27 Best Christmas Horror Movies You Can Watch Right Now

The holiday season may be all about joy, twinkling lights, and cheerful carols—but for some, there’s nothing quite like adding a little darkness to balance out all the sweetness. That’s where Christmas horror movies come in, offering a deliciously twisted take on the festive season. Whether it’s a deranged Santa, a vengeful Krampus, or some truly nightmarish holiday hijinks, these films prove that not all Christmas stories are merry and bright.

For those craving chills alongside the yuletide cheer, we’ve rounded up the best Christmas horror movies to watch right now. Some deliver a dash of dark humor with their frights, while others dive headfirst into full-on terror. So dim the holiday lights, grab some popcorn (if you dare), and prepare for a season filled with thrills, chills, and sinister surprises!

Black Christmas (1974)

Director: Bob Clark
Starring: Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Keir Dullea, John Saxon
Watch On: Peacock

There was no doubt that Bob Clark’s classic Black Christmas would swoop in to take the top spot as the scariest Christmas horror movie ever. Inspired by the urban legend “the babysitter and the man upstairs” and a series of murders that took place in the Westmount neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec.

As winter break begins, a group of sorority sisters, including Jess (Olivia Hussey) and the often inebriated Barb (Margot Kidder), begin to receive anonymous, lascivious phone calls. Initially, Barb eggs the caller on, but stops when he responds threateningly. Soon, Barb’s friend Clare (Lynne Griffin) goes missing from the sorority house, and a local adolescent girl is murdered, leading the girls to suspect a serial killer is on the loose. But no one realizes just how near the culprit is.

Terrifier 3 (2024)

Director: Damien Leone
Starring: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Samantha Scaffidi, Chris Jericho
Available on: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video

After surviving Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre, Sienna and her brother are struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they’re safe, Art the Clown returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.

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Better Watch Out (2016)

Director: Chris Peckover
Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould, Aleks Mikic, Dacre Montgomery, Patrick Warburton, Virginia Madsen
Watch On: Peacock Premium, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, Crackle, Pluto TV

Ashley travels to the suburban home of the Lerners to baby-sit their 12-year-old son Luke at Christmastime. She must soon defend herself and the young boy when unwelcome intruders announce their arrival.

Gremlins (1984)

Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the main mogwai character
Watch On: Max

It draws on legends of folkloric mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions—”gremlins”—in the British Royal Air Force going back to World War II. The story follows young man Billy Peltzer, who receives a strange creature as a pet, which then spawns other creatures that transform into aggressive and imp-like monsters that wreak havoc on Billy’s hometown during Christmas Eve.

After the commercial success tbest Cristmas horror comedy movies followed by a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990).

Krampus (2015)

Director: Michael Dougherty
Starring: Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, Krista Stadler, Lolo Owen, Queenie Samuel, Maverick Flack, Sage Hunefeld
Watch On: Max

In the film, a dysfunctional family squabbling causes a young boy (Max) to lose his festive spirit. Doing so unleashes the wrath of Krampus, a fearsome, horned demonic beast in ancient European folklore who punishes naughty children at Christmas time. As Krampus lays siege to the neighborhood, the family must band together to save one another from a monstrous fate.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Director: Jalmari Helander
Starring: Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Per Christian Ellefsen, Tommi Korpela, Rauno Juvonen, Ilmari Järvenpää, Peeter Jakobi, Jonathan Hutchings, Risto Salmi
Watch On: Peacock Premium, AMC+, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Peacock Premium Plus, Tubi TV, Freevee

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…

Violent Night (2022)

Director: Tommy Wirkola
Starring: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Beverly D’Angelo
Storyline: When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour, Black Widow, Stranger Things series) is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
Watch On: Starz Apple TV Channel, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz, Starz Amazon Channel

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Inside (2007)

Director: Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo
Starring: Béatrice Dalle and Alysson Paradis
Watch On: Tubi TV

Scarred for life after a harrowing near-death experience, emotionally fragile mother-to-be Sarah is still struggling to come to terms with her loss. Overcome with silent grief, Sarah now seeks solace in work; however, she is on a collision course with sheer terror when a knock at the door in the dead of night chills her bones to the marrow. Now, the raven-haired, late-night visitor in black wants something precious from Sarah, and will stop at nothing to get it.

