Highway Cafe Christmas Tour: Goth Elf’s Scary Christmas Movie List

Hop on the Highway Cafe Christmas Blog Tour. Visit all the blogs during the next week for giveaways, holiday crafts and recipes, and fun.

Goth Elf here to celebrate another year around the sun which ends in Christmas. So the committee asked for tunes to add to the dance list for the Workshop Christmas party. They have to ask everyone for suggestions because the Big guy’s catch word is “inclusive.” But they didn’t look too enthusiastic when they came to my dark corner of the workshop where I was busily gouging eyeholes out of doll faces.

Seriously, that’s a thing.

Of course the other elves eventually set glittery eyeballs in the holes but for a while I have a basket of eyeless doll heads that look like Tim Burton characters. It’s my favorite time of the year.

For music, I suggested anything by Pink Floyd but especially “Black” and “Dark Side of the Moon”. The committee argued that those aren’t Christmas songs  and you can’t dance to them. I countered with even in the midst of joy, death lurks behind the Christmas tree.

After they stared at me for a minute, I just said, “Fine, ‘Carol of the Bells.’” Which is what I say every year. They rolled their beady little elf eyes and made a check on their list beside my name.

Nobody gets me.

Just because its’s Christmas doesn’t mean terror is on vacation. In fact, the Victorian custom of telling Christmas stories on Christmas Eve goes back centuries to a time when winter was cold and deadly. A time when miserable peasants huddled near meager embers of a dying fire gnawing the last wrinkled apple and praying the sun would come back before they froze, starved, or got devoured by wolves.

So think about that as you eat your Christmas turkey and dressing.

“A Christmas Carol” is the most famous ghost story that came out of this nearly lost tradition. Fortunately, movie makers attempt to revive it with holiday themed freaky movies. Here’s a list of a few diversions.

Grab the children and gather around for an Old-Fashioned Scary Movie Christmas.

? Speaking of Tim Burton, A Nightmare Before Christmas is a great way to start the festivities. Not really scary, it puts a little shade on the sparkle of tinsel and ornaments.

?  Gremlins—The fourth highest grossing film in 1984 behind the likes of Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Who hasn’t sat through the local Christmas pageant wishing a horde of monsters would run amuck and liven things up? Or is that just me? Weaponizing kitchen appliances shows good old American ingenuity.

? Jack Frost (1997)—Not to be confused with a 1998 film of the same name starring Michael Keaton, the 1997 Jack Flash is a B-slasher tale about a convicted serial killer on his way to execution, a truck of toxic chemicals, and a slippery road. After that, it’s all a bit predictable–but good fun, nonetheless.

? Black Christmas (1974) Another slasher film—but in the 70s. And this one is a bit of a cult classic. Worth a watch if you enjoy the genre. Sorority sisters vs crazed maniac. The ending might be different in this age of powerful women, but still . . .

Bonus! A couple of movies which are not horror movies, but the death and destruction against the backdrop of holiday festivities warms the cockles of my Gothic little heart.

? Die Hard 1 and 2—Seriously, can it be Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off the Nakatomi Tower? And in DH2, the icicle in the eye scene never gets old.

? Lethal Weapon—No, Mel Gibson is not our favorite person, but back then—he was–and it had nothing to do with his politics. Just another Christmas in L.A.

And Now for the Giveaway!

To win a Kindle e-copy of Zoraida Grey and the Family Stones, Leave a comment with your favorite Christmas Movie! It doesn’t have to be a scary movie, but you get two entries for a spooky Christmas Themed flick! To leave a comment, look at the very top of the post for the little word bubble with a number beside it. Select that and you should see a comment field at the bottom the post. Not the easiest thing–Going to fix it soon.

Visit my Zoraida Grey page  or select the book cover in the right column to find out more about the book. You may notice my other book, Just Like Gravity, there, too. Just sayin’

I’ll pick the winner and post the name here on December 11. You can also follow me on FaceBook or Twitter to see who won and to get the latest news about my next release, Zoraida Grey and the Voodoo Queen–coming this winter.

Check out the giveaways and posts from the rest of the elves during the Blog tour.

December 4
Holland Rae – https://hollandrae.com/
Susanne Matthews – https://mhsusannematthews.wordpress.com/

December 5 
Tena Stetler – http://www.tenastetler.com/category/my-say-what-blog/
Maureen Bonatch – http://www.maureenbonatch.com/blog/
Peggy Jaeger – https://peggyjaeger.com/
Barbara Burke – https://barbaraburkeauthor.wordpress.com/

December 6 
Kelly Kalmanson – http://kkweil.blogspot.com
M.S. Spencer – http://msspencertalespinner.blogspot.com
Hywela Lyn – www.hywelalyn.blogspot.com
Reggi Allder – https://reggiallder.blogspot.com/

December 7
Denyse Bridger – http://www.fantasypages.ca
Clair de Lune – https://clairdelunebooks.co.uk/
Karen Blake-Hall – https://kaydenclaremont.wordpress.com/
Casi McLean – http://casimclean.com/a-christmas-to-remember/

December 8 
Darlene Fredette – http://findingthewritewords.blogspot.com
Daryl Devore – http://daryldevore.blogspot.ca
Gini Rifkin – http://ginirifkin.blogspot.com
Linda Carroll-Bradd – http://blog.lindacarroll-bradd.com