Favourite Creepy Christmas Specials

Merry Christmas peeps and creeps. We hope you've been enjoying the holiday season so far? Usually around this time of the year we drop a bunch of Christmas horror film reviews as part of our Silent Fright, Holy Fright Chrismassy Reviews. This year we thought we'd shake things up a bit and instead of reviewing a film we all chose a creepy Christmas Special from one of our favourite television shows. Christmas Specials are such an important part of the festive season. There was ALOT to choose from but we narrowed it down to these five. Enjoy!

Inside No.9 - The Devil of Christmas

I’m a huge fan of anything Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have worked on, whether it be 'The League of Gentlemen', 'Psychoville' or even watching both guys on separate seasons of 'Taskmaster', I’m there with bells on. The thing I like most about their work is that the humour can be quite silly but always has an underlying theme of darkness or sadness. The pair are huge horror fans, and it definitely shows in their work; creating horrific characters that live on the edge of insanity. 

What I like the most about this particular episode of 'Inside No.9', is their flex of knowledge for 70’s British horror anthology shows. Using time authentic cameras and props, they’re able to capture the look and feel of those crappy programs like 'Beasts' or 'Armchair Thriller!' Throughout the episode, you hear the director's commentary over the top of the program, as if this is some special feature on a new DVD release. You are immediately put at unease, as this isn’t the usual type of presentation viewers of 'Inside No.9' have come to expect. In a way, fans of the show except some sort of “twist”, and Shearsmith/Pemberton are clever enough to fool the audience most of the time. For 95% of the runtime of the episode, you’re expecting something spooky or cheesy, something fitting of the genre of story they’re trying to tell. SPOILER WARNING if you never seen the episode...

In the final few minutes, it’s revealed that you’ve been watching the build-up to the climax of a snuff film. The unexpected nature of it, the brutality of the victims screams and the reveal that you’re not watching a “director’s commentary” but actually, two detectives going over the footage for their investigation. The credits play out in silence as you brain says, “Did I really just witness that?”

It’s a gut punch that never fails to deliver every time I see it. I don’t think the pair have ever gone darker than this episode (The To Have and To Hold episode is a close second), and I think it’s a perfect episode for newcomers to the series.

Supernatural - A Very Supernatural Christmas

‘A Very Supernatural Christmas’, episode 8 of season 3, is a classic – demon-hunting brothers Sam and Dean Winchester confront a pair of pagan gods who take human sacrifices every Christmas. It may not have turned out to be the ‘bloodiest Christmas special in the history of television’, as originally envisioned by the writers, but it’s still a hell of a lot of fun. It features a suspected evil version of Santa, wreaths made from herbs used in pagan rituals to lure gods to a human sacrifice, and the ultimate reveal of the God of the Winter Solstice, Hold Nickar, one of the show’s most complex and fearsome deities.

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What I love most about this episode is the flashbacks to Sam and Dean’s childhood. They teach us so much about how the boys grew up and how, due to their father John’s constant absence, young Dean stepped up to be the father figure Sam needed. It also reveals that the amulet necklace Dean wears, a key part of his character, was a Christmas gift Sam had intended to give to their father but gave to Dean instead. It is such an emotional episode, and the symbolic passing of the torch – the amulet – cements the boys’ brotherly bond more than words could ever have done.

South Park - Woodland Critter Christmas

This is easily one of 'South Park’s most infamous holiday episodes, and for good reason. When it first aired in 2004, it looked like a sweet, slightly goofy Christmas story about Stan helping a bunch of adorable forest animals save their holiday. Cute voices, soft colours, and cheerful music all suggest you’re in for a wholesome ending.

Of course, 'South Park' doesn’t do wholesome for long. Before the episode is over, those same cuddly critters are revealed to be violent, Satan-worshipping maniacs trying to bring about the birth of the Anti-Christ. The sudden shift from cozy Christmas special to full-blown horror parody is what makes the episode so unforgettable. The show leans hard into horror imagery, ritual sacrifices, brutal violence, and genuinely unsettling moments, all while the critters still look like they should be selling plush toys.

One of the biggest horror influences on the episode is the sci-fi horror film 'Event Horizon', a movie infamous for its disturbing visuals and “hell leaking into reality” vibe. Trey Parker has mentioned the film as an influence, and once you know that, it’s hard not to see it. The idea of an unseen, overwhelming evil, the sudden escalation into graphic imagery, and the sense that everything has gone irreversibly wrong all mirror 'Event Horizon’s approach to horror. Just like the movie, 'Woodland Critter Christmas' doesn’t ease into its darkness, it drops the audience straight into it.