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Marli Siu, Ben Wiggins, Mark Benton and Paul Kaye.
Watch On: AMC+, Shudder, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, Pluto TV

It is the best Christmas zombie film, based on McHenry’s 2010 BAFTA nominated short Zombie Musical.

A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven – at Christmas – forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.

The Lodge (2019)

Director: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Starring: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Alicia Silverstone, Richard Armitage
Watch On: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video

A soon-to-be-stepmom is snowed in with her fiance’s two children at a remote holiday village. Just as relations finally begin to thaw between the trio, strange and frightening events threaten to summon psychological demons from her strict religious childhood.

A Christmas Horror Story (2015)

Director: Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, Brett Sullivan
Starring: William Shatner, George Buza, Rob Archer
Watch On: AMC+, Shudder

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.

Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022)

Director: Joe Begos
Starring: Riley Dandy, Sam Delich, Jonah Ray Rodrigues, Dora Madison, Jeremy Gardner, Jeff Daniel, Abraham Benrubi
Watch On: AMC+, Shudder

After ditching her Tinder date on Christmas Eve, record store owner Tori finds herself stuck with her employee Robbie for the night. But the night is still young. When the co-workers visit some friends in the neighbourhood, bent on binge-drinking and having fun, instead, they cross paths with Robo-Santa: an animatronic, military-grade killing machine. And as the malfunctioning unit embarks on a rampant killing spree in the town’s snow-covered streets, Tori and Robbie must face a bloody battle against the odds and the electronic, axe-wielding Father Christmas. Now, a murderous Santa is on the loose, and everyone is on his naughty list. Who can stop the cold, brutal killer?

Tales From the Crypt, segment “… And All Through the House” (1972)

Director: Freddie Francis
Starring: Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Roy Dotrice, Richard Greene, Ian Hendry, Patrick Magee, Barbara Murray, Nigel Patrick, Robin Phillips, Ralph Richardson
Watch On: fuboTV, Cultpix, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, Crackle

Tales from the Crypt is an anthology film consisting of five separate segments, based on short stories from the EC Comics series Tales from the Crypt by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, and Bill Gaines.

Five people find themselves in a tomb. The Crypt keeper explains why they are there through a series of frightening stories. Based on the classic comic book.

Silent Night (2012)

Director: Steven C. Miller
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Jaime King, Donal Logue, Ellen Wong, and Brendan Fehr
Watch On: Tubi TV

It is a remake of Charles E. Sellier Jr.’s 1984 film Silent Night, Deadly Night and the sixth installment in the Silent Night, Deadly Night film series.

As their small Midwestern town prepares for its annual Christmas Eve parade, a sheriff and his deputy discover that a maniac in a Santa suit is murdering those he judges as naughty.

Jack Frost (1997)

Director: Michael Cooney
Starring: Christopher Allport, Stephen Mendel, F. William Parker, Rob LaBelle, Shannon Elizabeth, Jack Lindine, Zack Egniton, Brian Leckner, Marsha Clark, Eileen Seeley, Kelly Jean Peters, Scott MacDonald
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Tubi TV, Crackle, Pluto TV, Freevee

On his way to be executed, the vehicle containing notorious serial killer Jack Frost collides with a hazardous chemical truck, turning him into a snow covered mutant and unleashing him on the unsuspecting town of Snomonton.

