When you think of a Christmas movie, what first comes to mind? Is it the festive, snowy settings or the warm, tingly happy endings? Holiday films are filled to the brim with mirth and good cheer ... at least, most of them are. But there’s actually a select group of Christmas movies that are actually quite dark. Intrigued? Read on.

If you’re tired of the saccharine storylines and predictable clichés of traditional Christmas films, don’t worry, you’re not turning into the Grinch. Instead, you should check out some of these edgier picks that are still seasonally appropriate. Some of them are actually quite popular — you’ve just never realized how dark they were before. After years and years of holiday viewings, one day you wake up and realize just how scarring these movies were when you were a kid. Upon closer examination, Frosty the Snowman is actually terrifying. Y’all realize that the snowman dies in that movie, right?

A few of the titles below — such as Krampus and Die Hard — might not be considered “family-friendly,” so you should save those for after the kids fall asleep. But others are in fact intended for kids, which makes their creepiness all the more shocking. Either way, you can have a grand ol’ time this holiday season traumatizing the youngsters in your family with the disturbing animation in The Polar Express.

From horror films ( yes, holiday horror films exist) to beloved animated classics, these are the darkest Christmas movies of all time.

The 12 Darkest Christmas Movies Of All Time

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