What really sells the horror, though, is the contrast. Cheerful narration and storybook visuals clash violently with scenes that feel like they belong in an R-rated horror movie. That tonal whiplash is pure 'South Park', but this episode pushes it further than almost anything else the show has done. It’s funny, shocking, and deeply uncomfortable all at once, exactly the reaction the creators were going for.

For years, the Woodland Critters felt like a one-off joke. That’s why their recent comeback in a newer episode caught so many fans off. Their return works because the critters have become more than just a gag. They represent one of the shows best tricks: taking something cute and innocent, twisting it into something horrifying, and then pushing it so far it becomes impossible to forget. Even years later, the Woodland Critters prove that 'South Park’s most disturbing jokes still hit hard — and that sometimes the scariest things come wrapped in tinsel and big, adorable eyes.

The Creep Tapes - Nick

What screams Merry Christmas more than a serial killer luring you to your own death while you videotape the entire thing.  In the second season of 'The Creep Tapes' (a spin off to two Creep movies) “Peachfuzz” carries out a festive killing in the episode titled 'Nick'.  It starts off as a typical episode where he murders therapist Dr. Avison before assuming his identity when the doctor’s patient Nick shows up at the house to mull over his holiday blues. The perfect present for everyone’s favourite murderer. 

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The thing that makes 'Creep' and 'The Creep Tapes' so brilliant is the dark and awkward humour instilled by Mark Duplass in his performance and in this episode he is in top form. The festive twist to his usual schtick fits seamlessly into the world he has created alongside Patrick Brice, as he dresses up as Santa and projects his daddy issues onto his “patient” Nick.  It may have the warm fuzzy feeling of the festive season but the ominous undercurrent makes it delightfully devilish, making it an instant staple amongst other Christmas specials.

The X Files - How The Ghosts Stole Christmas

Christmas Eve. Somewhere in Maryland. Special Agent Fox Mulder has, once again, somehow persuaded his partner, the even more special agent Dana Scully, to do something that she doesn't really want to do. This time it's to join him at 11pm outside a very spooky and ancient mansion that he believes is haunted.

Scully is not just a partner of course, she is a friend and Mulder's power of persuasion coupled with Scully's desire to be a good friend and her sometimes problematic curiosity is what has led us here.

Mulder explains the backstory to Scully to help peak her intrigue and it works. Aul Fox is a good storyteller after all. So this is the jist. Way back in the 1917 a madly in love couple took their own lives on Christmas Eve to assure that they'd always remain together. And since then, every year, they return to haunt the bejesus out of whoever happens to be in the house on Christmas Eve. Mulder also mentions that there have been numerous "homocides" in the house over the decades since the couple's death. As Scully reluctantly joins Mulder in "just having a look around" the two soon realise that they are definitely not alone.

Borrowing the title from the classic Dr. Seuss childrens book and also borrowing every single trope from every single haunted house film, this stand alone Christmas special, written and directed by Chris Carter himself, is a perfect heartpounding yet heartwarming inclusion into Christmas television lore. Duchovny and Anderson are clearly having a lot of fun here and Carter's dialogue is very well written. I think what makes it so good is the fact that for the first half of the episode it's just the two of them slowly coming to the conclusion that the house IS haunted, even though Scully is so determined to explain why it is not. The discovery of two corpses under the floorboards that look strangely like them both and the fact that they can't exit the library room seems to suggest that Scully is wrong.

And then in the second half of the episode we're introduced to Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin, two legends of the screen, who are eventually revealed as the two ghosts causing all this chaos. Who doesn't love Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin right? Their arrival opens up some new questions from Mulder and Scully, obviously, but for the viewers it also introduces a little bit of comedic respite. The single set piece is a great choice too.

Originally airing in December 1998 (and April '99 in the UK) 'How the Ghosts Stole Christmas' offers some genuinely creepy, gothic visuals coupled with fantastic performances from the four actors, which leads to a satisfying and dare I say it romantic ending. The true meaning of Christmas is being there for each other, even after being manipulated into kiling each other by two ancient ghosts.

Are you a fan of any of the special episodes above? Please let us know what your favourite Christmas Specials are in the comments below.

From the entire Fright Club team we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.