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Dead End (2003)

Director: Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa
Starring: Alexandra Holden, Ray Wise, Lin Shaye, Mick Cain, Billy Asher, and Amber Smith
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Tubi TV

It tells the story of a dysfunctional family who find themselves on a never-ending road in the middle of a forest during a routine drive on Christmas Eve, while under pursuit of a mysterious hearse and a woman dressed in white.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Director: Henry Selick
Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page, Ed Ivory
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Disney+

The film follows the misadventures of Jack Skellington, Halloweentown’s beloved pumpkin king, who has become bored with the same annual routine of frightening people in the “real world.” When Jack accidentally stumbles on Christmastown, all bright colors and warm spirits, he gets a new lease on life — he plots to bring Christmas under his control by kidnapping Santa Claus and taking over the role. But Jack soon discovers even the best-laid plans of mice and skeleton men can go seriously awry.

It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023)

Director: Tyler MacIntyre
Starring: Jane Widdop, Jess McLeod, Joel McHale, Katharine Isabelle, William B. Davis, and Justin Long
Watch On: Hulu, Sudder

Set in idyllic Angel Falls. A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers’ life is less than wonderful – but when she wishes she’d never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality.

The Advent Calendar (2021)

Director: Patrick Ridremont
Starring: Eugénie Derouand, Honorine Magnier, Clément Olivieri, Janis Abrikh, Cyril Garnier, Vladimir Perrin
Watch On: Shudder, AMC+

Eva, an ex-dancer, is now living in a wheelchair, unable to walk. When her friend Sophie gives her an old wooden antique advent calendar before Christmas, she realizes each window contains a surprise that triggers repercussions in real life: some of them good, but most of them bad… Now Eva will have to choose between getting rid of the calendar or walking again… even if it causes death around her.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr.
Starring: Gilmer McCormick, Lilyan Chauvin, Toni Nero, Robert Brian Wilson, Charles Dierkop, Linnea Quigley, Randy Stumpf, Britt Leach, Tara Buckman, Will Hare, Leo Geter, Geoff Hansen, Eric Hart, A. Madeline Smith, H.E.D. Redford, Danny Wagner, Jonathan Best, Amy Styvesant, Max Robinson, Nancy Borgenicht, Vinc Massa, John Michael Alvarez, John Bishop, Richard C. Terry, Oscar Rowland
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

The story concerns a young man named Billy Chapman, who suffers from post-traumatic stress over witnessing his parents’ murder on Christmas Eve by a man disguised as Santa Claus and his subsequent upbringing in an abusive Catholic orphanage. In adulthood, the Christmas holiday leads him into a psychological breakdown, and he emerges as a spree killer donning a Santa suit.

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Red Christmas (2016)

Director: Craig Anderson
Starring: Dee Wallace, Geoff Morrell, David Collins
Watch On: fuboTV, Fandor, Screambox, The Roku Channel, Crackle, Pluto TV

It’s Christmas in Australia as Diane, played by the Dee Wallace, brings together her estranged family for a chaotic holiday gathering. A 20 year old decision literally comes back to haunt her when the ghost of Christmas past comes knocking at her door and is invited inside the family estate. Festivities quickly turn blood red, when the stranger is revealed to be Cletus, Diane’s aborted fetus, all grown up, very much alive and ready to terrorize his long lost mother. Diane must face her past and explain the hideous truth that is trying to kill them all, especially to Jerry, her Down Syndrome son, before it’s too late.

The Legend of Hell House (1973)

Director: John Hough
Starring: Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill, and Gayle Hunnicutt
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

Based upon his 1971 novel Hell House written by American author Richard Matheson. It is one of the best supernatural horror Christmas films to watch right now.

It follows a group of researchers who spend a week in the former home of a sadist and murderer, where previous paranormal investigators were inexplicably killed.

Christmas Evil (1980)

Director: Lewis Jackson
Starring: Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey DeMunn, Dianne Hull, Andy Fenwick
Watch On: fuboTV, Night Flight Plus, FlixFling, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Tubi TV, Crackle

Garbed in his red suit, Harry, a toy factory worker, decides that the only thing he can do to save the spirit of Christmas is to become Santa Claus himself and make all of the naughty townspeople pay… in blood!

