For all that Halloween is the biggest holiday of the year for genre fans, more Thanksgiving horror movies are available than you may even realize. That sort of appetizing fact is probably quite satisfying to audiences not quite ready to hunker down for Christmas horror movies, but are hungry for some grim and gory (and even goofy) thrillers and chillers that lovingly acknowledge the November festivities. So, fetch your pilgrim’s hat and buckles and feast on the following features that take place around the Thanksgiving season.
(And poke, er, keep an eye out for more holiday fun in our upcoming horror movies schedule.)
Thanksgiving (2023)
Director: Eli Roth
Starring: Nell Verlaque, Patrick Dempsey
What it’s about: A year after a Black Friday tragedy, citizens of Plymouth, Massachusetts, fall prey to a vengeful killer dressed as John Carver.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: Based on a fake trailer he helmed for 2007’s Grindhouse, Eli Roth makes, arguably, his best movie and perhaps the best horror film set around Turkey Day with the inventively brutal Thanksgiving.
How to watch Thanksgiving
Black Friday (2021)
Director: Casey Tebo
Starring: Devon Sawa, Ivana Baquero, Michael Jai White, Bruce Campbell
What it’s about: A group of toy store employees must fight for their lives when an otherworldly parasite turns their customers into vicious monsters on the biggest shopping night of the year.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: Taking place on the night of Thanksgiving when holiday shopping hits its craziest peak, Black Friday is a horror-comedy movie that takes things in a crazier direction with some uproarious zombie action.
How to watch Black Friday
Flesh & Blood (2018)
Director: Patrick Lussier
Starring: Dermot Mulroney, Diana Silvers
What it’s about: On the eve of the first Thanksgiving without her mother, an agoraphobic teen makes a startling discovery that suddenly makes her feel unsafe in her own home.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: The second installment of Into the Dark — Hulu and Blumhouse’s monthly holiday-specific horror anthology series of feature-length thrillers — is Flesh & Blood, which hyperbolizes the reluctance some may feel to gather with family for Thanksgiving to a deadly degree.
How to watch Flesh & Blood
Pilgrim (2019)
Director: Marcus Dunstan
Starring: Reign Edwards, Kerr Smith
What it’s about: A bickering family hires a group of first Thanksgiving reenactors to help plan their holiday meal but grows weary of them when prove to be unnervingly dedicated to their roles.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: The second Thanksgiving-inspired installment of Into the Dark, Pilgrim, might actually help you better appreciate the time you have with your family after witnessing its savage twists and turns that might call to mind the Saw movies.
How to watch Pilgrim
Derelicts (2017)
Director: Brett Glassberg
Starring: Kelly Dealyn, David Lee Hes
What it’s about: A dysfunctional, suburban family’s already awkward Thanksgiving Day gathering is made worse by the sudden arrival of a group of sadistic drifters.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: One of the most ridiculous home invasion thrillers of all time, Derelicts has enough moments of macabre insanity to make for an amusing watch this season.
How to watch Derelicts
ThanksKilling (2008)
Director: Jordan Downey
Starring: Wanda Lust, Natasha Cordova
What it’s about: A group of college students fall prey to a murderous turkey during Thanksgiving break.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: For those who like their slasher movies as campy as can be, you might get a kick out of watching the Turkey Day feast’s main course get its revenge in ThanksKilling.
How to watch ThanksKilling
Blood Rage (1987)
Director: John Grissmer
Starring: Mark Soper, Louise Lasser
What it’s about: A 20-year-old wrongfully convicted of murder a decade earlier escapes from a mental institution, triggering a rampage by the real killer: his twin brother.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: A horror movie set around Thanksgiving that involves the feeling you get when that one family member arrives is the beloved ‘80s slasher movie, Blood Rage.
How to watch Blood Rage
Grandma Werewolf (2017)
Director: Zachary Will
Starring: James Wosochlo, Tricia Harmon, Trevor Brooks, America Ramos
What it’s about: While gathering for Thanksgiving at their grandmother’s cabin, a family discovers that their matriarch has undergone a horrifying transformation.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: Easily one of the most ridiculous werewolf movies ever made, Grandma Werewolf has a funny enough premise and endearing family themes to make it worth taking a bite out of.
How to watch Grandma Werewolf
BONUS: Addams Family Values (1993)
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack
What it’s about: Following the arrival of their newborn son, Gomez and Morticia hire a nanny who captures the heart of Fester but the family suspects she has some ill intentions for him.
Why it is a delicious Thanksgiving horror movie: One of the most memorable scenes from Addams Family Values — the creepy and kooky sequel to 1991’s feature adaptation of Charles Addams’ comic strip one of the best Addams Family movies yet — sees Christina Ricci’s Wednesday participate in a play recreating the events of the first Thanksgiving as Pocahontas during she and Pugsley’s (Jimmy Workman) stay at Camp Chippewa.
How to watch Addams Family Values
Whether you are in the mood for a slasher, a zombie movie, a creature feature, or even a not-so-scary movie for younger viewers to enjoy when Thanksgiving comes, there are plenty of worthy thrillers that horror fans can be thankful for.