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The 6 best Christmas-Halloween crossovers to enjoy this holiday season
It's spooky season! And nothing's spookier than Christmas...right?
Christmas and Halloween seem like two very different, very separate holidays: One is dark and spooky, full of goblins, ghosts, costumes and candy, and the other is full of joy, bright colors, and presents under a tree or in a stocking.
But there’s something spooky about Christmas, and there’s something joyful about Halloween. The two holidays are ineffably entangled, and something about Halloween-Christmas mashups tickles the same pleasure center in our brains. Hollywood has picked up on this connection, and there are more than a few spooky Christmas movies and shows out there (or spooky/Halloween movies with a Christmas theme, depending on your point of view).
Here’s a list of the best Christmas-Halloween crossovers out there for you to enjoy from now through the end of the year.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The obvious film that touches on both Halloween and Christmas is The Nightmare Before Christmas, the classic stop-animation feature produced by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick. In it, Jack Skellington (a.k.a. The Pumpkin King) is bored of overseeing the celebrations for Halloween all year long. He stumbles across a gateway to another holiday land — Christmas Town— and decides he wants to take over the job of “Sandy Claws.” Things move on from there, set to a delightful musical score.
You can check out The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney+.
Krampus (2015)
The Christmas horror movie Krampus centers around a demonic being who comes after those who lose the Christmas spirit. The film from Michael Dougherty has the Engel family (played by Adam Scott, Toni Collette, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, and Krista Stadler) come face to face with Krampus and meet less-than-merry ends.
Krampus is now streaming on Peacock.
Gremlins (1984)
What better Christmas present is there than a cute, furry creature called a mogwai that spawns malicious gremlins if he gets wet or eats after midnight? If you’re the Peltzer family, there are probably a lot less dangerous gifts to receive, as their mogwai Gizmo accidentally gets wet and unleashes several gremlins, including their leader named Stripe. Stripe and his crew cause mayhem for the Peltzers, leading to a less-than-peaceful Christmas.
Gremlins is currently streaming on HBO Max.
Casper’s Haunted Christmas (2000)
Casper the friendly ghost is in a bit of a pickle when he finds out that he has to scare at least one person by Christmas day in order to meet his yearly ghostly scare quota. Casper is sent by the King of Ghosts to the Christmas town of Kriss, where Casper repeatedly fails to scare anyone because he’s so gosh darn nice. The ghost eventually does meet his quota, however, in the nicest way possible. After doing so, he celebrates the holiday with his new friends, the Jollimore family.
Casper’s Haunted Christmas is now streaming on Peacock.
NOS4A2 (2019)
The AMC series adapted from the novel by Joe Hill focuses on a vampiric being named Charlie Manx (played by Zachary Quinto) who has a creepy obsession with Christmas. That obsession with Christmas led him to create Christmasland, a place where he leaves children to linger after he sucks the soul out of them to stay eternally young. How jolly!
NOS4A2’s two seasons are available on the streaming platform AMC+.
A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
This anthology movie tells spooky tales that all take place on Christmas Eve. The stories are curated by the DJ, Dangerous Dan, played by none other than William Shatner. The four tales include Krampus, elves that have turned into zombies, and other spooky holiday delights.
A Christmas Horror Story is available on Shudder and AMC+.
Looking to get into the holly jolly spirit? There's tons of holiday movies and shows streaming on Peacock.
