Plain and simple, the belief that horror should be contained to the 31 days of October is wrong. I do enjoy the frenzy felt within the month of October; that feeling of being steeped in all things spooky all the time, for it to be deemed “more appropriate” to be interested in the macabre. As the leaves begin to change and the weather becomes a bit cooler, we relax into the beginnings of the holiday season. And it is at the very start of this period that horror movies finally get shown on tv with some regularity; finally, you won’t be suggested every other title in the world when searching for Halloweentown. I enjoy the changing of streaming services genre collections just as much as the changing of the weather. Alas, these improvements in film selection do not last. Sure, you’ll still be able to stream The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for a while, but there won’t be any new episodes to the ten-part series until next year. The tragedy of that is quite real.

So, what do you do until then? Don’t fret! There are tons of scary movies across many sub-genres that can fill in these wait-don’t-let-Halloween-end feelings now that we are deep into November.

Above I had mentioned the new Sabrina. One of the things that I loved most about these new adventures was the world that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has created. The character of Sabrina herself is rather infuriating as she has a complete disregard for the rules of magic and the years of history surrounding her family. However, the world in which these characters exist is much more well-developed. The history that we get hints of over the course of the season suggests much deeper stories for the future; touching on good vs evil, family history, and discrimination. As mentioned in previous thatendingthough posts, I do love me some good world building and it is through Satanism that we get a sense of how these witches live their lives. The route that this can take is literally limitless and I am excited to see where they take the lore they’ve begun to establish. Lastly, while I have issues with Sabrina’s development as a character, Kiernan Shipka does a charming job with the portrayal. I’m glad to see her in something that provides her with more dimension than she received through most of her tenure on Mad Men. The good news is that the series has been greenlit for season two in 2019.

What does this have to do with the black hole months of non-terror-inducing titles, you might ask? Well, that’s easy. We continue with our holidays (skipping over Thanksgiving for the moment as so many do) to Christmas, where we find another well-developed world of myth and lore but this time, instead of through religion it is through the storytelling of Krista Stadler‘s Omi in 2015’s Krampus.

The stage is set for a Christmas gathering we all know well – That side of the family is coming to stay from out of town and everyone is hiding their excitement so well. We start the tale by hearing the creepy legend of Krampus and how there is neither joy nor cheer associated with this horrific legend. Forget lumps of coal, the kids that are listed on Krampus’ naughty list are visited by the demon to punish their misdeeds and misbehaviour. The accidental summoning of the monster, after a family fight, kick-starts a truly terrifying chain of events. Adam Scott and Toni Collet are amazing in this movie and so are all of the kid actors. What I love about this film is that it succeeds so well in telling this creepy and at times downright terrifying tale while bringing in elements that are almost comical. Because of this, there are times that you feel as if you are watching something in the Beetlejuice or Gremlins (more on them in a second) vein. There is a specific scene in the attic that comes to mind. But these comical moments don’t last long and there is never not an underlying sinister aspect to any of it. The horror that creeps over you as the film progresses is paced PERFECTLY and I challenge anyone of you not to scream at those kids not to run into the blizzard in the dark! This is a truly terrifying holiday family film.

When Jingle All the Way is all that’s playing on TNT, go find where to stream Krampus. And don’t forget to behave, damnit.

Now, let us go back to Thanksgiving for just a second. Instead of, or maybe in addition to, celebrating white men taking land that wasn’t theirs from Native people who were minding their own business, let’s take three minutes of our time to fondly remember Eli Roth’s most famous fake movie trailer. Airing in the double feature Grindhouse, the trailer for Thanksgiving is filled with as much gore as we’ve come to expect from the director. In Plymouth, MA no other holiday is as important as Thanksgiving, so when a masked murderer starts going around town killing people, it’s pandemonium! The final shot of the trailer shows people tied to their chairs at a dinner table and the centrepiece is revealed not to be a turkey but a man. Since the release of Grindhouse in 2007, fans have been asking Roth nonstop when we could potentially see a feature-length film and the good news is that he’s working on it, but as of his latest public comments last year, hasn’t gotten the story where he wants it…yet.

Here’s to waiting!

Alright, now that we’ve covered Thanksgiving, let us go back to Christmas. Classified by IMDB as a comedy with fantasy and horror elements, Gremlins and Gremlins 2 are must-watch films of the holiday season. If only Randall Peltzer had listened to Mr. Wing and left well enough alone, there would never have been any Mogwais turning into Gremlins in the first place! If Billy had listened to the rules, there would not have been that terrifying episode in the kitchen where his mom goes total badass and claims a kill. With Stripe leading the Gremlins into larger and larger terroristic catastrophes, we see just how far these creatures of mischief are willing to go. Here we are again in a story whose myth and legend have real and immediate consequences. Billy didn’t listen and now there are tiny creatures running around town causing straight havoc and taking over movie theatres!

There are obviously many more titles that combine horror with the holidays but these are my favorites! I think it is important for horror films to display real consequences that match up to the character’s decisions and actions. In both Krampus and the Gremlin movies, we see the impact that certain choices have not just on main characters but the society around them. While the conclusions of these films are vastly different, you never know when a myth can turn into reality, so why tempt fate?