This is a big year for Christmas horror. There’s Violent Night, starring David Harbour as a grizzled Santa intervening to disassemble a crew of mercenaries. Then there’s The Mean One, a dark slasher-tinged remake of the classic Grinch story. And to round it out, Christmas Bloody Christmas, which features a robotic killer Santa, hot on the heels of a string of FNAF-inspired animatronic horrors.
Christmas horror is nothing new, of course, but I’m hard-pressed to think of a time in history when there were three holiday horrors in theaters at one time. We are truly spoiled for options in this new golden age of horror cinema.
But what’s the deal with Christmas slashers? Where did they come from, why are they so prevalent…and what does it say about us that we keep eating them up?