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'Black Christmas' (1974) -

A true gem for both Halloween and Christmas, the film stars Olivia Hussey, Lynne Griffin, and Margot Kidder as sorority sisters who receive threatening phone calls before a deranged serial killer appears.

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'Silent Night' (2021) -

Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode star in this horror film about a last supper-style Christmas dinner, held before the environmental apocalypse. It also stars Lily-Rose Depp, Annabelle Wallis, and Roman Griffin Davis.

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'Gremlins' (1984) -

'Gremlins' begins with Billy, played by Zach Galligan, who is gifted an odd yet adorable creature named Gizmo. As Billy befriends the gremlin, he has to stick to certain rules, or else Christmas could be ruined.

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'Addams Family Values' (1993) -

While 'Addams Family Values' spans most of the calendar year, the school Thanksgiving pageant is truly unforgettable.

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'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993) -

Despite it being a Halloween film, it actually tells a different story, as Jack Skellington longs to enter Christmas Town and leave the spooky life behind him. The film made history as the first animated feature nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards.

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'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999) -

A Stanley Kubrick classic, 'Eyes Wide Shut' is set during the holidays. It stars Tom Cruise as a Manhattan doctor who embarks on a bizarre odyssey after his wife (Nicole Kidman) reveals that she contemplated having an affair.

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'Edward Scissorhands' (1990) -

While 'Edward Scissorhands' is great all year-round, it's particularly relevant around Halloween and Christmas, as a big chunk takes place during the holiday season.

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'Tales from the Crypt' (1972) -

Not to be confused with the HBO show, this British anthology horror film features a segment that centers around a Christmas Eve murder. A woman kills her husband, only to hear that a killer is on the loose in her area. However, she can't call for help without exposing her crime.

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'Wind Chill' (2007) -

Emily Blunt stars in a chilling story about two college friends who become stranded on a snowy, remote highway when they're driving home for the holidays. She starts to see a menacing figure, always accompanied by the song 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.' The question is: is the figure after her, or is the cold just making her see things?

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'Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?' (1972) -

A '70s classic, and a take on 'Hansel and Gretel,' every year on Christmas Auntie Roo welcomes children from the orphanage into her luxury home for a Christmas celebration. This year, however, she decides to keep one for herself.

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'Anna and the Apocalypse' (2018) -

Okay, so this one might be a bit more comedic than straight-up horror, but throw in a musical and a zombie film in the mix, and you got the perfect spooky holiday movie.

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'The Advent Calendar' (2021) -

Written and directed by Patrick Ridremont, this horror stars Eugénie Derouand as Eve, who is gifted a strange antique Advent calendar with sinister presents inside.

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'Kristy' (2014) -

This 2014 slasher stars Haley Bennett as one of the few students who opts to stay on her college campus during Thanksgiving break. There she discovers that the holiday weekend marks a ritual killing for all religious people.

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'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale' (2010) -

If you're into foreign movies and horror, then you need to add this dark Finnish film to your Christmas watch list. In it, an excavating company releases the power of something that was only known as a myth in indigenous folklore.

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'The Curse of the Cat People' (1944) -

The Christmas-set sequel to 'Cat People' (1942), the film follows Oliver and his new wife, Alice, who moved out to the suburbs after the events of the last film. Their now six-year-old daughter Amy is lonely and wishes for a friend. However, her new friend may or may not be a ghost.

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'The Day of the Beast' (1995) -

In this Spanish film, a priest scours the New Testament and determines the exact date the Antichrist will arrive. And he does so, on Christmas Eve.

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'Dead End' (2003) -

As a family drives home on Christmas Eve, they're soon plagued with supernatural experiences after crashing in a remote location. The film was co-written and directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa.

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'Black Christmas' (2019) -

While 'Black Christmas' (1974) inspired two remakes, the first in 2006, the 2019 version is far superior. It's a must watch over winter break.

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'The Children' (2008) -

There's nothing scarier than evil kids! Watch this flick to find out what happens when kids become infected with a sickness that makes them turn against their parents during Christmas.

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'P2' (2007) -

Need a reminder why you shouldn't work on Christmas Eve? This psychological horror film will scare you into staying home. It follows a career-oriented woman who's the last person left at the office when her car suddenly breaks down. Thankfully, a parking attendant is there to help. That is, until a game of Christmas cat-and-mouse begins.

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'Inside' (2007) -

Called 'À L'intérieur' in its native French, it's about a recently widowed woman who is scheduled to give birth the day after Christmas. As she waits home alone on Christmas night, another woman shows up, desperate to enter the apartment and take her baby.

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'Pilgrim' (2019) -

A woman invites historical reenactors playing Pilgrims to spend Thanksgiving with her family. However, like a true slow-burn horror film, the Pilgrims take it one deadly step too far.

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'Silent Night, Bloody Night' (1972) -

Not to be confused with the 'Silent Night, Deadly Night' series, this one is a gothic, spooky tale about a man who inherits a mansion that was once an asylum and now wants to sell it. As a lawyer travels to the house to handle the sale, he is met with a string of locals who ended up dead. 

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'Saint' (2010) -

Imagine if instead of a kind old man, Santa was a bloodthirsty, murderous bishop? That's what you get in this Dutch horror-comedy, which states that Sinterklaas turns evil when St. Nicholas Day falls on a full moon.

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'Dead of Night' (1945) -

Just like 'Tales from the Crypt' (1972), 'Dead of Night' (1945) is another anthology horror film that features a Christmas segment. The film is famous for having created the idea of a creepy ventriloquist dummy.

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'ATM' (2012) -

After their office holiday party, three co-workers become trapped in a freezing ATM, stalked by a murdering lunatic.

Sources: (IndieWire) (Cosmopolitan) (Good Housekeeping)

See also: The most iconic Christmas movies of all time

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