All Through the House (2015)

Director: Todd Nunes
Starring: Ashley Mary Nunes, Jessica Cameron, and Jennifer Wenger
Watch On:  Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee

ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE is an 80s-style slasher film featuring a deranged Santa Slayer who rips through the town of Napa, California for some yuletide-terror. Fifteen years ago, a peaceful Christmas neighborhood was engulfed by fear when five-year-old Jamie Garrett was mysteriously taken from her bedroom never to be seen again. Now on Christmas break, Rachel Kimmel comes home from college to find her neighborhood struck again by a reign of terror. A violent killer is hiding behind a grisly Santa mask, leaving a bloody trail of slaughtered women and castrated men to the steps of the Garrett house. Rachel finds herself in a horrifying nightmare as she discovers the twisted secret behind the mask.

Await Further Instructions (2018)

Director: Johnny Kevorkian
Starring: Sam Gittins, Neerja Naik, Grant Masters, Abigail Cruttenden, Holly Weston, Kris Saddler, David Bradley
Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, Pluto TV

The film follows the members of a dysfunctional family who are trapped in their house on Christmas by a mysterious black membrane that begins to send them cryptic instructions through text that appears on their television.

Carnage for Christmas (2024)

Director: Alice Maio Mackay
Starring: Chris Asimos, Dominique Booth, Lewi Dawson, Olivia Deeble
Watch On: AMC+, Shudder

Looking for new best Christmas horror movies Alice Maio Mackay directed Carnage for Christmas is best option for you. The story follows, over the Christmas holiday, true crime podcaster Lola visits her home town for the first time since her gender transition. She becomes entangled in the town’s mystery to discover whether the ghost of a historic murderer has returned.

Hosts (2020)

Director: Rob Savage
Starring: Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb, Radina Drandova, Caroline Ward, Edward Linard, Seylan Baxter
Watch On: AMC+, Shudder

Six friends hire a medium to hold a seance via Zoom during lockdown, but they get far more than they bargained for as things quickly go wrong. When an evil spirit starts invading their homes, they begin to realize they might not survive the night.

[Related Content: 29 Best Christmas Movies to Watch in 2024]

List of Best Christmas Horror Movies You Can Watch Right Now

Figuring out what and where to watch the best Christmas horror movies? Here we’ve collected new to classic scariest Christmas horror movies you can watch right now.

• Black Christmas (1974)
• Gremlins (1984)
• Krampus (2015)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
• Tales from the Crypt (1972)
• Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
• Violent Night (2022)
• Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
• Inside (2007)
• Jack Frost (1997)
• Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• Deadly Games (1989)
• The Legend of Hell House (1973)
• Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022)
• Christmas Evil (1980)
• To All a Goodnight (1980)
• Elves (1989)
• Dead End (2003)
• A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
• Red Christmas (2016)
• It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023)
• All Through the House (2015)
• A Creature Was Stirring (2023)
• Carnage for Christmas (2024)
• I Trapped the Devil (2019)
• The Advent Calendar (2021)
• Await Further Instructions (2018)
• Mercy Christmas (2017)
• All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018)
• The Thing (1982)
• The Signal (2007)
• Sint (2010)
• Mother Krampus (2017)
• The Leech (2022)
• Pooka! (2018)
• Once Upon a Time at Christmas (2017)
• P2 (2007)
• Elves (1989)
• Red Snow (2021)
• The Retaliators (2021)
• Adult Swim Yule Log (2022)
• The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
• Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)
• 13 Slays Until X-Mas (2020)
• Hosts (2020)
• Saint (2010)
• Wind Chill (2007)
• The Gingerdead Man (2005)
• Black Christmas (2019)
• Edward Scissorhands (1990)
• A Christmas Carol (1951)
• A Christmas Carol (2009)
• Santa’s Slay (2005)
• The Gingerdead Man (2006)
• Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Dead of Night (1945)
• Silent Night (2023)
• Silent Night (2021)
• The Phantom Carriage (1921)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
• Black Christmas (2006)