Presents, joy, decorations, and family are some words that come to mind when one thinks of Christmas. Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, which is celebrated by billions of people across the globe and is a time for giving back to your community and family. 

  Christmas movies are also a huge part of this season. Whether it’s a classic film or a cheesy Hallmark movie, they all have in common the landscape of Christmas time and the general theme of being surrounded by the people you love most. An irregularity during this time though is the occasional horror Christmas movie.

  Movies like “Krampus,” “Violent Night” and “Gremlins” are all examples of popular Christmas horror movies. All of these movies include death, destruction, and violence, which are far from the image of Christmas today. But where does the twisted lore and themes that are represented within these movies even stem from?

  Christmas used to have a different meaning even before Christ’s birth. The Pagans used to have a holiday called “Saturnalia” which was a celebration of the god of agriculture where they had feasts and sensual public displays in December. Christians then took over Rome and  declared December 25 as the day to celebrate Jesus’s birth, stealing the light from the Pagans’ provocative holiday.

  Despite the stealing and claiming of a holiday season, there was nothing inherently sinister about the new holiday celebrating Christ’s birth, but what bled into Christmas from the Pagan holiday? Well, Krampus was believed to have originated from the Pagan rituals from their winter solstice.

  With the rise of the new Christian holiday, Krampus, a half-demon, half-goat, became a creature who beats children on Christmas Eve, while Santa Clause gives gifts to nice children. The 2015 horror film “Krampus”was inspired by this origin story and other movies have been produced through similar deep dives like these, but what if the creation of these movies doesn’t really have much to do with the actual origins?

  Current Millbrook senior Hannah Paulson  has a unique take on this movie genre. “I believe that these new scary Christmas movies were bound to happen. The implications of these scary movies around a cherished holiday are not great, however it has been seen in horror movies through the ages. This can be seen in movies such as “Smile,” “Chucky,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and even “The Blair Witch Project” turning a trip into a horrible situation.”

  It appears that the mere reason that Christmas is a holiday and people tend to travel during a holiday, is justification enough to why it’s the perfect victim to a horror.  Many people wonder if a movie being set in December automatically makes it a Christmas movie or not (hence the “Die Hard” debate) or if these movies are made just because of the monopolizing of a popular holiday, but that is a conversation for another day. 

  Christmas is celebrated by many people in the world, even those that aren’t religious. But for people who are religious, there’s a inquiry to how they feel about the depiction of their holy holiday. Millbrook teacher, Mrs. Populorum, speaks on this topic from a christian perspective. “Although I have not seen these movies, the subject of fear is not of God. God loves faith i. e. believing and trusting in Him without seeing Him. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, who left heaven to come as a baby to redeem mankind. The message the angels said at his birth is still for us today, ‘Peace on earth. Goodwill towards men!’”

  Weather horror Christmas movies are made to play off of the twisted roots of ancient legends, appeal to the economy or to simply utilize the winter landscape, they are made and it seems as though they aren’t going nowhere. Despite their sinister storylines that are set within the Christmas holidays, not many people are concerned with their twists of this jolly or holy time. So sit down, grab a snack and enjoy the show!