Have A Very (Scary) British Christmas With These Holiday Horrors From The UK

Though it's certainly not the first anthology horror film (Germany was making those as early as 1919), Britain's Dead of Night is widely credited with popularizing the genre. It's also one of the few scary movies made in Blighty during the 1940s when horror films were banned from distribution out of concern for public morale in the waning years of World War II (they weren't hip to the idea of horror films as self-care back then).

It's not festive through and through, but Dead of Night makes the list for director Alberto Cavalcanti's segment "The Christmas Party," a gothic tale involving a festive game of hide-and-seek that takes a spectral turn. But it's "The Ventriloquist's Dummy" (another Cavalcanti segment) and "The Haunted Mirror" (helmed by Robert Hamer) that will really chill your bones. Interestingly, the BBC would later make an anthology horror TV series called Dead of Night that aired in 1972, and while more than half of the episodes are considered lost media, one of the three that remain — writer-director Don Taylor's terrifying "The Exorcism" — happens to take place at Christmas.

Charles Dickens wasn't the only Brit daydreaming about ghosts in the bleak midwinter. In the 1970s, producer Lawrence Gordon Clark initiated the long-running tradition of A Ghost Story for Christmas, a series of short made-for-TV movies that would air on the BBC annually on or around Christmas Eve.

The original run (1971-78) primarily adapted the works of M.R. James, though there's a Dickens story and some originals in there, too. Horror icon Christopher Lee would later narrate four of James' stories in 2000's Ghost Stories for Christmas before the BBC officially revived the tradition in 2005. There've been a few gaps in the intervening years, but A Ghost Story for Christmas is still going strong, with 2023 bringing us an adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle short story "Lot No. 249" from Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss.

The stories themselves may not center around the holidays, but A Ghost Story for Christmas is as much a staple of British Crimbo television as Doctor Who specials and the Christmas speech from the monarch (yes, we actually do that). If you're not sure where to start, 1976's The Signalman and 1972's A Warning for the Curious are personal favorites.

One of the many superb portmanteau horror anthologies to come out of Amicus Productions in the '60s and '70s, director Freddie Francis's Tales from the Crypt adapts five stories from the EC Comics series of the same name. Of note for this list is the very first segment, "...And All Through the House," which stars Dynasty's Dame Joan Collins as a woman who murders her husband on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately for her, her plans to hide the body are interrupted by the arrival of a homicidal maniac dressed as Santa Claus.

The rest of the anthology may stray away from the holiday season, but keep watching for one of the late Peter Cushing's most powerful and moving performances. Playing the ill-treated widower Arthur Grimsdyke in the segment "Poetic Justice," Cushing dons special FX makeup for one of the few times in his career, making it a real gift for fans of the actor's work.

Plagued by a deeply troubled production that saw multiple directors come and go and big chunks of the script rewritten or reshot, slasher film Don't Open Till Christmas eschews the classic killer Santa story for one involving the slaying of anyone wearing a Santa suit. Edmund Purdom, the movie's original director, also plays a key role as the Chief Inspector investigating the case, which probably made things pretty awkward on set.

It might be a bit of a mess narratively, but Don't Open Till Christmas still offers some violent festive kills against the seedy backdrop of 1980s London. Plus, you get to have a good nosey around gruesome tourist attraction, The London Dungeon, without paying the exorbitant admission fee.

Director Tom Shankland's The Children is technically set around New Year's Eve, but with all the snow and holiday decorations in sight, it's still perfect for a festive movie night. The film follows an extended family gathering over winter break at an isolated home in the British countryside. A few of the kids aren't feeling well, but since children are walking Petri dishes, it takes the adults a while to realize that their little angels have caught something far worse than the common cold. By the time they do, all hell has broken loose.

Falling squarely on the "f*ck them kids" side of the "is it okay to kill kids in horror movies?" argument, The Children isn't afraid to show its young characters doing grisly things and being slaughtered horribly in return. If you find children creepy (and why wouldn't you?), this one's for you.

Shot in and around the Inverclyde area of Scotland, Anna and the Apocalypse is, to put it in Scottish terms, pure dead brilliant. Ella Hunt stars as the titular Anna, a high schooler who plans to take a gap year to see the world before university. Her dad's disapproval soon becomes the least of her worries as a zombie virus sweeps the town, forcing Anna and friends to battle their way to the school where their families are hiding out. Oh, and did I mention it's a bloody musical?

Based on the Bafta-winning 2011 short film Zombie Musical from Scottish filmmaker Ryan McHenry, who tragically passed away at 27 before he could direct the feature film (John McPhail would eventually take the reins), Anna and the Apocalypse manages to be both fun and remarkably sad. Highlights include a zombie dressed as a snowman, a gleefully unhinged villain song from Paul Kaye as the evil deputy head teacher Mr. Savage, and the filthiest festive school talent show number this side of Mean Girls.

Bleak to the bone, director Johnny Kevorkian's Await Further Instructions sees a dysfunctional working-class family reuniting for Christmas only to find themselves trapped in their home by a mysterious entity that communicates with them via their TV. The messages start harmless enough, telling them to "Stay indoors and await further instructions." Gradually, though, they get more and more unsettling, instructing the family to "vaccinate" themselves with dodgy needles filled with mystery fluid, avoid eating anything in the house, and isolate an unnamed "infected" person among them.

An intriguing slice of post-Brexit British horror, Await Further Instructions taps into the tension and xenophobia that spiked in the country after the controversial vote. But even if you know nothing about British politics (it's a mess, don't worry about it), there's plenty here to keep you glued to your screen.

Co-written and directed by Adam Leader and Richard Oakes, low-budget horror Hosts probably didn't benefit from having a title similar to the same-year Shudder mega-hit Host. While it might get buried in the search results today, it's worth digging for because it goes surprisingly hard.

The plot centers around a British family inviting their neighbors for Christmas dinner. But we know from the opening scene that something is very wrong with the couple, making the lead-up to their inevitable flip-out almost unbearably tense. Fair warning: one kill in particular is apt to put you off your Christmas pudding.

I hope this list helps you find something new to enjoy this December (even if it's just "Have a Cheeky Christmas"). Have a safe and happy holiday season and I'll be back in the new year to bring you more international horror treats.

Wreck the halls with our horror advent calendar for more recommendations. New holiday horror added daily.