Holiday-themed horror films or holiday horror are a
subgenre
Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
s set during
holiday
A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...
s. Holiday horror films can be presented in short or long formats, and typically utilize common themes, images, and motifs from the holidays during which they are set, often as methods by which the villain may murder their victims.
[Baker, To]
"10 Ridiculous Holiday Horror Films"
, ''What Culture'', 11 December 2014. The genre has its own subgenres, such as
Christmas horror.
Film scholars Chris Vander Kaay and Kathleen Fernandez-Vander Kaay explain the subgenre as such: "The expression 'adding insult to injury' is an excellent encapsulation of the motivation behind the horror movie obsession with holidays (aside from the obvious desire to brand a killer with a theme and costume that can be revisited many times within a lucrative film franchise). The holiday is a place for happiness and family... The horror movie loves nothing more than
irony
Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...
(except perhaps a good death scene), and there is very little more ironic than the fear and isolation of a horror movie taking place right in the middle of the festivities."
List of films
The following is a list of holiday horror films that depict or are set during a holiday or holiday season.
1900s
1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
See also
* ''
Into the Dark'', a holiday horror anthology TV series
*
Lists of films set around holidays
Lists of films set around holidays includes:
* List of holiday horror films
* List of films set around Christmas
* List of films set around Easter
* List of films set around Father's Day
* List of films set around Halloween
* List of films set aro ...
**
List of films set around Christmas
Many Christmas stories have been adapted to feature films and TV specials, and have been broadcast and repeated many times on television. Since the popularization of home video in the 1980s, these films are sold and re-sold every year during th ...
**
List of films set around Easter
This is a list of films that have something to do with Easter, or have Easter as a significant part of them, or just contain the character of the Easter Bunny. For Easter specials of regular TV shows, see the list of Easter television specials.
A ...
**
List of films set around Father's Day
This is a list of films set on or around Father's Day.
Crime
* ''Underworld'' (1996) - an American mob film in which a mobster attempts to solve his father's murder and settle scores on Father's Day
Drama
* '' Jam'' (2006), an American film about ...
**
List of films set around Halloween
This is a list of films set on or around Halloween.
Children's and family
* '' A-Haunting We Will Go'' (1966)
* '' The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad'' (1949)
* '' The Addams Family'' (1991)
* '' The Addams Family'' (2019)
* '' Alpha and Ome ...
**
List of films set around May Day
This is a list of films set on or around May Day. Adventure
* '' First Knight'' (1995) - American Arthurian adventure film in which Guinevere rides out on May Day
Animated
* '' Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch'' (2005) - Disney film about a h ...
**
List of films set around Mother's Day
This is a list of films set on or around Mother's Day.
Comedy
* ''Mother's Day'' (1993), an Austrian comedy film about a Viennese family preparing for Mother's Day
* ''Mother's Day'' (2016), an American romantic comedy film in which various people ...
**
List of films set around New Year
This is a list of films set on or around the New Year of the Gregorian calendar.
Action
* '' Assault on Precinct 13'' (2005)
* '' Beyond the Poseidon Adventure'' (1979)
* '' Friday Foster'' (1975)
* ''Poseidon'' (2006)
* '' The Poseidon Adventur ...
**
List of films set around St. Patrick's Day
**
List of films set around Thanksgiving
This is a list of films set on or around the American Thanksgiving holiday. It does not include Thanksgiving television specials.
Action
* '' Below Utopia'' (aka Body Count), a 1997 film starring Justin Theroux, Alyssa Milano, and Ice-T
* ''Spid ...
**
List of films set around Valentine's Day
*
Christmas horror
References
Works cited
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*
{{Film genres
*
holiday
A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...
horror