darker roots, this Norwegian fantasy horror follows Pietari, a boy whose belief in Santa is the very thing that will save everyone when an archaeological dig unearths the real thing. Too bad the real thing is the stuff of nightmares.
Sint – Hulu
St. Nicholas is an evil, undead bishop who murders children whenever there’s a full moon on December 5. If it sounds outlandish, well, it’s supposed to be. It’s from Dick Maas, the mind behind Amsterdamned. A rip-roaring raucous time, full of gore and glee. In other words, don’t take this one seriously; it’s the perfect popcorn horror flick for the holidays.
Santa’s Slay – Vudu
Once upon a time, the demon Santa made a bet with an angel and lost. As a result, he was forced to become a benevolent holiday giver of toys and happiness. When the bet runs its course, Santa eagerly returns to his evil ways. Played by Bill Goldberg, Santa gets downright naughty this Christmas. It’s a B-movie romp full of over-the-top humor, and the opening scene aptly sums up the zany horror that follows.
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 – Shudder, Tubi, Vudu
“It’s garbage day!” You can skip the first one and get straight to its sequel; it spends an inordinately lengthy amount of time recapping the events of Part 1 anyway. The real reason to tune in to this one, of course, is for Ricky Caldwell (Eric Freeman), this film’s killer Santa. Freeman’s performance is camp gold.
Wind Chill – Crackle
When honoring the old holiday tradition of telling ghost stories, Wind Chill is a worthy option. A pair of college students opt to share a ride home for the holidays over Christmas break, but the car breaks down on a deserted stretch of road. They’re haunted and preyed upon by the ghosts of those who have died there. The isolation, weather conditions, and psychological horrors make this ghost story stand out among the usual holiday horror offerings.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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